U.S. Official Says Ivies Reject the Handicapped

WASHINGTON, March 30--The United States Commissioner of Vocational Rehabilitation politely accused the Ivy League schools today of discriminating against physically-handicapped candidates for admission.

Mary Switzer said in an interview after her address to the American College Health Association, "I'm quite sure that Ivy League colleges admit a smaller percentage of handicapped students than other colleges. They are not taking the lead in this area as I think they should."

The Ivy League's neglect, Miss Switzer added, is even more serious for the handicapped students who are admitted. The schools continue to construct buildings which students confined to wheelchairs cannot use, and their health services do not have "daily relationship" with the nearest Rehabilitation Center.

In her address to over 600 doctors, nurses, and other personnel, Miss Switzer did not directly discuss Ivy League admissions, as she did afterward, but she still sharply criticized the Ivies. After praising the University of Illinois (which has 138 wheelchair students) and other schools for their special facilities, she sighed, "I'm always impressed by the absence of Ivy League colleges in these special arrangements."

Dr. Dana L. Farnsworth, director of UHS, spoke next and departed from his prepared statement for a moment to admit that the "needle that she [Miss Switzer] aimed in our direction was deserved and accurate."

Although he believed there is "not enough admissions information to go on," Dr. Farnsworth conceded the possibility that Ivy League schools admit a smaller percentage of handicapped students than other schools. "If it is so, it is because of our selectivity," explained Dr. Farnsworth, who reads a number of admissions folders every year. "If you have a choice between two equally excellent students [and one is disabled], you naturally take the healthier one."

The Ivy League, according to Miss Switzer "takes a pessimistic line: the student should not be admitted if he will have too much trouble adjusting to [the life of] the college community." Miss Switzer conceded that there have been exceptions. "After all," she said, "Helen Keller went to Radcliffe."