Part#4 of the Carrie Ann Bugden Story

 By Kendall Worth!

The background for Carrie Ann’s story can be found beginning August 19th, 2023, in Part I , and it continues in Part 2, and Part 3, previously published.

Before going any further with Part#4, one question that came up following Part#3 is whether or not the former room mates were, by any chance, treated by Carrie Ann as her personal assistants? The answer to this question is NO and if you knew her in Westwood the answer would be obvious. NO, Carrie Ann Bugden was not expecting her roommates at Westwood to be her personal assistants. She had no expectation of this whats-so-ever. She was expecting them to respect ableism. 

 

 

In this post, I want to talk first talk about one solution that Carrie Ann recently talked about. How can she get evidence to prove that her room mates at Westwood did actually discriminate against her? Carrie Ann feels like their are unanswered questions about the situation of her mandatory move from Westwood to Assisi. Why did this move happen? Some of these questions will be answered by this post.

Carrie Ann recently told me that she wishes she was wearing a Body Camera throughout her time living with those roommates at Westwood. I have written about body cameras a couple of times – here. Carrie Ann feels that a body camera would have benefited her because during current meetings with university officials she could play to the them the footage of her room mates and what they said to her. She tries, to the best of her of her ability, to explain to University officials that her response was because of the behaviour of her roommates at Westwood. She continues in these meetings; trying hard to make the university officials believe her. However, Carrie Ann feels like the answer to the question Does the University Believe her or not? remains a mystery.

Carrie Ann Bugden continues to attend Mount Saint Vincent University, living with the disabilities, and her not so Wheelchair Accessible new surroundings, especially compared to what she had when she was living at Westwood. In Part#1 where I talk generally about her story, and how her roommates discriminated against her because of her disabilities. I make the point in Part#1 “ I wonder what the university would say if students said they did not want to live with a room mate who was black or Jewish, I suspect it would not be tolerated! Instead they want to move her out of a shared apartment.” In Part#2 I point out that these students at Westwood should have been disciplined and not Carrie Ann. Then in Part#3 I take a deeper dive into illustrating the behaviour toward her from others at Westwood. These days she continues to live day to day struggling with her mental health. In part#3 I report on the possibility that she may have to move home to Newfoundland for a period of time. However she is trying hard not to have to resort to making this move. She does not want to leave behind all the support she has built for herself here in Nova Scotia.

Since Part#3 was posted, Carrie Ann has identified a lot of unanswered questions relating to why this whole move from Westwood to Assisi happened in the first place. Also turns out, her mother, back home in Newfoundland, also has a couple of questions she wants answers to.

Since Part#3 was posted Carrie Ann gave me a list on what those unanswered questions are:

• The University staff person, from Administration, who first told Carrie Ann hat this move from Westwood to Assisi was going to happen, told Carrie Ann other University Staff and officials were involved in the decision to move her out of Westwood and into Assisi. (I am not going to disclose the name of the university admin person who Carrie Ann first brought this decision to move her to her attention) Carrie Ann’s question is who else was involved in the decision to move her from Westwood to Assisi and why was Carrie Ann not told who they were?

• Carrie Ann was disciplined and the roommates at Westwood were not disciplined. Carrie Ann asks why was I the only one wrongly disciplined? Why were the roommates not disciplined for their discriminatory behaviour toward Carrie Ann?

• Why do university officials want to fix Assisi, but they did not want to fix Westwood?

• Why was their no follow up support organized by the university following her move into Assisi?

• Would it be helpful for a concerned family member or any support person to speak to university administration officials?

• Why are University officials not respecting boundaries and not being clear in answering questions?

• University Administration told Carrie Ann they need to do this to protect other students at Westwood. The questions here is who are they protecting from what? Carrie Ann is a harmless person. The overall situation makes Carrie Ann feels like she is being punished for nothing. 

   
  

  
   

As I reported in Part 3, in every meeting with university officials, since they began, Carrie Ann, along with her appointed on-campus-support, has been trying to get answers. The only answer she is getting is them advising her it will be very unlikely they will ever put her back in Westwood. So, Carrie Ann continues her fight with University officials. In Par#3 I had put on the table, an idea for a solution of my own, to put her back in Westwood that the University could explore, I suspect the University will not even look at what I suggested.

Carrie Ann has been finding that her mental health is starting to effect her academic performance so far this academic year.

Hopefully things will get better as time goes on and she will get the answers she is looking for.