Today is Mandela Day. Folks are celebrating this amazing man around the world. Hearing and seeing these celebrations is inspiring me to reflect on an experience I had a little less than a month ago. The power and wisdom that I felt on that day and with those fellows left memories and an impact on me that feels like …
Category: Higher Education & Student Development
John Paul Usman.
The kind of person that, I could tell from the very beginning, was more interested in giving than receiving. If even in this small way he was going to put others before himself, he did. And we have a lot of memories to thank him for as a result. Instead of being the center of …
Getting to SOCAP ’16.
Before the jump: please consider voting for my session proposal, “Meeting 1 New Person Everyday: Using Everyday Inclusion to Build a Stellar Village Around You” at SOCAP’s 2016 conference in San Francisco this September! Read more about why you should below :) … Social capital. A noun. Definition: the networks of relationships among people who live and …
“It seems like learning has evolved.”
I was recently clicking around cable television, and plopped down on CNBC (don’t ask why). Ironically enough, they were featuring the ol’ alma mater, Virginia Tech, and some of the entrepreneurship initiatives going on at the university. Check out the video, an interview with President Timothy Sands, below.
Inclusion.
You know, there’s a huuuuuge difference between inclusion and diversity. I believe that the idea of diversity simply gets at the idea of people being different. That difference can be defined in many different ways. It can include difference of race, skin color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identification, where someone grew up, what their favorite color …
Universal Design & Access.
Universal access. Think about it. What do those two words really mean? As a disability advocate, those two words are immensely important in the work that I do. I am constantly reminding others, especially those who are able bodied and may be required to provide some sort of accommodation, that the foundation behind universal access is the idea …
12 great reasons to learn American Sign Language.
I was first introduced to American Sign Language (ASL) as a kid in elementary school. Those are the earliest memories that I have of encountering someone who couldn’t hear or speak. My cousin – my aunt’s daughter – was born deaf. Over the years, while I strived to communicate with her in a more authentic …
Paralysis vs. Blackness
For laughs, first, check out this recent skit from SNL. It is SPOT on, if you’ve been paying attention to the popular media lately. As I wrote earlier this month, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that my identity as a man who has paralysis living with him is much stronger than my identity as …