Hello everyone,

My name is Chloe Cohen, and I am a second semester junior at the University of San Diego. I have a 2 year old golden retriever named Ivy Sue who lives with me in an on-campus apartment. As of 2/14/22, I am on a medical leave of absence for the remainder of the spring semester due to personal circumstances and my deteriorating mental health. USD has been aware of my circumstances since freshman year because they (said circumstances) have interfered with my overall wellness. However, overall, the admin here have treated me horribly during the MLOA process, particularly in regard to my housing.

Specifically, I was told that I could no longer remain on campus, nor would I be welcomed in residential/campus areas during my leave. After I repeatedly informed them that my service dog and I had no off-campus housing options, USD, a catholic, change-making , wealthy institution, told me to go to local homeless or domestic violence shelters. They are well aware of my overall wellbeing and they still thought this wan an appropriate response. I am infuriated, disappointed, hurt, and upset. 

I am demanding immediate policy change in regards to MLOA housing. For housing insecure students like myself, financial/housing/other resources should be provided for assistance. USD definitely has the money to spare. They feel no obligation to me since I am not currently paying them. They do not even feel morally obligated to help a homeless, mentally unwell 4.0 student and her service dog. I am extremely disappointed in USD admin and housing for putting me in this situation. It has exacerbated my mental health issues rather than alleviating them. They have not been accommodating, helpful, understanding, supportive, or empathetic at all. They only care if I'm suicidal because they know they'd be liable if I took my own life since they put me in this position. As soon as I tell them I am not in danger of harming myself, they no longer care about me.

Let's show them how much we care, what collective action and word of mouth can do, and how we will not stop until real change is made. Also, did I mention how ableist it is of them to not help me find housing for my service dog and me? Anyways... let's get this petition viral ladies and gents, and all others

Note: Of course there have been individuals along the way who have been helpful, but the university the administration in the system as a whole has been very unhelpful and unsupportive. I am thankful for several administrators and professors, but their departments, not so much...