Opinion: Epilepsy, my life-threatening condition, is not your ‘undue burden’

The University of Notre Dame accepted James for this year’s freshman class. It was his first choice for an undergraduate education. No financial issues blocked him from going, no last-minute academic problems emerged during his final days of high school. But James is not attending Notre Dame; he is now a student at another top university. He was forced elsewhere because Notre Dame insisted that, to join the class, James (not his real name) had to increase his risk of dying.

James has epilepsy. When struck by convulsions, he falls unconscious for as much as three minutes, loses control of his bladder and bowels, and often vomits. Afterward, he remains disoriented for some time, unable to speak, with the right side of his body partially paralyzed. His condition is covered by the , the 1990 anti-discrimination law that required Notre Dame — which did not know about James’s epilepsy when he was accepted — to accommodate needs presented by the