UC is supported by the tax dollars of all Californians as well as by the federal tax dollars of all Americans. International students support it with their tuition and fees. Yet it only serves a small slice of the diversity in the public that funds it.
More than thirty years after the Americans with Disabilities Act became law, disabled people are paying for university infrastructure and processes that are actively hostile to them. And abled people are paying for infrastructure and processes that harm and oppress their disabled family, friends, and colleagues… even themselves if they become disabled in the future.
This must change.
I urge you to read the UC Access Now "Demandifesto" and take the action steps they recommend.
https://archive.org/details/disability-equity-and-justice-demands
UC labor negotiators insisted on removing robust Access Needs articles from proposed UC UAW contracts. This is not how a public institution should behave. Please urge the UC Office of the President to direct UC Labor Relations to bargain in good faith with UC UAW unions. There is no reason whatsoever for a public institution to be making it harder for disabled people to attend and work for their own public university. UC must withdraw opposition to the original Access Needs articles and adopt them immediately!
▶ First sent on December 4, 2022 by UC Access Now
