4A - Thursday, March 27, 2014

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

4A - Thursday, March 27, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

PEACECORPS
From Page 2A
the School or Education, the
School of Nursing, the School
of Social Work and the School
ofArt and Design.
Holloway and Jeffrey
MacKie-Mason, dean of the
School of Information, signed
the agreements with Carrie
Hessler-Radelet, acting direc-
tor ofthe Peace Corps.
"The School of Information
is committed to giving students
opportunities to help people
use information, with technol-
ogy, to build a better world,"
MacKie-Mason wrote in a
pressrelease. "ThePeace Corps
offers students an unparalleled
chance to put that knowledge
into practice, creating innova-
tive solutions to help others."'
University alum Gabriel
Krieshok, who served with
the Peace Corps in Madagas-

car, said in a press release his
experience allowed him to see
the impact technology has on a
community.
"The University of Michi-
gan's School of Information
afforded me the tools and
hands-on experience to make
an impact on international
development issues," Krie-
shok said.
The University frequently,
ranks as a top contributor
of Peace Corps participants.
Last year, the University
placed fifth nationally and
third among Big Ten schools,
trailing the University of
Wisconsin and Ohio State
University. In 2013, 81 gradu-
ates went on to work for the
Peace Corps.
The University has histori-
cally maintained strong ties to
the Peace Corps since its cre-
ation, which President John
F. Kennedy announced on the
steps of the Michigan Union in
1960.

BOARD
From Page1A
dents who discussed living with dis-
abilities as part of the SSD Student
Advisory Board event speakABLE
at Hatcher Graduate Library where
each student spoke individually
about their experiences.
Kapur discussed his frustration
with being rejected after 22 consec-
utive job interviews. As a Ross stu-
dent, one of the top business schools
in the country, Kapur said he real-
ized that discrimination was playing
a factor.
During a meeting with a repre-
sentative from General Motors, the
representative told Kapur that he
had not interviewed someone in a
wheelchair inthe past15years.
"The University of Michigan
emphasizes diversity," Kapur said.
"But I feel the University could excel
more at teaching us howto dealwith
a world that isn't as open to diversity
as we would hope."

Rackham student Alison Stroud,
who is deaf, said that she felt com-
fortable coming to the University as
a student with a disability, butthinks
there are improvements that could
be implemented.
Stroud said that as a freshman,
she had some of the most difficulty
when attending mass meetings and
speaker events. She said she wants
the University to consider making
screens with transcripts, such as the
one at the SSD event, present at most
events.
Stroud added that she would like
the University to expand its course
offerings featuring disabilities, espe-
cially since the University does not
have a disabilities studies curricu-
lum.
LSA junior Ryan Bartholomew,
chair of Central Student Govern-
ment's Commission on Campus
Accessibility and Disability Affairs,
discussed his experience as a trans-
fer student living in North Quad
with a roommate with a disability.
He said they quickly became close
friends.

Bartholomew said he realized the
"deplorable" evacuation protocols
for students with mobility impair-
ment during an unplanned fire drill
in North Quad last year. He said DPS
did not have a realistic plan for evac-
uatingstudents with disabilities, and
the North Quad resident advisors
neglected the issue. Bartholomew
and his roommate met with Uni-
versity representatives, who were
"shocked" at the state of the current
protocols to reform the policies.
LSA junior Callan Luch spoke of
her experience of being afflicted by
undiagnosed schizoaffective dis-
order while at the University. The
University was supportive and, since
her return, she has seen a psychia-
trist through the University Health
System and a psychologist through
CAPS.
Luch added that the University's
Office of Financial Aid awarded her
a scholarship to cover her hospital
bill of more than $11,000 after her
initial stay.
Luch said that she wants to be an
advocate for defying negative stereo-

types about people with disabilities
and mental illness.
"I am not what happened to me,"
Luch said. "I am what I choose to
be."
LSA sophomore Drew Clayborn
broke his neck while performing a
back flip four years ago. He said that
with the diversity present on cam-
pus, students can always find oth-
ers they are similar to, but it is more
difficult to find students willing to
reach outside their comfort zones to
people who are different from them.
Bartholomew discussed the
theme of "otherness" and how soci-
ety views people with disabilities
fearfully as others. Bartholomew
said this is a dangerous narrative.
Social Work student Lloyd Shel-
ton said many view disability as a
limiting term that assumes people
with these characteristics are weak-
er and less than others.
"This is not what I saw of every-
one who spoke today," Shelton said.
"When I look around the room I
don't see weakness ... I see greatness
and I see victors. I see champions."


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