Cultivating a More Inclusive Community & Campus At CFCC.

The disability community is the only minority community which one could become a member of in an instant. With this being said, I will be focusing on aspects which would improve the experiences of the disabled community on campus. Through this speech, I hope to persuade you that starting a social club designed to break down fears with interacting with people with disabilities and installing automatic door systems on all bathroom entrances on campus are the best way for CFCC to use the grant money. Today we will discuss the needs, how my ideas will satisfy those needs, and allow you to visualize my ideas coming to life.

Let’s begin by examining what is wrong.

How often do you see people with and without disabilities mingling together at port city Java, going to sports games together, between classes, studying in the library together, hanging out with each other on the weekends, etc. it’s virtually nonexistent.

I am coming up on a year of being at CFCC and I have not become friends with anyone. Sure I have interacted with a couple of individuals from several classes but mainly those were either through an interpreter or some alternative motive. This is mainly because of the fear of the unknown or not knowing how to cross that boundary. There are connections and opportunities that are being missed out on by both parties. There’s also a need to educate the faculty on how to interact and deal with certain situations involving individuals with disabilities. Recently, I approached a staff member who thought I didn’t know what a specific dental procedure was. There are other instances that I have experienced during my time at CFCC. 

Just as the social barriers & lack of common communication skills needs to be addressed, the physical barriers need to be addressed as well. One of these barriers are the entrances to the bathrooms. 

Picture yourself sitting like you’re right now and trying to either push or pull the bathroom door open when you go to the bathroom during break. To say it would be hard would be an understatement. And yet, this is the reality of those who rely on a wheelchair to get around. 

According to an article on Lifeway Mobility dot com many schools throughout the country are older and were not built with these accommodations in mind, and despite the Americans with Disabilities Act, some schools are not as compliant as they could be. For example, this building that we are in right now was built in recent years and isn’t nearly as accessible as it could be. 

Now that I have given y’all the issues, here are my solutions.

In regards to the social barriers that individuals with disabilities face, I propose we start a social club with the intention of breaking down stigmatization of socialization between individuals with and without disabilities. This club would meet twice a month. This would be a safe place for people with and without disabilities to work through that initial fase of awkwardness. Whether it be getting used to the fact that one person speaks differently, getting used to being around  people in wheelchairs, or simply asking questions. Once together, we would use icebreakers to get conversations started. While icebreakers might be beneficial for the hour of the club, it would not necessarily translate to relationships outside of the club. So, I would implement an optional retreat where we use some of the million dollars to rent the appropriate transportation slash accommodations to go to the mountains for a couple of days where we would be interacting for an extended period of time. 

This kind of social club has been implemented at other colleges and universities. In an article on Best Buddies International entitled Mikayla & Brenda: UNC Best Buddies, Mikayla says of her friendship with Brenda, “Brenda and I are one in the same. We love all the same foods, we’re both obsessed with Disney movies, we love doing all sorts of things ranging from painting one another’s nails to going for a walk around campus. We never run out of things to talk about!” Imagine friendships popping up throughout the campus like the one described. 

Since the the social club wouldn’t cost too much other than the flyers used to advertise it and the retreat, I would propose that we hire a full time employee to, not only oversee the club, but to be an advocate for individuals with disabilities on campus. This person would teach mini optional workshops for the staff and faculty which would be geared towards educating them on how to interact and deal with individuals with disabilities. This individual would essentially always be looking for ways to improve not only the social barriers of the campus but also the physical barriers. 

This person would offer solutions to the accessibility barriers. For example, one of the solutions would be installing automatic door openers on all bathroom entrances which would make those facilities more accessible to those in wheelchairs. These electric door systems would be like the ones installed on all the entrances to the buildings. 

The counter arguments to starting a social club and installing automatic door systems are time, commitments, and construction. 

Now that I have laid out my solutions let’s visualize how it would improve the lives of the disabled on campus. 

First, the club would foster friendships between people with and without disabilities. Also those relationships would have a ripple effect meaning that the two parties would meet each other’s friends. Then the friendships formed in the club setting would hopefully translate to relationships outside of the academic setting. Thus providing opportunities for individuals with disabilities to socialize and thus reducing the isolation aspect which I talked about in my informative speech because it would provide connections. 

The full time employee would be educating the staff and faculty and be constantly looking for ways to improve the campus both socially and physically. Thus relieving some of the constant need for disabled students to advocate and push back  on ableism which would mean more time and energy to be invested in their studies and just enjoying their college years. Ableism is basically when people think of and treat people with disabilities as less than fully human. 

The electric door systems would make the college more appealing to those using wheelchairs. In turn the applications for admissions among people in wheelchairs would increase which would be profitable for the college because they would have more students enrolled which means more grant money. The automatic door openers would make it easier for people in wheelchairs to go to the bathrooms. Thus making them more independent. Also it would probably allow people with disabilities to stay on campus longer instead of always having to go home and use their own bathrooms. 

Today, I endeavored to persuade y’all that starting up a social club to break down the stigmatizations with interacting with people with disabilities and installing automatic door systems on all bathrooms on campus are the best way for CFCC to use the grant money. Today we discussed the needs, how my ideas will satisfy those needs, and allow you to visualize my ideas coming to life. Please vote for my proposal and pull out your phones right now and reply to the email I sent to the class if you would be interested in joining the social club I’m starting this fall at CFCC. 

Thanks for your time.