After winning the first phase of a disability discrimination lawsuit against the University, junior nursing student Valerie Rebmann was granted permission to enroll in Clinical 1 on April 10. Rebmann, who has epilepsy, was originally barred from the class because nursing faculty members feared her disorder would interfere with her practice and be a threat to patients. After D.C. Superior Court issued a restraining order on the University in late March, Rebmann was allowed to participate in the class.

Rebmann has received treatment for complex partial seizure disorder since age six. She suffers several seizures a week, lasting 5-15 seconds, usually during sleep. The seizures impair her speech, but she remains fully conscious, able to hear and respond to people around her. The nursing school was aware of her condition, but when Director of the Baccalaureate program in nursing Carolyn D'Avis witnessed Rebmann in a rare daytime seizure Feb. 27, Rebmann was informed by d'Avis that she was unfit for the clinical program and would not be allowed to take the class. Her seizures were considered a violation of the Safe Practice Policy, which states that "every client has the right to a reasonably competent nurse."

Without Clinical 1, Rebmann would not be able to earn a degree in Nursing. She and her attorney, Diane Seltzer, spoke with Dean of Students Margaret Higgins and University Counsel Craig Parker, inviting them to interview Rebmann's personal physician, Brian Litt, about her condition. The University refused to speak with Litt, saying the situation needed to be settled with a physician from George Washington Hospital, where the clinical class would occur.

Because Parker and Higgins would not accept Rebmann into the class until she was "seizure-free" and would not speak with her physician, Rebmann filed a lawsuit against the University in mid-March. The D.C. Superior Courts issued a two-week restraining order on the University on March 22-23.

Rebmann and her attorney filed for a preliminary injunction hearing, but days before the hearing, a neurologist from George Washington certified Rebmann for the program, and the University had no grounds for further restraining her. On April 10, the University permitted Rebmann to participate in the clinical. She will finish the class this semester, making up the two clinical sessions that she missed.

Although Rebmann accomplished her goal when she was allowed to return to the class, the lawsuit will continue in a disability discrimination suit against the University and D'Avis in particular for an unspecified limit of monetary damages. The court date is set for June. Rebmann says the lawsuit "isn't a vengeful thing" and that she "just wanted to get [the nursing] degree." Although she has considered transferring out of Catholic, Rebmann said, "right now, I'm going about studying and learning ... I'm here."

Parker said the University was disappointed with Rebmann's decision to take the issue to the D.C. Superior courts since "the student chose to engage a lawyer at a time when the university was attempting to coordinate a response that would accommodate the student ... and still protect the safety of patients while allowing the student to continue pursuing her degree." However, although Rebmann reports "tension" between herself and D'Avis, Parker says "the University has been careful to protect the student's confidentiality and has continued to provide support and services to the student."

Seltzer said that "for someone (Rebmann's) age to have to fight for an education she has been paying for was shocking" and that Rebmann has "remained focused on her goal." Rebmann says "my purpose is: I want to be a nurse." She plans to work with epileptic patients after earning her degree.