One of my favorite things about Princeton is the opportunity to meet with students from diverse backgrounds and engage with different facets of your identity. Coming into Princeton, I knew I wanted to find a space where I felt comfortable engaging in my identity as an individual with a disability, which is how I found Princeton’s AccessAbility Center. Now working as one of the center’s fellows, I get to advocate and celebrate the disabled community at Princeton in a space where I feel at home.
Founded in 2017, the AccessAbility Center (AccessAbility Center | Office of Disability Services (princeton.edu)) is a physical space in the Frist Campus Center designed to raise awareness for students with disabilities. Unlike the Office of Disability Services (ODS) (Office of Disability Services (princeton.edu)) that focuses on the logistics of accommodations, the AccessAbility Center is a student-run space designed to build community around disability through study breaks, student spotlights, and education programs hosted by the fellows. The fellows are a group of approximately six undergraduate students selected based on their passion and ideas for disability advocacy on campus who determine what events the center holds. When we aren’t hosting events at the center, students can take advantage of the quiet study room, adjustable desks, and comfortable seating areas designed to accommodate a wide range of individuals.
When I was searching for schools, I knew I wanted a place where disability was not only accommodated but also celebrated as I navigated having a chronic illness in college. I am glad to say I have found that place through the AccessAbility Center. Through our student spotlights, we invite students who are connected to disability (whether it is through research, lived experience, or witnessed experience) an opportunity to share with other community members openly. Providing the opportunity for disability to become more visible on campus has been one of my greatest joys and was something I did not experience before coming to Princeton. I even met one of my closest friends while attending a student spotlight focused on concussions, allowing us to connect over our shared experience of brain injury.
Beyond our center-run events, we also collaborate with other peer groups on campus like the Peer Health Advisors and Residential College Advisors to discuss how we can adapt their programming to include all of the students at Princeton, regardless of ability. We also just rolled out our Allies for Access training program which has enabled members of the broader Princeton community the opportunity to hear directly from students about how they can best support campus members living with a disability. Advocating for the identity of disability to become more visible on campus is one of the reasons why I am so proud to work in the AccessAbility Center.
The five other fellows (Meet Our Fellows | Office of Disability Services (princeton.edu)) with whom I have the pleasure of working have made me feel at home at Princeton and supported me every step of the way. As I finish my second year as a fellow, I feel incredibly grateful to have found a community and place on campus where disability is celebrated, and I cannot wait to see how it continues to grow during the remainder of my time at Princeton and beyond.