2014 Recipients of the Fehribach Awards

Front row, left to right:  Emmy Kaiser, Jacob Lipson, Colin McIntire.  Back row, left to right:  Greg Fehribach, Mary Beth Fehribach, Sarah Sims, Jamie Barnes, Kasey Herrington.

Last month, Mary Beth and I presented the 2014 Fehribach Awards to an outstanding group of students.

We have been involved in the awards since 2009, when a longtime award and scholarship opportunity was renamed the Fehribach Awards.  Since then, we have honored five to six outstanding Ball State University students each year.   We are proud to stand with these students and recognize their individual achievements despite their physical challenges.

In today’s economic world, college graduates with disabilities face an uphill climb in securing meaningful and sustainable employment.  However, statistics have shown that these graduates can have a profound impact on our communities at large.   Guided by the Disabled Student Development Department and its director, Larry Markle, these young men and women are well positioned to leave a lasting mark on their professions.

Allow me to share the following 2014 Fehribach Award winners:

Sarah Sims, a junior Social Work major, has been involved with both the Alliance for Disability Awareness and the Faculty Mentorship Program. Maintaining a 3.5 GPA, she is also a member of Grace Village Lutheran-Episcopal Campus Ministry, where she worked for a semester. Along with fellow Fehribach Award winner Emmy Kaiser, Sarah helped to start a wheelchair basketball group for students with and without disabilities.

Jamie Barnes, a senior Special Education major, is involved with Ball State Dance Marathon and helps coach Special Olympics. She also works 30-40 hours a week as a respite care provider at Bridges of Indiana. During her freshman year, Jamie was involved in the Faculty Mentorship Program, a program that pairs students with disabilities with a faculty mentor in their field of study.

Kasey Herrington, also a senior Special Education major, has maintained a 3.6 GPA, while being involved with the Alliance for Disability Awareness as well as Students for Education Reform.  She has served as a personal care attendant, physical assistant, and note taker for students with disabilities. Kasey is also currently taking part in the Pathways to PhD program.

Emmy Kaiser is a graduate student, studying for her Master of Arts in Sports Psychology, with a 3.7 GPA.  A 2012 Paralympian, Emmy is the #1 ranked women’s tennis player in the United States and does many presentations and demonstrations on wheelchair sports and the experiences of paralympic athletes. While at Ball State, Emmy started a wheelchair basketball group with fellow Fehribach Award winner Sarah Sims for students with and without disabilities.

Jacob Lipson, a senior Theatre major, is the first in his major who is a wheelchair user at Ball State. He has written a play that has been read twice on campus, and writes reviews for films and plays.  As a freshman, Jake took part in the Faculty Mentorship Program.

Colin McIntire, a junior Computer Science major, is a member of the Honors College, maintaining a 3.7 GPA. He is a member of the BSU Power Soccer Club, of which he has been a member for three years. Colin has travelled with the team to tournaments throughout the United States and plans to participate in the national tournament this summer.

Congratulations to our 2014 Fehribach Award winners!

National Conference Coming to Indianapolis

It is an honor and a privilege to share with you that the Osteogenesis ImperfectaFoundation will host its 2014 National Conference in Indianapolis this summer.

A rare genetic bone disorder, OI, which is also known as “brittle bone disease,” is characterized by fragile bones that break easily.  I am among the approximately 50,000 Americans and their families who live with OI.

I am pleased to be a part of the planning effort for the conference, which will kick off with the National Unbreakable Spirit^® Walk-n-Wheel for OI on July 31 along the Canal Walk.  It is an extraordinary opportunity to showcase our community’s accessibility, which played a role in the selection of Indianapolis for the conference.

During the conference, which runs from August 1-3, nearly 800 members of the OI community will gather for the latest in medical developments, policy information and networking opportunities.  To learn more about the conference, or to register for the Walk-n-Wheel, please visit www.oif.org. 

