Saint Louis University’s DICE Division Plans Retreat for Students With Disabilities
For the first time in SLU’s history, the Division of Diversity and Innovative Community Engagement is currently in the works of setting up a retreat for students with disabilities. The initiative is being spearheaded by Erica McBride. McBride is the Martin Luther King Scholar and SafeZone programs coordinator for the Cross Cultural Center, an office under DICE. The idea came to McBride for the retreat due to a class she is currently taking centered around disability in higher education. McBride stated, “Something I have been noticing a lot is we have a lot of retreats on campus that deal with identity-based students, and we have never had anyone say anything for students with disabilities.”
While making plans for how the retreat would run for McBride and the DICE division, it was imperative to get an understanding of what students with disabilities would need from students with disabilities themselves. According to the World Health Organization, “A disability is any condition of the body or mind (impairment) that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world around them (participation restrictions).” The diversity of disabilities was a crucial consideration in the beginning planning of the retreat. DICE’s Assistant Vice President for Accessibility, Allison Brewer, detailed that when organizing events for students with disabilities, it is important to ask the right questions. They state when coming up with accessibility measures one must ask, “accessible for who? Just because it is accessible for one person does not mean it is for another.” Brewer is also a member of the disability community as they are autistic and have narcolepsy with cataplexy.
To achieve their desire to get input from students with disabilities, McBride sent out a survey for students with disabilities on what they would like to see from the retreat. She utilized the help of SLU’s Center for Accessibility and Disability Resources in making the survey to ensure she was asking the necessary questions. Below, McBride describes some of the survey results and her vision for how she would like the retreat to be built in addition to why she thinks it is important for DICE to take on disability initiatives.
Click the embered here for the transcription of the above audio.
McBride hopes that the retreat will “promote empowerment, a sense of belonging, and have a space where people can come together to talk about issues they may have and their identities in a positive light.” A sense of belonging and community can be sparse for people with disabilities in educational settings. Sarah Gosch, a senior studying occupational therapy, is also the president of SLU’s Beyond Ability group. The group is dedicated to making SLU a more accessible place through monthly meetings and volunteering. She cited a source from the University of Rhode Island when discussing how students with disabilities experience community on college campuses. Gosch paraphrased from the study stating, “Students who found a sense of belonging with those around them elevated their confidence and self-advocacy. One student said that when they developed a sense of belonging, they were able to step up and get what they needed to do well.”
The issue of a lack of sense of belonging can be prevalent, for as many as 25% of people with disabilities pursue higher education. For Saint Louis University first-year Grace Lopiccolo, the difficulty of forming a community with other students and other students with disabilities has been a part of Lopiccolo’s whole educational career. Lopiccolo has a form of muscular dystrophy and currently serves on the Student Government Association as Senator of Opportunity and Ability. Lopiccolo detailed being the only student with a visible disability in her high school and having to find community elsewhere.“I found other places. I went to camps and was involved with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Through these groups, I gained the confidence to share. If I had not been a part of those groups, I would not be as involved [with disability activism] as I am.” Although Lopiccolo has not had a community experience in a school setting, she thinks this retreat has the potential to create that environment. She stated, “This reminds me a lot of the camp I went to. I think it would be impactful to build community not only with my peers but also people in higher education positions with disabilities. I believe this will help us understand that we can succeed in what we put our minds to and that the ceiling is not the limit.”
Although a retreat for students with disabilities has not been conducted at SLU, other universities have put on similar initiatives for their students. In 2014, Duke University conducted a nationwide disability retreat called “Beyond Disability, Beyond Compliance.” Several other universities were also in attendance. The goal of the initiative was to a create way for students with disabilities to come together and talk about how they can move beyond compliance to create a better social experience for students with disabilities on campuses. The event was a success as 80 different students and faculty came together to discuss the ways they could move beyond disability compliance laws and make their school more socially engaging for students with disabilities.
Even though there is no documentation if the event occurred again, the leaders of the event were satisfied. SLU’s DICE team hopes that this retreat will be repeated for years to come and create a place for better agency and community for students with disabilities. There is no current date for the retreat, but the information session will be held in spring 2023.
Looking Ahead
In addition to the initiative by Erica McBride, other faculty and staff are currently working to make SLU a more accessible and welcoming environment for students with disabilities. Brewer, who started their job in April 2022, is currently working on data gathering. This practice will help get Brewer and the DICE team a baseline understanding of the current SLU student population with disabilities, as well as the improvements they need to make to ensure SLU is an accessible and welcoming campus for all.
For Brewer, to make SLU a more accessible and equitable place, there needs to be a cultural shift. According to Brewer, currently in society the understanding of disability is the social model of disability. They stated that “this is the idea that our environment is disabling and if we shift our environments to be accessible for who is most impacted by those barriers, then we have the access and an ability to self determine.” Brewer detailed that this shift is big and will take a lot of work, including “intentional movement and coalition building with all stakeholders.” Brewer and other members of the DICE team are currently working on strategic planning to make this movement and coalition building happen. Listen below to what Brewer hopes for the future of SLU’s campus culture for students with disabilities.
Click the link below for the transcription of the above audio:
One SLU student is doing exactly what Brewer implores of younger people with disabilities. Lopiccolo, utilizing her position in the Student Government Association, recently put forth a resolution stating all of the ways that SLU’s campus needs to be improved to be accessible for students with all different kinds of disabilities. The resolution detailed needed access to golf cart rides to class while also discussing many inaccessible doors and non-working elevators. The resolution passed on Dec. 7, 2022, and was sent to Saint Louis University President Fred Pestello and Sarah Cunningham, Vice President of Student Development, for their consideration.
