Is Advocacy Still Needed Today?
posted: 2006-01-12
By Rose Mariana Robb
It's been a thrill and a privilege to lead Access UVic! as we've organized our constituency, established an open, friendly and busy office, and, thanks to a stunning show of support from fellow students, secured stable funding. Thank you again to UVSS members for every single one of the 80 per cent YES votes in last year's referendum. I'm delighted to be the first director of the new disability advocacy centre and I look forward to exploring many aspects of the disability experience and the politics of advocacy.
Some question whether advocacy is necessary today. A senior UVic administrator (now retired) once told me there was no need, in her view, for organized advocacy. In fact, she gently let me know I was making a joke of myself on campus.
In the past, disabled people had to organize to bring our issues to public attention and win support for our equal participation in society. "Nothing About Us Without Us!" is one of the rallying cries of the disability rights movement. But nothing is being done without us now. That day is over. The prize is won. We're already inside the gate.
Could she have been right? Do we already have equal access to education?
Do disabled people already have the sympathy and good wishes of the academic community? Are our issues clearly recognized and addressed by a benevolent administration and kindly faculty? Do our non-disabled peers understand and respect our goals and aspirations? Nobody is ever mean to people with disabilities, are they?
Well, to answer bluntly, no, no, no, no, maybe and yes they are. The seeming acceptance and goodwill towards disabled people can be awfully superficial.
Early in the New Year, Access UVic! will begin making arrangements to incorporate as an independent non-profit society and establish more control over decisions that affect us.
UVSS boards have a history of being a little overbearing from time to time and we've certainly had that experience this year.
The tendency of non-disabled people to overrule, interfere and make decisions for disabled people is both remarkable and remarkably constant. Well meaning, often, but often disastrous. At Access UVic!, we believe that disabled people are the best interpreters of their own needs and aspirations, and that effective organizations of disabled people must be majority controlled by disabled people themselves.
Disabled students are the most recent group to gain entrance to post secondary educational institutions, following in the footsteps of women, low-income and Aboriginal students.
When the University of Victoria was designed 40 years ago, we weren't here. Our needs were not incorporated into the instructional or architectural design of this or any other Canadian university. It has taken 40 years for us to organize and speak with a strong united voice. Stay tuned. We're inside the gate. And we're looking forward to making some changes around here!
Rose Mariana Robb is the director of Access UVic!
The Access UVic! office is located in the Student Union Building, room B102. They can be reached at 472-4389 or ssd@uvss.uvic.ca.
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