The Student Government Association (SGA) announced the formation of a new Americans with Disabilities Association (ADA) task force, led by Undergraduate Student Advocate Annie Wasinger.
According to the executive order signed by Student Body President Kylee Hower, the purpose of the task force is to “champion the rights of students with disabilities … as well as working towards fostering a sense of disability pride on campus.”
Wasinger said ADA compliance ties directly to disability pride.
“If the school isn’t accessible, you’re not going to see people with disabilities, then there’s nothing to be proud about,” Wasinger said. “When I was first coming on (to campus) it was more of a buzzword than anything else.”
Wasinger has previously spoken at Senate meetings about her concerns about ADA compliance on campus. She said she has been trying to form a task force since 2021. Previous student body administrations denied her requests for the task force.
Wasinger said that anyone who is passionate about disabilities can join the task force, or talk to them and SGA about their concerns.
“We are trying to make it as collaborative as we can, disability is so broad,” Wasinger said.
Currently, Disability Rights, Education, Activism, and Mentorship (D.R.E.A.M.) President Zaylee Bell and accessibility liaison Ashlyn Wheeler are a part of the task force. Crissy Magee, the ADA/504 coordinator on campus, and Robin Henry, an associate professor and interim chair of Women’s Ethnicity, and Intersectional Studies, are also on the team.
Wasinger said the task force plans to address common concerns that members of D.R.E.A.M. have noticed since being on campus.
“I think that sitting down and just hearing each other’s sides will really help things to click into place,” Wasinger said. “Some of those nuanced perspectives (that) you wouldn’t even think about.”
Looking ahead to the next semester and beyond, Wasinger and other members of the task force hope to create hubs and spaces specifically for students with disabilities to enhance their collegiate experience.
“Some universities have disability cultural centers, and they do so much,” Wasinger said. “I really want our campus to be something like that, and it does all start with accessibility.”
Ann • Dec 18, 2024 at 3:03 am
It’ll be an uphill battle, your library dean hadn’t even HEARD of the word “neurodiversity” until last semester. He actually laughed the first time he heard it and said “neurodi-what???”