Weekly News Updates

Top News Stories about Disability and Higher Education, February 18–February 24, 2024

• SUNY campuses will be investing almost $10 million annually to improve mental health services at 28 campuses, reaching over 200,000 students across New York.
• Australia has released a plan for the next ten years or more of higher education reform ; it includes need-based funding, with universities receiving more money for the number of “equity students,” including First Nations students and disabled students.
• As a Black Deaf philosophy professor , Teresa Blankmeyer Burke challenges those who see deafness as a hearing “loss” instead of Deaf “gain.”
• After detecting carcinogens in a North Carolina State University building , a local radio station reported that at least 101 people working there had cancer and over a dozen had serious illnesses.
• Can anyone recover from an eating disorder? One DePaul student with anorexia says it’s important to recognize and normalize the ongoing challenges of dealing with this serious mental illness.
• “What is the perfect academic cancer?” Professor Joy Jones-Carmack asked her husband after a diagnosis of breast cancer.
• Holograms are being used on more campuses , and Gallaudet University is among those experimenting with the technology.
• Growing up blind in India , Rajeev Annapragada is now in Columbia University’s MBA program, where mentors, friends, and accommodations are supporting his success.
• Rochester, NY police did not provide an ASL interpreter for Scott Matchett or his Deaf parents, and they believe that led to the death of their son, who was also autistic and dealing with mental illness after he started college.
• The disability discrimination claim of a Howard University student with ADHD and anxiety may move forward; it was wrongfully dismissed using local laws instead of federal ones.

American Sign Language courses are not just about language, but also about culture, human rights, and community, says Deaf ASL Professor Brian Leffler, who won an award for his work at the University of Georgia..

Top News Stories about Disability and Higher Education, February 11–February 17, 2024

• A new student loan program from the Biden Administration will offer debt relief to students with disabilities or “high-cost burdens for essential expenses” including health care.
• Have universities “become senior centers and care homes” run by elderly professors ? Maybe not - some people are concerned about associating age and physical conditions with reduced mental capacity.
• A Master’s in Transition and Accessibility Services in Post Secondary Settings is a new program available at the University of Saint Joseph.
• The final season of the TV show “The Good Doctor” will have a new character playing an autistic medical student.
• The Jewish practice of Shabat helped University of Washington student Sophie Hulet have new perspectives of their chronic illness and an understanding of what they needed for college.
• Fewer than 3% of students with intellectual disabilities in Minnesota attend college, but a new Inclusive Higher Education Consortium hopes to change that.
• Dartmouth has reinstated a policy requiring standardized testing for admissions, but students say it contributes to structural ableism and “measures students’ disabilities, not their abilities.”
• The University of Michigan student government unanimously passed a resolution to set up a disability cultural center.
• Alcohol, pot, and mushrooms helped a college student with epilepsy, who eventually decided to rely on sobriety and “natural charm” to work through social anxiety.
• Already understaffed and underfunded , the University of Washington’s Disability Resource for Students office is seeing faculty rely more on them for things professors could do themselves.
• A change in policy wording was supposed to clarify disability services at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, but some students say it actually creates barriers and rigidity.
• Learn about The Southwest College for the Deaf , one of only three colleges in the U.S. for deaf or hard-of-hearing students.
• If your work and studies are fueled by Starbucks, you’ll be happy to know Starbucks is starting to design “inclusive” stores, and the first one in DC features art by Ryan Seslow, a Deaf art professor .

Top News Stories about Disability and Higher Education, January 28–February 3, 2024

• Utah's Republican governor signed into law an anti-DEI bill for public colleges and universities, after a history of him championing women’s rights and diversity.

• In 1988, University College Dublin set up Ireland’s first disability services while creating a national AHEAD* organization that continues today as an advocate for disabled students.

• Young adult novel Where You See Yourself features a young woman making decisions about college based on wheelchair access while navigating friendships and romance; it just won a prestigious Schneider Family Book Award from the American Library Association.
• Read a summary of a virtual conversation about the politics of disability, Black womanhood, and disability justice at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), with links to information about panelists.
• University of Georgia students with “invisible disabilities” explain what it’s like to be in college, get accommodations, and deal with stigma.
• DisabledinSTEM on X and Purdue University are groups working to make labs accessible for disabled STEM researchers.
• Many college students don’t know how to request accommodations in jobs, but Teen Vogue explains what students need to know and ways to address “structural ableism in the workplace.”
• New research suggests engineering and technical Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses may help students with learning disabilities transition to college.
• The College of Saint Rose’s program for students with intellectual disabilities will continue in New York despite the college closing, moving to Russell Sage College.
• Binghamton University has a new Neurodiversity Club , which meets regularly with the existing Disabled Student Union and American Sign Language (ASL) Club.

