We envision a society where disabled people are inherently valued.
Mission Statement
The Access and Disability Alliance affirms the intersectional experiences of disabled people by advocating for disability justice, building disability culture, and facilitating disability community and belonging.
Language
According to Disability Studies, we honor and celebrate the many ways we name ourselves in relation to our bodyminds. For consistency throughout this document, we use identity-first language. While we use the pronoun "our" in this text, Access and Disability Alliance is inclusive and welcoming of disabled, temporarily disabled, and non-disabled members. We affirm that disabled people are inherently valuable and offer a space committed to validating our varied and intersectional lived experiences with disability. We are an inclusive space for people who identify using identity-first or person-first disability language and honor people's language preferences.
Values
Community - we are a network of disabled people and allies across campus and beyond that cultivate intersectional access to self-discovery, interdependence, and collective liberation and connection.
Intersectionality - we center the diverse identities with which our disabilities intersect.
Justice - we enact the principles of disability justice as our guiding political framework, acknowledging that disability is enmeshed with other systems of oppression.
Accountability - we commit to holding ourselves and our members accountable to the disability community and disability justice.
Sense of belonging - we affirm that it is not enough to simply include people at the table, but to amplify disabled people's voices, clear barriers, and appreciate each other for our unique attributes and experiences.
Radical love (PDF) - we build an open and honest community by enacting care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment, and trust as practice of radical love.
Joy - we foster a celebratory community of joy where people can be creative and enhance our strengths rather than focus on the oppressive effects of ableism.
Common good - we believe that for liberation and justice, we must recognize disabled people's inherent capacity for crip (PDF) self-determination and honor their bodymind capacities.
Access & Disability Alliance History & Purpose
The Access & Disability Alliance (aDa) is an organization on the Cal Poly Pomona campus. Formed on May 27, 2008, the aDa is comprised of faculty, staff and students whose goal is to promote awareness, sensitivity, and a cultural identity of those with disabilities.
The aDa is a self-funded and donation based diversity group that has joined the ranks of the other Affinity groups on campus such as BFSA, LFSSA, APFSA, Pride Alliance, and the Native American Coalition.
We strive to enable disability justice activism, create a sense of belonging for disabled students, faculty, and staff on campus, and to provide a space for disability community building.
Access & Disability Alliance Meetings
All are welcome!
- Tuesday February 14th, 12pm-1pm (U-Hour)
- Tuesday March 14th, 12pm-1pm (U-Hour)
- Tuesday April 11th, 12pm-1pm (U-Hour)
- Tuesday May 9th, 12pm-1pm (U-Hour)
For questions, please email Dr. Shayda Kafai at skafai@cpp.edu or Dr. Katie Kinkopf at kmkinkopf@cpp.edu