Disability Resource Center Honors Students, Faculty
LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 27, 2017) — The University of Kentucky Disability Resource Center (DRC) held its annual awards ceremony Friday, April 14, at The 90. Several students, as well as faculty and staff, were honored at the ceremony with scholarships and awards.
Among the awards given out was the Adelstein Award. Given by the DRC, the Adelstein Award was first presented in 1984 and is annually presented to the student with a disability who best serves as an inspiration to the UK community through excellence in any or all of the following: academics, leadership, extracurricular activities and social and personal qualities. It is named for Carol Adelstein who was a successful person with a disability and wife of a UK professor.
Adelstein Award winners are:
Stuart Ford, from Cleveland, Ohio, is a community and leadership development student in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. Ford has a strong resume in terms of his accomplishments as a student in the classroom, in the community and as an athlete, particularly with volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House and playing on UK men's soccer team.
Nicole Agro, an Ontario, Canada, native and Bowling Green, Kentucky, resident, is an art education student in the School of Art and Visual Studies. She is also a recipient of the Adelstein Award because of not only her strong academic record, but also her strong involvement in the community and her advocacy for students with disabilities. Agro is a member of UK's American Sign Language Club and Figure Drawing, art education chapter.
Each scholarship recipient received a $1,000 award.
The DRC also awarded the Michael Brent Scholarship, established by the Brent family in memory of their son Michael, a former UK student who suffered a spinal cord injury in 1997 and passed away at the age of 18. The wish of his family is that this scholarship assist students with mobility issues whose academic prowess and personal qualities are an inspiration to others.
Dyeshia Parrott, from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, is a pre-medical laboratory science student in the College of Health Sciences and the recipient of the Michael Brent Scholarship. In the future, Parrott hopes to earn a physician assistant degree. Upon winning the award, Parrott received a $500 scholarship.
Faculty and staff were also honored at the ceremony with the Breaking the Barrier Award, given to faculty who go above and beyond in creating a classroom environment that encourages inclusion of the accommodation needs of students with disabilities.
Two faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences were recognized as outstanding faculty partners — Kent Ratajeski, senior lecturer in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Jeff Clymer, professor and chair of the Department of English.
The DRC also awarded UK's Counseling Center (UKCC) as its partner of the year with the Extra Mile Award. This award is given to a university unit or department that has partnered with the DRC to improve physical access or the expansion/creation of programs for UK students with disabilities.
The UKCC provides confidential psychological counseling to currently enrolled UK students and consultation services to currently enrolled UK students, UK faculty and staff and caregivers.
The DRC provides services to the university community so students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to fully participate in all aspects of university life. The DRC serves students with a wide array of disabilities and its website provides valuable information for students, parents, faculty and staff related to various responsibilities, services and programs of the office.