President's Conference topic is disabilities
Spectrum Volume 19 Issue 23 - March 13, 1997
The Annual President's Conference on Campus Climate for 1997 will be on disability issues. Two major events will be held on Monday, March 31; both are open to the public and will be in the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center auditorium.
At noon on March 31, Jane Jarrow, former executive director of the Association on Higher Education and Disability, will open the conference with her talk "ADA and Students with Disabilities: Institutional Responsibility, MY Responsibility?" A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation. From 2 to 3 p.m., Jarrow will conduct an open discussion on women and disabilities in the Women's Center conference room.
At 7 p.m., former Miss America Heather Whitestone will serve as the conference keynote speaker. Her topic will be "Anything is Possible." A reception will be held following the presentation.
President Paul Torgersen instituted the Annual President's Conference on Campus Climate to provide the university community with the opportunity to explore and learn more about the issues that affect our social climate on both a local and national scale.
In February 1995, the keynote speaker for the first conference was the renowned legal scholar, Lani Guinier. Guinier addressed the topic of "Why We Need A National Conversation on Race." In April 1996, the keynote speaker for the conference was well-known activist Gloria Steinem. Her topic was "Feminism: Past, Present and Future."
Jarrow currently serves as president of Disability Access Information and Support (DAIS). She received her BS and MS degrees from Purdue University and her Ph.D. from Wichita State University.
She was a full-time faculty member at Ohio State University for seven years before assuming a position as the executive director of the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD). AHEAD is an international professional membership organization providing technical assistance, information, and support to individuals involved in issues of disability access in higher education.
During her 14-year tenure with AHEAD, Jarrow traveled extensively doing workshops and presentations regarding persons with disabilities in higher education and the legal and educational mandates surrounding their participation in post-secondary settings. She is also the author of a number of significant resource materials for the field, notably Title-By-Title: The Impact of the ADA on Postsecondary Education and Subpart E: The Impact of Section 504 on Postsecondary Education. Jarrow has conducted in-service training workshops at more that 175 institutions throughout the US and Canada.
In 1994, Whitestone was selected as Miss America. In the pageant's 75-year history, she was the first woman with a disability to be crowned Miss America. During her year of service as Miss America, Whitestone focused her efforts and activities on motivating our nation's citizen to achieve their dreams through dedication, commitment and hard work.