mspolaorpereiraludo@una.edu

A student files a formal complaint and sparks investigation against two university organizations after claims of discrimination and bullying against her.
Alexis Fulmer is a no light perception (NLP) blind student who started attending the University of North Alabama in the spring semester, when she started receiving services from DSS and TRIO SSS.
The student wrote a letter on March 3 to Dr. Alex Takeuchi. He is the university’s ombudsman, a UNA official whose job is assisting students who reach out about any confidential complaints or conflicts before the situation requires a formal process.
“I write this very heavily and hesitantly,” wrote Fulmer. “What I am dealing with has grown significantly over the past several weeks and continues to escalate.”
Fulmer said there were a few particular events that led to her letter.
She said there was an attempt to access her Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind case file by “exploiting [her] blindness in an attempt to solicit [her] signature without disclosing that the document was pre-filled [out].” Which would also allow access to personal health information protected by HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
Fulmer said the pre-filled content included 16 out of 17 checkboxes already electronically checked that, if signed, could each approve the release of different topics regarding her personal health information. Fulmer said she found out about the pre-filling when she took the documents home to analyze.
“[The attempt] exploited my blindness and violated multiple HIPAA safe-guarding laws,” she said.
She said her TRIO services were canceled without “due process” or “cause given” at an “ambush meeting.” She thought the meeting was with her tutor provided by TRIO. Fulmer said she was read a disciplinary procedure by a TRIO staff member, citing general situations that would lead to termination of TRIO services.
She said those included missed meetings, which she had been accused of. In the letter, Fulmer included two meetings she missed. A meeting scheduled 15 minutes before its starting time and another one she said it took her 27 minutes to find transportation to.
Fulmer said the meeting happened “after office hours in a public space with student witnesses present.” The present TRIO members “surrounded [her], ridiculed [her], lied about [her], and then laughed at [her] as [she] walked away in disoriented shock.”
Fulmer also said transportation help from UNA police officers was cut off. This happened about a week after she said to DSS staff that this service was offered to her by an officer, she said.
“UNA police officers [were] kindly and generously approaching me on campus and offering 2-3 minute rides when they saw me,” Fulmer said.
She said it was a police officer who gave her the UNA Police Administration phone number, which also led to the Transportation Services office, to call in case she needed a ride.
Fulmer said she called this phone number on Feb. 24 to request a ride to her next class, which required her to cross Pine Street. She said she was told the office was “instructed” to no longer provide that service. Fulmer said the staff member on the phone confirmed to her they had had a conversation with a DSS staff member about her receiving the transportation services.
“I don’t use the service all the time. I mean, it’s been inclement weather, you know, and I’m not abusing it. Because they made me really feel like I was trying to abuse the services or something, which I don’t understand how,” Fulmer said. “I’m blind and I’m trying to crawl safely [through] Pine Street.”
She began to lose her vision in 2020 to glaucoma, an optic nerve pressure. Nowadays, Fulmer receives assistance from her service dog, Tia Maria.
Fulmer said Tia Maria was “repeatedly threatened to be banned for being aggressive without any formal reports.” She said she asked DSS staff if there had been any official reports about her service dog, she said they declined.
The Flor-Ala attempted contact with TRIO SSS, DSS and Transportation Services pro-staff members, mentioning the specific student’s situation. The contact attempt was passed over to university spokesperson Michelle Eubanks, Director of University Media & Public Relations.
“The [u]niversity cannot comment on specific student cases; however, I am happy to share more information related to each of these services with you and how they work for the full benefit of students,” Eubanks said.
The Flor-Ala proceeded to ask about services such as the amount of time it takes for DSS accommodations to start, the process involving having a service animal on campus and reasons for banishment. Also, how TRIO SSS cancellation due process looks like, all the services blind students are entitled to through DSS, and more.
The response was, “We provide our students with accommodations and support when needed and help connect them to services through outside organizations and government programs,” Eubanks said. “We take complaints seriously and are unable to comment on the specifics since this is going through the university’s formal complaint and investigation process.”
“I want to make it very, very clear that I love being a student here at UNA and I do not have any problems with UNA as an institution or any person or entity on the academic side of UNA,” Fulmer wrote. “So I am letting you know that UNA has a very significant problem within the leadership of two of [its] most precious assets.”
The investigation process is currently in the hands of University Investigator Dr. John Gurley.