Who We Are DCC

Disability is a natural part of the human experience!

Approximately 30% of the UC Berkeley combined campus community (undergraduates, graduate and postdoctoral students, faculty and staff) report to having a disability. 

The UC Berkeley disability statistics from the 2019 My Climate Survey found that 35% of undergraduates,  25% of graduate students, and 23% postdocs identify as having some type of disability.

Our Mission

UC Berkeley’s Disability Cultural Community Center serves as a platform to advocate, educate, and collaborate among students, faculty, and staff living with a disability to advance and empower both the community on campus and beyond so persons with disabilities can fully learn, work, and live with dignity.

Our Core and Community Values

  1. Community Not Compliance: Advocate for the disability community and disability justice movements to be represented and included on campus as well as provide a safe and social space for cultural activities to celebrate disability, and foster a sense of community for students and staff living with disabilities to minimize isolation.
    1. Foster connections among current students, alumni, faculty, and staff to encourage authentic networks and leadership development 
    2. Incorporate support to navigate academic and disability success while acknowledging and affirming intersectionality 
    3. Provide a safe and welcoming space to host social and recreational events and activities for campus connections 
    4. Serve as a space for community organizing, meetings, and use of accessible equipment
  2. Education Through Empowerment:  Equip members of the disability community with resources and a living disability historical archive to foster disability identity and share innovation with campus partners to advance equity and excellence.
    1. Create and maintain a living disability library and archive to foster disability identity and collect stories of the movement
    2. Explore disability identity and its connections in the personal, sociopolitical, and cultural experiences students, staff, and faculty encounter in their lives 
    3. Provide resources and best practices for allies and partners to incorporate inclusion into their own events and spaces 
    4. Support internship, leadership, and volunteer opportunities so students can develop professionally and merge theoretical concepts with practice while preparing for employment 

  3. Collaborate and Co-Create: Collaborate with various campus partners and departments to infuse and situate disability as a greater part of the social fabric of diversity at UC Berkeley and seamlessly integrate access into physical, curricular, social, and digital environments. 

    1. Reframe perceptions around disability from a deficit to a value-based framework to include disability perspectives and expertise across campus initiatives 
    2. Disseminate and encourage disability-centered and equitable design and practices while collaborating with departmental partners and various cultural centers on campus to co-create a welcoming climate 
    3. Actively engage in conversations around design of spaces and environments from physical to digital, to promote access and enhance student and staff experience