* AHEAD in Ireland is not affiliated with the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD) in the United States

Top News Stories about Disability and Higher Education, January 21–27, 2024

• A new director of disability, culture, and inclusion has started at Johns Hopkins University, and he brings his own experiences as a disabled first-generation college student to his work.
• Students experiencing discrimination have more severe mental health concerns compared to their peers, according to a new report from Penn State University (click here to go directly to the report ).
• The blind professor leading Australian group Universities Enable says universities need more involvement of disabled academics and a community-led advisory mechanism for implementing disability policy.
• Disability studies in Serbia is expanding, thanks to work by the University of Novi Sad, Penn State Leigh Valley, and CUNY.
• Some seminaries have added courses or degrees on disability theology and ministry.
• Even when Deaf Filipinos make it to university , there’s usually no access to interpreters or other services.
• The Youth Disability Advocacy and Research Network at Bournemouth University in the UK works on disability issues in East Africa; they have published videos of Disability and Media workshops held last year.

Top News Stories about Disability and Higher Education, November 26–December 2, 2023

• How can Black people heal from the psychological, physical, and emotional experiences of racism? Professor Charmeka Newton at the University of North Dakota has developed a toolkit for individual use.
• “Postvention” policies help colleges deal with a student’s death by suicide , but most campuses don’t have anything in place.
• An “academic doula” at the University of California Davis is helping faculty deal with the anxiety and stress of pregnancy and returning to academia after parental leaves.
• Campus presidents don’t talk about mental health , so former Grinnell College President Raynard Kington comes out and offers advice for presidents and trustees.
• Learn the basics about inclusive higher education and how it works, with an article from the director of the program at Kennesaw State University.
• Two autistic professors share their experiences: An autistic professor of midwifery in the UK has tips for more inclusive courses; and being a neurodivergent professor in academia can be challenging , says Simone Brixius-Anderko from the University of Pittsburgh.
• Governors need to update career and technical education strategic plans , says the U.S. Department of Education; 37% of CTE students have disabilities.
• A scathing special report by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) reviews the ways politics have affected academic freedom and DEI work (including disability).
• As a senior, Taliah Carmona is reflective about being hard of hearing and how her perspective changed her years at LeMoyne College.
• With the anime A Sign of Affection movie coming on in January, follow-up volumes six and seven have been published faster than usual - read the Manga Review to learn more (it has spoilers!)

Top News Stories about Disability and Higher Education, October 22–28, 2023

• “Generation P” is entering college and admissions officers are adapting to consider the academic, social, and emotional setbacks students experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• New Jersey’s Division of Civil Rights has entered into a Consent Decree with Mercer County Community College after an employee with COVID-19 was fired instead of getting an extended medical leave or accommodation to work remotely.
• Nearly half of adjunct faculty said they had such low salaries that they postponed necessary health care and mental health services , according to a new American Federation of Teachers survey.
• The Netflix series Sex Education has started its final season , with the main characters going to college, where they learn about disability rights and accessibility.
• Two college soccer players helped Team USA win gold in the Deaf Olympics: Spring Arbor University’s Paige Beaudry and Lafayette College’s Ani Khachadourian .
• In a recent survey, 75% of faculty had conversations with students about mental health , but only half believed they could recognize a student in crisis.
• The University of Toldeo’s law school has a new Disability and Education Law Association for students.
• A cyberbreach at the University of Michigan led to an Internet shutdown after hackers accessed personal information for 230,000 students, staff, and faculty, including health information.
• Colleges and universities in New Jersey must implement comprehensive suicide prevention and mental health programs beginning in fall of 2024.
• First-year Grinnell College student Eliza Cline shares her perceptions of ableism on campus and how the Disability Cultural Association is addressing it.
• A promotional video is available for the upcoming Japanese movie A Sign of Affection (Yubisaki to Renren ), which will debut in the U.S. in January 2024; the story follows a Deaf college student and her romance with a hearing upperclassman.
• The annual Deaf Town event at Ohio State University required nonverbal communication, with a “Town Jail” for people who used their voices.

