By Elizabeth Fitzpatrick
Features Editor
Abilities United, a club that promotes accessibility and inclusivity on campus, hosted a movie night on March 4. The club showed the documentary film “Crip Camp,” which follows a group who met at a camp for disabled teens and later became influential activists in the disability rights movement.
Through activities like the movie night, Abilities United hopes to highlight the importance of disability rights and advocate for students on campus.
“There [were] a lot of students with disabilities, especially invisible disabilities, that didn’t have a space to be together. Our goal here is to educate but also to unite disabled and non-disabled students and faculty on campus. To come together and work together to learn [and] educate…the campus as a whole,” club president junior Olivia Calvert said.
Calvert shared that some of her long-term goals for the club include improving accessibility, particularly in regards to transportation.
“Right now, SafeRide doesn’t include an accessible transportation shuttle…It needs to be readily available,” Calvert said.
Calvert also serves as the Accessibility Chair for the Student Government Association. Through both roles, she has tried to find the most effective path forward for ensuring accessibility on campus for all students.
If Abilities United does well and receives student interest, they will be able to apply for club status through the SGA for next semester, which comes with a larger budget that Calvert hopes to put toward improving accessible transportation.
Since Calvert is a junior, she wants to leave behind a legacy and ensure that her fight for accessibility does not end when she graduates.
“Hopefully within the next year I can get some things started and hopefully underclassmen will take over the club and get to move our initiative to further improve campus accessibility. I hope that more disabled students—prospective students—will be more interested in coming to campus,” Calvert said.
Calvert and vice president junior Madisyn White both emphasized that the club is open to anyone, regardless of disability status.
“We just want to help out for anybody else who’s struggling, let them know that there’s people that there’s people out there they can talk to, hang out with, get to know,” White said. “If anybody wants to bring up any issues they’re having on campus, we’re here to help advocate for them as well.”
Abilities United’s upcoming events include a game night on March 26 at 7 p.m. in the Egg. There will be bingo and disability themed trivia, with prizes including books by disabled authors and fidget toys. For the rest of the semester, the club hopes to host general discussion meetings and events to celebrate Autism Acceptance Month in April.
“Don’t be scared to come out and engage with the disabled community. Even if you’re not disabled, come learn,” Calvert said.
Photo Caption: Vice President Madisyn White, President Olivia Calvert, and Social Media Chair and Elm Staff Writer Hope Benjamin founded the club to promote accessibility for all.
Photo courtesy of Hope Benjamin