A group of special education students are frustrated and disappointed after Cal State East Bay informed them they will not get to walk across the stage during this weekend's graduation ceremonies.
The college said the students did not meet graduation requirements.
"They were told that they are graduating and would have a ceremony," said Anita Ng, a parent of one of the students. "That makes them feel like they are included in the community. Now you're telling them you guys did not finish a diploma. You guys are not the same."
Ng's 29-year-old son, Darren, is one of three students graduating from the university's Intellectual and Development Disabilities Program called Think by the Bay. The students are the first group to complete the two-year program that launched in 2023. But because the group will not be receiving degrees, the university said the students are not eligible to walk in graduation.
"If even in school you can not include them and treat them like everybody else, how would you expect the outside would accept them?" Ng said.
Advocates of the program said the school is failing to be inclusive.
Kristen Vogel-Campbell organized a petition pushing the university to change its decision. She said the denial goes against recommendations from the state's center for inclusive colleges.
"A public university that prides itself on access and opportunity to then go ahead and say, well, you know, we'll take your tuition money, but we're not going to have space for you at this commencement ceremony -- it sends a really damaging message," said Vogel-Campbell, a board member at CSUEB's Center for Disability Justice Research.
Cal State East Bay said it plans commencement a year in advance.
In a statement, the university said the students do not meet the requirements to be eligible to participate in commencement. The statement goes on to say they have worked to offer options to celebrate the students.
Think by the Bay students were honored Tuesday in an informal graduation ceremony, but Vogel-Campbell said regardless of the university's reasoning, students should have been able to celebrate with everyone else.
"We're talking about three students and their families," Vogel-Campbell said. "So this is getting 10 or 12 chairs and just putting them there. And recognizing this, you know, would take 5 or 10 minutes tops in the commencement ceremony."
Commencement ceremonies will continue through the weekend. The group is hoping the university will change its mind in time for Saturday's ceremony.