Disabled Student Union (formerly Disability Cultural Center)
Overview
Project Partner: Disabled Student Union (DSU)
The Disabled Student Union in a student-led initiative for disabled students to advocate for themselves on-campus. Together, we created a website, email, mission statement, logo, and other imperatives to grow their presence and advocacy power at UCSC.
Project Description
Tech Tools Used: Google Sites, Adobe Suite (Photoshop)
For this project, we collaborated with the Disabled Student Union (DSU) in order to expand accessibility and combat ableism on-campus. We developed an accessible, intuitive website and online presence that put value on disabled students abilities, values, and concerns. To do this, we focused on the needs of disabled students and talked about what did and did not work for them within the traditional paradigm that is expected of students on-campus and online. We hope our deliverables can help current and future disabled students navigate the rigors of college within a community of peers who are passionate about advocating for each other.
Project Deliverables
We developed an accessible, user-friendly website, social media presence, email address, official logo, flyers, video content, as well as core identifying language like the group's mission statement.
Project Outcomes
After developing a learning relationship with the students at the DSU, we created a series of deliverables that emphasized the altruistic intentions of the DSU cohort. The website, email, key language (i.e., mission statement), content, and other deliverables, can act as a foundation for future DSU members to engage with the larger student body. Ultimately, shaping the culture of academia on campus to be more accessible and inclusive.
Project Milestones
Our major milestone was pivoting the identity of the group from the Disability Cultural Center (DCC) to the Disabled Student Union (DSU). In shifting the identity and praxis of the organization, we were able to better collectivize our efforts and steer the mission in a direction that was more unified and intentional. The final milestone was being able to shift the content and deliverables from being DCC specific to DSU specific.
Lessons Learned
Heads
My partner organization taught me that intentional organization, efficiency, and collaboration are imperative in making projects like this happen in a sustainable way.
Injustice and inequity for Disabled students at UCSC looks like (but is not limited to): lack of access to places on campus, lack of resources for academics, a struggle to find friendship and community, and lack of resources for navigating UC logistics regarding enrollment and student standing. Because social organizing of students with disabilities is left up to disabled students, it can be tough to make sustainable efforts happen while academics are also being navigated.
Hands
In embracing the wants and needs of this student organization, it was important to prioritize shifting to accommodate the vision of this student body. Tech helped us create the website, video, and media. It also helped us meet over Zoom when folks couldn’t meet in person. However, tech also created contemporary walls or boundaries between each other that created incentives for us not to meet in person. Yet it also made it possible for us to do this work with the other responsibilities we were juggling other school-work. My biggest takeaway in navigating a “tech for change” environment was that I much prefer the creative elements of tech. Most importantly, I deeply value and do the best advocacy work when collaborating with people one-on-one in social and emotional support frameworks.
Hearts
While I enjoy making the video, creating a sustainable work and collaborative environment, I found challenges in learning multiple applications at once. Yet the division of labor and playing to each others strengths was another aspect of the overall project. My collaborator, Kylie, possessed strengths in the tech tools that served as a great counterpoint. She had a great design sense as well which helped inform what I did.
A key take away from the project experience reminded me to take breaths, pause, and move forward at a sustainable pace. I also made certain to think of the positive change that could come from students in need getting access to imperative resources.
