Our Vision

As an independent, student-led Disability and Deaf Cultural Center, our main mission is to foster a community of Disability and d/Deaf pride at the UW and beyond. To help us carry out this mission, we have created smaller goals, the accomplishments of which we believe are integral to Disabled and d/Deaf praxis.

 

Here is what fostering a community of Disability and d/Deaf pride at UW and beyond looks like for us:

Goal: To share resources and tools for fostering self-advocacy and promoting activism and empowerment.

• Actions:
  • To provide a physical and virtual space for students to discuss pressing matters, organize movements, and to engage in radical rest with one another.
  • To share the work of other organizations working for Disability and Deaf justice.
  • To uplift the stories of Disabled and Deaf students here at UW in order to foster a cultural consciousness rooted in community.

Goal: To develop and implement social, cultural, and educational programming focused on relevant issues regarding the varied lived experiences of Disabled and/or d/Deaf folks.

• Actions:
  • To host events in which the lived experiences, barriers, and successes of modern Disabled and d/Deaf folks are discussed.
  • To create safe spaces in which Disabled and d/Deaf students can share their voices with community and engage in communal healing.
  • To distribute Disabled and d/Deaf art and writings at multiple levels, ranging from stickers, books, and zines to performances, speeches, and festivals.

Goal: To collaborate with groups, departments, schools, cultural centers and other entities at the UW and beyond in efforts to enhance student and community engagement.

• Actions:
  • To regularly communicate with relevant UW entities and other Disability Cultural Centers in order to maintain valuable relationships.
  • To occasionally collaborate with entities on holding Disabled and Deaf-centered events to educate and/or provide safe, social spaces for students.
  • To promote the events. activities, and needs of other relevant organizations. Community helps each other!

Goal: To serve as a meeting place for students, faculty, staff, and others who seek a safe, anti-oppressive environment in which all individuals are welcomed, respected, and included.

• Actions:
  • To keep the D Center office consistently staffed and open for students, faculty, and staff to use.
  • To provide and facilitate online spaces for community to come together virtually. People who cannot access our space physically deserve to be a part of our community as much as anyone else.
  • To establish, practice, and maintain a set of dynamic community norms. We take care of us, and we will communicate how to be cared for, and learn how to care for others.
  • To host accessible events and gatherings of many varieties in order to create a safe environment for community dialogues.

Goal: To serve as a dynamic resource for information, websites, services, and advocacy groups, ranging from local, regional, national, and international organizations that focus on Disability and d/Deaf issues.

• Actions:
  • To continue to maintain our website and office as an informational hub for resources, services, affiliated organizations, and more. We will work to keep the site up-to-date, and add resources as we discover them.
  • To help connect visitors, whether it be at our physical office, our email inbox, or elsewhere, to the resources they need. If a resource does not exist, we will do our best to see that it is created.
  • To promote the work of other activists, artists, and organizations in our physical and digital spaces.

 

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The D Center, its programming, and amenities are all sponsored by the Husky Union Building, Services and Activities Fee, and the Student Tech Fee.