Ximena Solorzano, Staff Photographer

Last semester, Saybrook Yale College Council Senator Sovy Pham ’26 wrote an open letter in support of the establishment of a Disability Cultural Center, the newest push in an ongoing campaign to advocate for the disabled community at Yale.

The policy was first proposed in 2019 by YCC leadership in tandem with student representatives from Disability Empowerment for Yale, or DEFY, and the Yale College Dean’s Office.

In the letter, Pham called for Yale’s acknowledgment of “disability as a distinct, intersectional cultural identity rooted in histories of systemic violence and marginalized lived experiences” via a physical edifice mirroring that of cultural houses on campus such as the Afro-American Cultural Center and La Casa Cultural Center. Additionally, Pham argued that the existence of the Office of Student Accessibility Services — SAS — while a valuable resource, is largely preoccupied with administrative services and lacking holistic, personal outreach.

“The creation of a Persons with Disabilities Cultural Center would not only signify a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion but also serve as a crucial resource for Yale’s students, faculty, and community members who navigate the world with disabilities,” Pham wrote.

Institutions such as Georgetown University, Stanford University, Duke University and the University of California, Berkeley have already created their own respective disability cultural centers.

In the past, efforts have been made to address this issue, as YCC Vice President Esha Garg ’26 advocated for improved accessibility in existing cultural centers while she served as a senator for Grace Hopper College last year.

“We had conversations regarding the lack of accessibility within the current center, including how many do not have elevators to access upper floors,” Garg said. “This spurred into discussions [YCC President Mimi Papathanasopoulos ’26] and I have had with Yale leaders on adding elevators and ramps to current Yale spaces.”

Papathanasopoulos acted as Health & Accessibility Director last year and collaborated with DEFY to advance the initiative, inevitably getting it passed through the Senate. She says that although improvements have been made on Yale’s campus, there remains negligence in creating a space where students can engage in sensitive discussion.

“Even if physical structural changes take time and we don’t see these changes fully realized during our time at Yale, our hope is that by prioritizing these issues, we encourage the administration to adopt a long-term commitment to creating spaces that meet the needs of students with disabilities and foster genuine belonging on campus,” Papathanasopoulos said.

The DEFY Board stated that the establishment of a Disability Cultural Center at Yale will help address a lack of support for disabled students’ sense of belonging they noticed on campus.

However, despite receiving support from the Yale College student body and DEFY’s efforts working with the YCC, SAS and the Yale College Dean’s Office, they have yet to receive the administrative assistance necessary to create the center.

“While administrative offices like Student Accessibility Services play a crucial part in improving Yale’s accessibility, the social and cultural needs of disabled students remain unaddressed,” the DEFY Board wrote. “As we continue to work towards establishing a center, we are exploring other ways to build support for this campaign. We hope to demonstrate that there is a strong consensus on the pressing need for a disability cultural center and its benefits.”

Office of Student Accessibility Services Director Kimberly McKeown declined to comment.

YCC Cultural & Religious Policy Director Andrew Boanoh ’27, who undersigned the recent open letter, felt compelled to support the initiative as a means of reintroducing this important issue to the administration.

“I resonate most deeply with the sentiment that Yale risks ‘obscuring and discrediting’ the strides that advocates have taken towards recognizing disability as a ‘distinct, intersectional identity,” Boanoh said.

Boanoh says that should Yale as an institution devote staff and funding towards a Disability Cultural Center, it would be an affirmation of the struggles of disabled students on campus.

Boanoh envisions that the center would work with SAS to provide support for disabled students and create a peer liaison program for students to seek mentorship and guidance as they navigate collegiate life.

As a peer liaison at the Afro-American Cultural Center, Boanoh says he understands that in order for the proposed Disability Cultural Center to be a successful endeavor, it must also address the intersectional identities of disabled students.

“I think the best way to address [intersectional identities] is an approach that welcomes all students — even those who don’t necessarily identify as disabled, per se,” Boanoh said. “Like the other cultural centers, I imagine that specific overtures will be made to students who indicate that they would like support for their disabilities so that those students are spotlighted and centered.”

Boanoh says that the creation of the center will likely be a multi-year process. He hopes that its existence can impact campus culture and perception of disability at Yale.

“Collective acknowledgement of needs to me is the first step towards any initiative of this nature,” Boanoh said. “I hope that, as students and administration begin to take steps towards the implementation of the center, conversations alone will spark moments of understanding for all students.” 

The Yale Office of Student Accessibility Services was first opened in 1982.

OLIVIA CYRUS
Olivia Cyrus covers the Yale College Council at Yale. Originally from Collierville, Tennessee, she is a first year in Morse College majoring in English.