The ASI Board of Directors has unanimously approved passing a new resolution written by the Cal Poly Disability Alliance asking for a Disability Cultural Program (DCP) on campus.
The club initially relaunched a petition at the beginning of spring quarter, which garnering over 700 student, staff, faculty, alumni and community member signatures in efforts to support the establishment of a new Disability Cultural Program. In the petition, they asked individuals to recognize that Cal Poly “lacks community spaces and programming that are dedicated to promoting their inclusion beyond what is required by law.”
The program would focus on five main sub-categories to garner a community within those who identify with the program. Among the five are social programming to foster community through social events, campus wide outreach to generally educate all students on campus, academic programming for support and resources, networking alongside other Student Diversity & Belonging (SDAB) centers as well as well-being that will dedicate time to create a working database for students to easily access resources.
In the original proposal support letter, the Cal Poly Disability Alliance wrote that, “By establishing a Disability Cultural Program, Cal Poly would be in the unique position of being the 2nd CSU to launch a program with the specific purpose of promoting disability culture and identity independent of legal compliance.”
Additionally, in the UC system, UC Berkeley is the only campus that currently has a Disability Cultural Center (DCC). The organization hopes that if the program proves beneficial to campus life, they will eventually gather the funds and resources needed for a DCC.
The establishment of a Disability Cultural Program will “better foster student success and campus wide DEI initiatives,” according to the alliance.
The proposal for a program was passed and is just beginning efforts to create a Disability Cultural Center on campus. Find out more about the cause and learn about how you can support the establishment of a DCP through the Cal Poly Disability Alliance Instagram @disability.alliance.cp.