DREAM Weekly: June 10-16, 2018

Summer Edition: DREAM Weekly on Disability and Higher Education in the News: June 10-16, 2018

From DREAM: Disability Rights, Education, Activism, and Mentoring

Sponsored by the National Center for College Students with Disabilities and the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD)
 
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Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order):
 
* Polio survivor Breshna Musazai has been called “Afghanistan’s Malala” after being shot, but she is now celebrating completion of her bachelor’s degree from the American university of Afghanistan: https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/13/asia/afghanistans-malala-graduates-trnd/  
 
* Fifteen Theta Tau fraternity members have been suspended by Syracuse University after creating offensive videos that mocked people with disabilities, and were filled with offensive language,  but a free-speech advocacy group is supporting five students in suing the campus for violations of free speech and freedom of expression in private videos: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/06/11/syracuse-suspends-fraternity-students-after-racist-homophobic-anti-semitic-videos?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=1e4e30696a-DiversityMatters_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-1e4e30696a-198891893&mc_cid=1e4e30696a&mc_eid=a51c972f65
 
* This week, Professor Stephan Hawking will be laid to rest between the graves of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, and children who use communication devices are among those invited to the service (video has closed captioning but no audio description): https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-44472687
 
* Gallaudet is planning to recognize part of its history by creating a permanent, on-campus memorial for the Kendall School Division II for Negroes (video has captioning but no audio description or audio for visually impaired non-signers): https://www.facebook.com/gallaudetu/videos/vb.62082505853/10156548202070854/?type=2&theater
 
* “You Can Lead, Too!” is a new video featuring youth perspectives on leadership, developed by the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (video is captioned with audio description): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xuq-q1jMxA
 
* The University of Chicago will no longer require applicants to take the SAT or ACT, which is expected to influence other campuses across the U.S.: http://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2018/06/15/university-chicago-drops-satact-requirement?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=a65ee09676-WNU_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-a65ee09676-225808461&mc_cid=a65ee09676&mc_eid=d5645fe552
 
* Rahul Deiskan researched ALS at the University of California at San Francisco, and now he has the same disease he continues to study: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/national/wp/2018/06/13/feature/devastated-by-als-trying-to-save-others/?utm_term=.052dcdd89c03
 
* Secretary DeVos has reduced Education Department staff by 13%, with the biggest cuts in the financial aid and civil rights departments: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/06/13/education-department-staff-down-13-percent-trump-administration-began?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=a65ee09676-WNU_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-a65ee09676-225808461&mc_cid=a65ee09676&mc_eid=d5645fe552
 
* 3PlayMedia has published a “2017 State of Captioning Report” about closed captioning, based on a survey of professionals in various industries, including higher education: https://www.3playmedia.com/resources/industry-studies/2017-state-of-captioning/?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTkdJMlpEUmlZakF3TldVMiIsInQiOiJNdVl1SGxNU05tMmxZdXBkMWJmZ09WZjVDZE1RM3VyRWk1UFNKNTJvelk1aDREanpVR1VBSzZBR09HbVl2T3JacSt0MHNmNnZuWmZIWTlvSjlySkJWNlVwZWJXZ0w1ZWFZMW1EZmFYQW9SM0lyS3liOUN4a0FDcTZDS0JPUG9zeCJ9
 
* Microsoft is contributing $200,000 to the University of Illinois’ Accessibility Lighthouse Program, to help college students with autism move into STEM careers and to create greater digital accessibility: https://dailyillini.com/news/2018/06/13/microsoft-invests-200000-into-program-for-student-with-disabilities/
 
* The next reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (which includes provisions for students with disabilities) is unlikely to move forward this year: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/06/14/no-movement-prosper-act-after-gop-vote-count?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=365ebc9b26-DNU_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-365ebc9b26-225808461&mc_cid=365ebc9b26&mc_eid=d5645fe552
 
* Neurodiverse students in Western Australia will have access to a new “Hub” that will help students get work experience while also helping employers create more diverse workplaces: https://www.disabilitysupportguide.com.au/talking-disability/new-hub-to-promote-inclusiveness-through-neuro-diverse-workplaces
 
* The International English Language Testing System exams are not accessible to blind people, but it is required for graduate school admission in some countries, as one Kurdish blind man found out on his way to a Master’s degree: http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/100620184
 
* An article compares the NCAA’s handling of brain injury lawsuits with Big Tobacco’s handling of smokers’ lawsuits: https://qz.com/1302232/the-fate-of-ncaa-football-is-tied-up-in-a-new-brain-injury-lawsuit/
 
* George Washington University has created new plans for identifying inaccessible campus websites, after a federal investigation on the issue – options include letting students report problems: https://www.gwhatchet.com/2018/06/11/officials-to-develop-online-accessibility-plan-after-federal-disability-probe-closes/
 
* A Duke University anesthesiologist and medical school faculty member has filed a disability discrimination lawsuit, alleging that the university fired him after learning about his heart condition and depression: http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2018/06/former-anesthesiologist-sues-duke-alleges-disability-discrimination
 
* More campuses are hiring diversity officers, but if equity and inclusion are not a part of everyday campus life, their efforts won’t work: https://www.chronicle.com/article/Hiring-a-Diversity-Officer-Is/243591?cid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=ab870b92d87d410e82562205ccd547e9&elq=e638c384db0a4384931422ef10bbe761&elqaid=19401&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=8870
 
* Mohammed Dalo lives in Gaza, Palestine, and hopes to attend university, but as a person with a physical disability that may be close to impossible: https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/51559/The-art-of-living-with-disability-in-Palestine

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For more information about DREAM or AHEAD contact Wendy Harbour (wendy@ahead.org).
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please go to http://ahead-listserve.org/mailman/listinfo/dream_ahead-listserve.org.  Wendy Harbour can also handle requests to subscribe or unsubscribe. 
 
By the way, please don't presume DREAM, the National Center for College Students with Disabilities (NCCSD), AHEAD, or the U.S. Department of Education agree with or support everything in these links we send out - we're just passing along the information so you can form your own opinions.  Thanks.
 
DREAM and the NCCSD are funded by a grant to AHEAD from the U.S. Department of Education (P116D150005).