I hope you join me in welcoming the OI community to Indianapolis.  We will continue to update you on how you can participate in this landmark event.

The Inspirational Eskenazi Health

Our city’s newest medical center, the Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital, is open to the public.  Its’ predecessor, Wishard Hospital, has provided the finest health care to the uninsured, underserved and the general population of our community for 150 years. 

As a Trustee of the Marion County Health and Hospital Corporation, it has been a transformational opportunity working with the team who helped conceive, design and build this iconic health care center.

Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital is more than a medical complex.  It’s where Wishard’s culture of compassion has found a new home.  It’s where medical professionals are partners with their patients.  Eskenazi is where patients emerge to take on their medical challenges with dignity and independence.  At its core, the hospital was built with the patient in mind. 

The physical space of the hospital delivers an accessible environment.  Procedure rooms, work stations, patient rooms and public space allow patients and their healthcare advocates ease of movement during their stay.  Additionally, all guests, staff members and vendors may move barrier free during their visits. 

Eskenazi Health continues its many educational partnerships, including Ball State University’s Bowen Center’s Disability Project to offer internships for students with disabilities.  This program is helping redefine what career choices are available to students with disabilities.  Thus far, two students have completed internships – one in Finance, the other in Rehabilitation Services – with more opportunities available in 2014. 

I hope you take the opportunity to visit the Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital and see for yourself how inspirational it truly is.  It may even spur you to choose Eskenazi and many of its recognized medical professionals for your health care needs. 

From our sports facilities, hotels, restaurants, convention centers and museums, Indianapolis continues to lead in accessibility.  We may now proudly add a universally accessible modern medical center to our collective work. 

Well done, Indianapolis.  And here’s to a Healthy New Year.

Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington

On August 29, all eyes were turned to Washington, DC as our nation collectively commemorated the 50^th anniversary of the historic March on Washington.

In his stirring remarks, President Obama shared the path that the marchers had walked to Washington, advocating for change in a non-violent way. And he made a point that resonated particularly with me, a person with a disability:

“Because they marched, America became more free and more fair -- not just for African Americans, but for women and Latinos, Asians and Native Americans; for Catholics, Jews, and Muslims; for gays, for Americans with a disability.  America changed for you and for me.  And the entire world drew strength from that example, whether the young people who watched from the other side of an Iron Curtain and would eventually tear down that wall, or the young people inside South Africa who would eventually end the scourge of apartheid.”

America has changed for people with disabilities.  We have come a long way since 1963, when people with disabilities couldn’t even participate in the March on Washington, because the city wasn’t accessible.  We have come a long way since the days before restrooms were accessible in restaurants, shopping malls and office buildings. We have come a long way since President Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, and his son approved the ADA Amendment Act during his second term.

I am constantly reminded of just how far we have come.  Ball State University, from where I am a proud graduate and a current distinguished fellow, is one of the nation’s most accessible college campuses.  This semester, I am teaching “The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and its Amendments: Supporting a Sustainable Lifestyle for People with Disabilities,” (POLS 403/408/503).  My students reflect the diversity of this country, and as I listened to our President, I was struck by how those who marched on Washington paved the way for my students. 

Yet, as President Obama and others have shared, we still have much, much more to do.  Unemployment for people with disabilities is still is disproportionally higher than for the general population. Only 17.8 percent of persons with a disability were employed in 2012.  Many people with disabilities, particularly those who pursued college and graduate degrees, are chronically underemployed and unemployed. They struggle to earn a viable living. Some are forced to rely on public assistance. 

We are making progress, however.  Earlier this year, Indianapolis city leaders included the Disability Enterprise Category to the city’s contracting program with overwhelming bipartisan support.  Young people with disabilities are empowering themselves to compete in current job market.  More organizations are adding – or considering adding – internship opportunities for students with disabilities.

Like the marchers from 1963, we will not be deterred.  We will keep on marching.