Director of Student Accessibility Support Beth Rodgers-Kay is retiring after 14 years at Brandeis, Dean of Academic Services Erika Smith wrote in a Sept. 6 email to the Justice. Rodgers-Kay’s last day “will be around the middle of this month,” per the email. The news has not been announced publicly to the student body.

Rodgers-Kay’s role as director of SAS was to meet with students with disabilities to determine the accommodations and services that would help them succeed at Brandeis. 

Elijah Harrison ’21 told the Justice he had been meeting with Rodgers-Kay since last semester as he reintegrated into the school after a two-year medical leave for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Harrison said that when he came back to the University again this fall, he tried to make an appointment with Rodgers-Kay to discuss his accommodations but was told she was out of office for the week. He scheduled the appointment for Sept. 2, but when he arrived at the SAS office that day, he was told by the receptionist that Rodgers-Kay was out for the day. Harrison said he was not told beforehand that his appointment had been cancelled.

Accessibility Specialist for Graduate Students Scott Lapinski took Harrison’s meeting shortly after and told him that he would be taking over Harrison's case and that Rodgers-Kay had retired. “It seemed very sudden,” Harrison said, explaining that he got that impression from his difficulty scheduling an appointment with SAS and from Lapinski’s account. Harrison said that Lapinski told him that the SAS office was surprised by and unprepared for Rodgers-Kay’s retirement. 

According to Smith’s email, SAS will begin looking for a replacement for Rodgers-Kay next week. “She is working closely with us to transition her projects, and more importantly, support for students with whom she has worked,” Smith wrote.

While SAS conducts a search for Rodgers-Kay’s successor, Smith added, “our excellent staff will continue to work hard to serve students’ needs.”

This is a developing story. More information will be published in coming issues.