Two students at the University of Connecticut are taking charge to start a disability cultural center at the Storrs campus with support from the Board of Trustees and the Undergraduate Student Government.
Mia Giancola, a sixth-semester social work and sociology student, and Gabriella DiSalvo, an eighth-semester student with an individualized major of disability studies in media and food culture, have proposed starting the new cultural center to help people like them connect with one another and have a safe space to be themselves on campus, something many Huskies feel is a long time coming.
“I think students are being really vulnerable and just saying, ‘hey, no one’s really sat down and let me talk about this before… I want a place where I can talk about these issues, because I don’t know anyone else like me,’” Giancola said. “So I think what we need is a space where people can say, ‘hey…you’re like me. I just met you, and you’re like me.’”
Giancola said that there are about 7,000 students registered with UConn’s Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) at the main Storrs campus and regional campuses in Hartford, Waterbury, Stamford and Avery Point.
But she says this number is not representative of all students with disabilities at UConn.
Giancola said that some students might not want to seek support from CSD services, but they still deserve support on campus in other ways, like through a cultural center.
Giancola imagines the center having two separate rooms. One room would be “low stimuli, low noise” to give students a break from the loudness of the Student Union and the Homer Babbige Library, she said.
Students also suggested low lighting, puzzles, fidget toys and mats to let students lay comfortably on the floor, something she said can be particularly helpful for students with chronic pain or other invisible disabilities — or even someone who just needs a quiet place to cry.
The other room would be more of a communal space, allowing students to meet each other and providing a space for students to share their experiences.
At a USG Student Senate meeting on Feb. 11, DiSalvo, who serves as a diversability senator, proposed the cultural center to her fellow senators.
She said it would be a dedicated space for both disabled students and the allies of disabled students to gather and form mentorships, allyships, advocacy and connections with each other. The senators passed the resolution unanimously.
Giancola sent out a survey to students through the CSD to gauge interest in the cultural center. The survey got 904 responses, with 89% of respondents supporting the center. She and DiSalvo shared these findings with the Board of Trustees at their meeting on Feb. 26.
At the meeting, DiSalvo shared stories about struggling to find accessible transportation for her wheelchair to urgent care during a snowstorm because UConn’s service shut down during a school cancellation.
She hopes that a disability cultural center would help connect students with more resources to avoid situations like that.
Giancola said that presenting at the Board of Trustees meeting was “a really impactful moment,” and that the board seems very receptive and ready to move quickly on opening the center.
The biggest issue right now, Giancola said, is finding space.
“The problem is there’s no space, like, anywhere,” she said. “I think we want it to be in the Union. We need a big space, because we have wheelchair users, and we also need a quiet space… not visually overstimulating.”
In her proposal to USG, DiSalvo mentioned including accessible desks and “a layout designed with disability in mind.”
Giancola and DiSalvo are hoping to run the space like a typical cultural center, offering paid student employment. Giancola said she’s already had some students ask her if they could apply to work there, even though they aren’t set up yet. She said she hopes the employment aspect will help students take the center more seriously.
“I don’t think people see disability as a culture. And hey, we are a culture,” Giancola said. “I feel seen in a way I never had before. I just think people are so proud to be recognized.”