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New and Noteworthy: Fall 2017 News Highlights

Good Sports

Image of student in wheelchair In the spirit of Disability Awareness Month, faculty, staff, students and alumni came together for a night of hot-rod cycling, wheelchair basketball and various other activities at the annual Adapted Sports Night on Oct. 24 at the Recreational Sports Center. This was one of several educational events hosted by Services for Students with Disabilities throughout the fall semester.


Reading Rock Stars

image of reading rock stars
Little Longhorns at UT Elementary School were treated to a special literary event that coincided with the annual Texas Book Festival on Nov. 3. As part of the festival’s
Reading Rock Stars program, two popular children’s book authors, Steven Weinberg (left) and Emma Otheguy, visited the school to present their works to the students.


 

A Standard of Excellence

image of HEED award logo For the sixth consecutive year the university has earned the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from Insight into Diversity magazine. This award demonstrates that once again UT Austin is a national leader in diversity.


Happy Travels

Image of travel grant award students
This fall the DDCE awarded seven graduate students with $250 travel grants to support their research in understudied areas that promote diversity and social justice. Pictured
here are several grantees who will soon be traveling to academic conferences across the country to present their research and network with fellow scholars.


New Name, New Resources for Austin Nonprofits

Image of TGRC grant writers
Recently the Texas Grants Resource Center (formerly Regional Foundation Library) created the Community Partner Networking Program, a new leadership program for non-profit executives and managers. To help leaders make a positive impact on low-income communities, the program offers a suite of classes and professional development
opportunities. The goal is to provide valuable tools for emerging nonprofits on shoestring budgets.


Aloha from SSD

Image of Emily and Kelli in Hawaii
In early October, staff members from Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) traveled to Oahu, Hawaii, to attend the Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity. SSD Executive Director Kelli Bradley (left) and SSD Assistant Director Emily Shryock led a breakout session titled “Beyond Accommodations: How Disability Services Can Promote Inclusion in Higher Education.”


Texas Strong

Image of boxes loading up on truck
In response to the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, the DDCE’s Community and External Relations (CER) Office joined the university-wide effort to collect donations for the thousands of people displaced by the historic flooding in the Houston area. Pictured here, members of the CER team assist Central Texas Food Bank drivers as they load up 32
boxes filled with much-needed supplies. From left: Milagros Lopez, associate director, CER; Erica Saenz, CER associate vice president, Yvonne Loya, CER executive director.