Wolford pens article on NC State’s disability services

From the University Archives Photograph Collection, an image of a student in wheelchair on campus, taken circa 1977 to 1981.

From the University Archives Photograph Collection, an image of a student in wheelchair on campus, taken circa 1977 to 1981.

The SCRC’s Taylor Wolford wrote an article for NC State News about the gradual expansion of university services for students with disabilities. Amplifying the December 3 International Day of Persons with Disabilities, “Breaking Barriers” traces our campus history of opening the NC State experience to all students regardless of abilities.

Leveraging resources in the university archives, Wolford begins with the first record of students with disabilities at NC State—roughly 200 veterans returning from WWI service who were enrolled in a rehabilitation program from 1919 to 1925. The university broadened its support of veterans after WWII and expanded it into the full university in response to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Students began driving more changes over the next several decades, culminating in a partnership between the Handicapped Services Office and the Student Organization for the Differently Abled (SODA) and a peaceful demonstration at the Free Expression Tunnel in 1989. By 2006, the university gave the tunnel a comprehensive $2 million renovation to meet standards set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990.

Wolford brings NC State’s efforts up to the present day, highlighting the work of the Pack disAbility Advocacy Club (PAAC) and university initiatives such as Wolfpack Pick Up and Students Moving Forward.