"Keeping Doors Open..."
“SMAC will uniquely benefit URI by raising awareness regarding accessibility for all students on campus. Accessibility is different for every student, and a lack of accessible facilities and situations effects us all. By raising money for Disability Services through fundraising, and by learning to embrace the importance of making URI more accessible to all kinds of people, we can make URI a safer, better place.”
Students for a More Accessible Campus (SMAC) was founded in November of 2008 by Krista Simeone, in the hopes that by forming such a group, the students and faculty of the University of Rhode Island, would be made aware of the accessibility issues that are present on campus. By raising awareness about these issues, SMAC would bring together disabled and non-disabled students alike, to become a group who could not only work to create change and raise awareness together, but could also become a team of individuals who could grow and learn from one another’s differences, strengths and weaknesses. SMAC would provide its members with a safe, open-minded environment, free of any judgment or prejudice. These students would educate themselves about different types of disabilities, and share that information with their peers, through fundraising and awareness events.
Being disabled may feel like a burden or a disadvantage to some, especially in a college setting, but it is SMAC’s hope that its spirit and its message will allow students of varying abilities to embrace their differences, see them as unique, and allow them to become what makes them strong.
Disability is not equal to inability, and we know that together, no challenges can stop us.
We are Students for a More Accessible Campus – and we’re Keeping Doors Open.