Georgia Tech is cutting funding to an office that promotes accessibility measures. Due to COVID-19, Georgia Tech forecasted that it is losing 18% of its revenue in the Fall 2020 semester. We do not agree with the nature of the cuts Georgia Tech is making as a result of revenue loss.

​Tech has cut funding to several departments, and one of the first cuts made was to the Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office (IDEI). This office is responsible for many accessibility measures taken at Georgia Tech. IDEI houses the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance office, which is partly responsible for guaranteeing that buildings and classes are accessible. IDEI also houses the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion which helps underserved populations with academic success. A reduction in funding to IDEI would very likely hamper efforts to make Tech more accessible because the offices responsible for accessibility are part of IDEI. 

We ask that Tech reinstates funding for IDEI in the next semester and does not continue with its current cuts to this office. We understand that Tech has to make cuts, but we find it unreasonable that Tech is cutting funding to IDEI. To put this in perspective, Tech has cut funding to IDEI before cutting athletics funding, even when parts of IDEI are integral for some students to be able to learn here. This strongly suggests that accessibility is not a top priority at Tech.

We have built a website to support this petition and offer more specific information: https://noahegan9.wixsite.com/artifact3/our-recommendations