Georgetown Somehow Deemed Accommodations for Pregnant Students ‘Inequitable’

Brittany Lovely is a 34-year-old second-year law student at Georgetown University. She’s also pregnant — due to give birth to her first child on December 2, a birth date that coincides with Georgetown’s final exam period of December 6–13. When Lovely asked law-school administrators if she could take the exam early in the finals period, or from home, her request was initially denied. Only after students started a petition in support of Lovely did administrators reconsider.

Originally, Lovely was told that it would be “inequitable to other non-birthing students in her class,” she told the Washington Post in an interview. A school official “alluded [that] I should have planned better” and told Lovely that “motherhood is not for the faint of heart,” she said in the interview. Georgetown lists on its website a number of adjustments it allows pregnant students, including “excusing absences due to pregnancy or related conditions,” “submitting work after a deadline missed due to pregnancy or childbirth,” and “providing alternatives to make up missed work,” but caveats that such accommodations are allowed on a case-by-case basis. Georgetown is “committed to creating an accessible and inclusive environment for pregnant and parenting students,” it also says on a Pregnancy & Parenting Related Support webpage.

About the Author

Haley Strack

Haley Strack is a former staff writer at National Review.

Featured Tags

Georgetown University

Brittany Lovely is a 34-year-old second-year law student at Georgetown University. She’s also pregnant — due to give birth to her first child on December 2, a birth date that coincides with Georgetown’s final exam period of December 6–13. When Lovely asked law-school administrators if she could take the exam early in the finals period, or from home, her request was initially denied. Only after students started a petition in support of Lovely did administrators reconsider.

Originally, Lovely was told that it would be “inequitable to other non-birthing students in her class,” she told the Washington Post in an interview. A school official “alluded [that] I should have planned better” and told Lovely that “motherhood is not for the faint of heart,” she said in the interview. Georgetown lists on its website a number of adjustments it allows pregnant students, including “excusing absences due to pregnancy or related conditions,” “submitting work after a deadline missed due to pregnancy or childbirth,” and “providing alternatives to make up missed work,” but caveats that such accommodations are allowed on a case-by-case basis. Georgetown is “committed to creating an accessible and inclusive environment for pregnant and parenting students,” it also says on a Pregnancy & Parenting Related Support webpage.