Top News Stories about Disability and Higher Education, October 1–14, 2023

• A new debt relief plan for student loans is coming together at the US Dept. of Education, with a focus on borrowers qualifying for partial or full cancellation of debt due to “hardship”, including medical debt, chronic illness, and whether a borrower is on Medicaid.
• Chelsea Reinschmidt went to the UK for a graduate degree, but now the University of Brighton says they will only fund interpreters for 25% of her degree program, meaning it’s likely she will be deported back to the U.S.
• Emergency COVID funds have had a permanent positive impact in some aspects of higher education , including raised awareness of students’ mental health needs and innovative programs to address them.
• News about the anti-DEI movement in higher education:
  • Draft regulations for Florida’s anti-DEI legislation are available , and while banning “diversity, equity, and inclusion activities” and “political or social activism,” the law exempts programs to help students with “unique abilities” (i.e., a euphemism the Florida state government traditionally uses for disabled students).
  • Dr. Viki Peer shares her experiences teaching a “Gender and Disability” course at New College of Florida as the campus transitioned under Governor DeSantis.
• Disabled drivers at University of Wisconsin campuses can be fined if they park without a campus disability parking pass, but Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill requiring UW to honor state disability cards or license plates, regardless of whether the person has University permits.
• In Columbia, Jesion Aristizábal is setting up a university for disabled people like himself—he was a CNN Hero of the Year in 2016.
• A lawsuit alleges the Peace Corps is discriminating against applicants with disabilities —especially those with mental illnesses.
• Nicholas Gregorich graduated from Clemson University with his doctorate in chemical engineering , with mentors encouraging him to keep going during a long and complicated road filled with multiple mental health leaves and struggles to stay in school.
• A new report outlines more equitable ways to provide dual enrollment programs; the report does not specifically address students with disabilities, but it’s based on the authors’ research showing students with disabilities are only 3.9% of dual-enrollment students.
• Gallaudet University’s football team are testing helmets that have captioned messages for the quarterback visible inside the helmet; CNN has a video showing how the helmet works .

Top News Stories about Disability and Higher Education, September 24–30, 2023

• New College of Florida has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education over allegations of disability discrimination in its websites and communication; a separate complaint was also filed last month regarding the college’s alleged “overly hostile actions” on the basis of race, gender, religion, LGBTQ+ identification, and disability.
• The Amherst student newspaper is kicking off a new column by Willow Delp called “Anti-Ableist Amherst” by arguing for a disability cultural center for neurodiverse and disabled students.
• A planning guide from the Think College National Coordinating Center offers information and advice for new inclusive higher education programs serving students with intellectual disabilities.
• Joshua Nicholson shares his experience as an autistic student at the University of Michigan , saying there needs to be more improvements — a campus survey showed disabled students at the University are 291% more likely than nondisabled students to report experiences of discrimination.
• A report from Canada suggests ways to support neurodevelopmental disabilities and mental health of Indigenous people in various aspects of society, including education.
• New federal guidance for promoting diversity and guidance for banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs do not mention disability as part of DEI; meanwhile students at the University of Iowa are actively working to include disability as part of campus diversity.
• Results of the 2023 Student Voice survey by Inside Higher Ed examined how chronic stress is affecting mental health, and some of the findings are: only 15% of college students said their mental health was excellent, half of the students with “poor” mental health haven’t accessed campus mental health resources, and only 27% of all students knew where to get help.
• Fort Lewis College staff member Ally Gee is raising awareness of people with hearing loss at the college and within the Navajo Nation .
• A new DO-IT webpage lists resources supporting the universal design of projects, conference exhibits, presentations, and professional organizations.

Top News Stories about Disability and Higher Education, September 17–23, 2023

• Yale is no longer requiring students with medical leaves to completely withdraw and reapply for admission, after a combination of a recent student suicide, student activism, and a legal settlement forced the change.
• In her new memoir, actress Kerry Washington talks about having an eating disorder during college.
• Prospective college students want to stand out in their college admissions essays, but they shouldn’t feel pushed to write about past traumas , says an op-ed in Teen Vogue.
• Students, faculty, and staff can all experience menopause , but higher education is not always a supportive place to share experiences, deal with symptoms like anxiety and depression, or adjust thermostats to “turn down the goddamn heat.”
• A free “Certificate in Inclusive Excellence” at Augusta University will help faculty and staff learn more about inclusion; the certificate includes disability awareness and suicide prevention courses.
• Two new centers in higher education are working on disability issues:
  1. Northwestern University’s Center for Racial and Disability Justice promotes “justice for people of color, people with disabilities, and individuals at the intersection of race and disability.”
  2. The Center for Virtual Care Value and Equity at the University of North Carolina will include research to improve equity in virtual mental health care for college students.
• Learn about Usher Syndrome , the leading cause of deaf-blindness, and two women who used accommodations during and after college.
• As summers get longer and hotter, air conditioning in dorms is becoming a necessity for people with and without disabilities and health conditions.
• Binghamton College is setting up additional funding for services including mental health, disability services, adaptive technology, and transition, with the purpose of showing “disability awareness and action is a campus-wide effort and priority.”
• Deion Sanders’ daughter Shelomi is using her Instagram account to post about having Type I diabetes while attending and playing basketball at the University of Colorado.
• A new Service Dog Club at the University of Tennessee brings together students who use service animals on campus.

Also of note: People who use American Sign Language can now access ASL services at the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by going to 988lifeline.org or calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255) with a VideoPhone (VP). The NCCSD will soon be adding this to our list of crisis resources at https://nccsd.ici.umn.edu/crisis-resources.

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