PhD candidate Corin Parsons has been appointed to UBC’s inaugural Accessibility Committee.
Comprised of students, staff and faculty who responded to a call for applications, the committee consists of nine at-large members. It has been established by UBC with the aim of providing on-going guidance and advice to the university on the identification, removal and prevention of barriers to accessibility to help fulfill UBC’s legislative obligations and commitments to disability equity priorities.
Of his appointment, Corin said, “I am looking forward to participating on UBC’s Accessibility Committee and am cautiously optimistic about what we may be able to achieve. Nevertheless, it is important to state that the Committee is a legislatively mandated, compliance-oriented advisory body with associated institutional limitations and was not created voluntarily. Up to this point, despite the ongoing efforts of disability advocates on campus, the university has shown a persistent unwillingness to address systemic ableism and take accessibility seriously.
“Guided by the Committee, I hope that the institution will begin taking steps to fulfill its responsibilities to disabled members of the UBC community. Ultimately, however, this work will have to extend beyond the Committee and will need to be reflected in the university’s decision-making priorities, resource allocation, and governance structures. Advocates have repeatedly called for, among other things, a Disability Task Force; fully funded, permanent senior advisor positions; and a disability studies program. The success of the Accessibility Committee can therefore be measured in whether the institution embraces it as a springboard to meaningful, systemic change.”
