VCU news

By James Shea

To raise awareness about the services available for people with a disability at Virginia Commonwealth University, a team of university staff members hosted a campus event last week with a therapy dog, attracting passersby and sparking conversations.

The Accessibility and Inclusion Working Group, a subcommittee of the VCU Staff Senate, partnered with the Center for Human-Animal Interaction for the event, which took place on a warm fall afternoon in the courtyard outside the Cabell Library. Mike Callaghan, a volunteer with the Center for Human-Animal Interaction, brought Keegan, his Dogs on Call therapy dog, to the event. Students and others passed by the tent and petted Keegan. Many took pictures with the dog, and members of the working group talked to them about National Disability Employment Awareness Month and the services available to people at VCU with a disability.

“We had conversations with people in passing and let them know that there are a lot of internal resources that VCU offers (for people with a disability),” said Katie Cappuccio, a member of the Accessibility and Inclusion Working Group.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which was started in 1945 when Congress enacted a law declaring the first week in October of each year as “National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week.” In 1988, Congress expanded the week to a month and changed the name to National Disability Employment Awareness Month. It is different from Disability Pride Month, which takes place in July.

The Accessibility and Inclusion Working Group is a volunteer organization and is part of the Staff Senate. The group works to make sure people with a disability have a voice in decisions at VCU.

“In the past, we were very policy focused,” said Cappuccio, a financial specialist at the Division of Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success at VCU. “We helped work on the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) policy for VCU. That has been fully approved, and we have pivoted to raising awareness about these issues and making resources available within the VCU walls.”

The Accessibility and Inclusion Working Group is trying to find ways to collaborate with stakeholders on campus. Members of the working group met with staff at the Center for Human-Animal Interaction in the spring. Both thought an event for National Disability Employment Awareness Month would work well. 

“Who wouldn’t want to engage in a conversation with a cute dog?” Cappuccio said.

The working group has 16 members and offers support to individuals with a disability. It helps them connect with resources on campus and collaborates for lunch-and-learn events about specific topics. The group’s most recent one was titled “ADA Accommodation 101.” It has also been involved in meetings that discussed recruitment and retention for people with disabilities at VCU.

“We want to engage people who would not normally want to talk about disability and accessibility issues,” Cappuccio said.