Applications are now being accepted for awarding the next Thomas Barnett Breaking Down Barriers Scholarship to a member of the campus community.
Barnett was an Honors Fellow and a Presidential Scholar in the Elon University Class of 2007. His honors thesis was in digital art, and through his art he raised awareness about issues on campus for students with disabilities. His parents created the award in his memory, with $1,000 to be awarded annually to one Elon undergraduate who successfully completes a high-quality project on a topic related to improving the university experience of students with disabilities.
Last year the first award was presented to current Elon senior Jamie Albright for her research on college-aged students living with perinatally acquired HIV. Professor Cindy Fair is Albright’s faculty mentor.
Projects must have an academic component, broadly defined and including projects such as websites, creative works and research papers. The research process can include theoretical and/or applied scholarship and can relate to any aspect of the university experience, from the physical environment to academic experiences to social connectivity concerns. The projects can be part of a course or an Elon Experience.
The term “disability” has a variety of meanings, which often differ depending upon the person who uses the word as well as the context in which it is used. Most simply, “a disability is an inability to do something that most people, with typical maturation, opportunity, or instruction, can do” (Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2010). It is therefore important for us to recognize that, while most people think of a person using a wheelchair, or a hearing aid, or a service animal as the prototypical person with a disability, the vast majority of persons with disabilities do not fit into those narrow categories. People with learning disabilities, emotional illnesses and other “invisible disabilities” are also included among the disabled.
Contact Susan Wise at swise2@elon.edu for more information about disabilities.
The deadline for submissions will be Monday, March 18. Applicants for this award will be asked to work with their mentors or advisors to describe the project briefly and explain how it meets the criteria of the award. Reminder emails and the application will be sent at the beginning of the spring semester. In the meantime, interested students and/or mentors are encouraged to contact Professor Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler (vanderma@elon.edu) for more information.
Hallahan, D., Kauffman, J., & Pullen, P. (2010). Exceptional learners: An introduction to special education.
Boston, MA: Pearson