A campus program for students with disabilities at the University of California, Berkeley is being accused of conning the government for funds.
TRiO, the campus program aimed at serving low-income, first-generation-to-college disabled students, has allegedly been faking the number of students that it benefits, according to UC Berkeley’s student paper. The program receives $300,902 in federal funds and claims to be assisting 250 disabled students on campus — but sources say up to 205 of them are misreported.
This came to light after a campus program coordinator and Disabilities Students’ Program director found conflicting statements on the program’s federal documents, which reportedly could not account for 205 of the students it claims to service. Several students who are listed as program beneficiaries said they never signed up for the program and are not receiving benefits.
Despite the far-left California campus being a space where government programs are generally welcome, students are expressing feelings of betrayal at the corrupt allocation of their taxpayer funds. Some are realizing that more government funding does not always result in benefits for all students, if for any.
“When our campus has a storied history of disabilities rights activism, it comes as a particular disappointment that DSP programs are consistently mismanaged or even cut,” a campus paper op-ed states. “While the campus has skirted responsibility in the past because of inadequate state funding, this classic excuse does not apply to TRiO. The blame falls on the poorly run yet sufficiently funded program itself.”
The program only received six requests for its tutoring services, and only eight to ten students have been accounted for at TRiO events over the course of an entire year.
The Bay Area, described by a student as a “mecca for disability rights,” is expected to see protests over this.
