Skip to Main Content

Research Guides

The Drew History Project - Spring 2025

Physical Accessibility on Campus

The Storiiies Map above is an interactive map of campus accessibility. We went to all of the academic buildings and took notes on the accessible features that were found, also sharing our view of campus along the way. Note: The dotted lines are what the campus deems to be the suggested route for visitors in wheelchairs to major campus buildings. 

Drew Performing Arts Accessibility Coordinators

The Drew Performing Arts Accessibility Coordinators (DPAAC) is a student run organization focused on providing equitable access to theatre at Drew. Founded in 2022 by Alyssa Sileo (C'22), Julia Caldwell (C'24), and Isabella Robinson C’24; the club has since provided accessibility resources such as captions, audio descriptions, content warnings/advisories, and tactile set dioramas. Click or tap through the next few tabs to learn more about DPAAC's history and impact.

The DPAAC board currently consists of President Adrianna Padula (C'26), Vice President Jordyn Casanova-Ghosh ('28), and Event/Social Media Coordinator Jaden Finn ('28). Does DPAAC interest you? Anyone can join as a member, and we're looking to fill our Secretary and Treasurer positions for the 2025 Fall semester. Fill out the form linked below if you're interested!

Through an interview conducted with veteran DPAAC board members Alyssa Sileo (C'22), Shane Kornecki (C’24), Preethi Rao (C’24), and Maddy Hilferty (C’25), our group saw the full picture of how and why DPAAC was founded. Sileo though of the idea while working on the Main Stage New York Semester Show in her senior year as a Civic Scholar (the program preceding Action Scholars). She had been working as the Dramaturg virtually, and those involved in the program had been coming to her asking about providing captions for the show. Sileo realized that these accessibility options should always be available, and wanted to create a way for them to be provided in the Theatre department.

It is often said in Theatre that everyone is welcome, and DPAAC is dedicated to making sure that statement is true. The club's original mission statement was to: "Provide captions and audio descriptions during shows, be the people that provide specific measures and address accessibility at large, and [be] a body of advocacy on campus." In addition, the club's founders hoped to infuse disability justice into DPAAC's curriculum.

Kornecki also discussed his experience as the DPAAC liaison in the Theatre department as a Stage Manager. He had created a tactile diorama as part of a 'sensory seminar' for Blind and Visually Impaired people to "see" the set of a performance. During this, he also provided detailed audio descriptions for participants. As someone who was heavily involved in the Theatre department, Kornecki also stated that recruiting for DPAAC was often a struggle because few people can fit many lengthy rehearsals into their schedules.

Rao and Hilferty shared their perspectives as Action Scholars, and how DPAAC was first their Action Scholar Placement (1.) before they joined the club's board. Rao was a board member her junior and senior year; mainly as a record keeper making meeting minutes, but also worked heavily on captioning. Hilferty joined DPAAC as her Action Scholar Placement in her sophomore year and remained a board member until her junior year. In her interview she stated: "You don’t have to be an Art or Theatre major to have an appreciation for what DPAAC does."

Like many previous disability-focused groups on campus, it has been a labor of love to keep DPAAC alive. Especially with recent budget cuts at Drew, it has been tricky to ensure DPAAC can still provide its resources. Most importantly, it has always been an organization by students (mainly Action Scholars) for the disabled community due to the limited resources the Theatre department and Drew as a whole can provide. 

Now, DPAAC is led by current junior Adrianna Padula. She learned about the club through Action Scholars and joined to gain Experiential Learning Hours. Padula has been interested in disability rights advocacy for most of her life. In her interview, she hopes in the future to: train new members of the club in accessibility resources, share education by collaborating with other clubs, [advocate] and [educate] about disability history and culture, and [provide a] sensory friendly room for Theatre productions.

(1.)  An Action Scholar Placement is a way for Action Scholars to work with specific groups/organizations throughout the program in order to meet their 100 experiential learning hour requirement.

Visit the links below to read a Drew Acorn article on DPAAC and an article from the Drew website on a presentation done by original board members.

Student Perspectives

Throughout our research within the Drew Acorn, we were able to find a few articles on accessibility from the student perspective. The first is a short Lead Editorial from the 2017 Fall semester, "Academic Accessibility Continues to be Inaccessible." The article discusses how accessibility goes beyond the physical aspects such as automatic doors and elevators. The Editorial Board wrote, "All the students that come to Drew come with a different perspective, and it is crucial for our education to see diversity, not just in race and gender, but also in abilities. We want to be taught how to think, not told what to think." Another important point in the article is that many students may not know the options available or that they qualify for accessibility needs. Medical diagnoses are incredibly expensive, and it's difficult to have access to certain accommodations without one. 

The second perspective article we found in the Acorn was one written by Emma Joyce (C'28) titled "Accessibility on Campus Sucks." Joyce is a wheelchair user, and in her article she expresses her frustrations with certain buildings that claim to be accessible, but are not. We were able to conduct an interview with Joyce to better understand her perspective. When she was first visiting Drew, her tours were designed with her accessibility needs in mind. The Office of Accessibility Resources has also been very helpful with her needs all throughout her time at Drew. She was aware that Drew was not 100% accessible; she mentions this point in her article, saying: "I knew that going to an older school in the middle of the woods was going to be challenging for me sometimes, but that is not the point of this piece of writing. The point of this opinion piece is to say that, from my point of view as a person with a disability, when something is meant to be accessible it should be properly functional." And so, the main takeaway from Joyce's perspective is that accessibility is not a label to put on things to seem inclusive. Accessibility is a continuous action and community effort. Drew administration, staff, faculty, and students of all abilities need to prioritize accessibility on campus in order to create a welcoming environment for disabled students. Every student at Drew should have the same educational and extracurricular activities.

Click or tap the links below to read the full Acorn articles mentioned previously.

Questions? Need Help? Email reference@drew.edu

Drew University Library, https://drew.edu/academic/student-resources/library/