About

Dear Madisability visitors:

Originally, getting the class to cover disability as our final topic was a hard sell. 

Our writers were wary — we had just two weeks to produce a fully realized site, and many of them had no prior experience writing about disability issues. The terrain was unknown, and we wanted to do the topic justice. 

Ultimately, we decided that the biggest injustice we could commit in our coverage of disability issues was not covering them at all. Despite a recent rush of exposure due to the success of the #FreeBritney movement, disability issues are rarely covered in local, regional or even national news. Disabled people are forgotten, if not explicitly excluded, from spaces both physical and digital. We wanted to change that, at least on our campus. 

UW-Madison has a student body of 43,000, just .08% of which is currently registered with the McBurney Disability Resource Center. More students, too, have undiagnosed disabilities, meaning they can’t get accommodations from the McBurney Center and are not represented in the .08%. This population of students is important — they’re our peers, our friends, our TAs — they’re an integral part of campus life. Treating disabled students as an alien population ignores the valuable contributions they make to our campus. Besides that, it ignores their humanity. 

Our team did a fantastic job seeking out and covering the experiences of various students, staff and faculty members. However, we recognize that we’ve barely scratched the surface. Disability extends to every part of campus and city life, and there are scores of stories to tell. 

Our goal with this project was to increase awareness, and to reduce the stigma associated with disability, both in our readers and writers. We wanted to increase compassion, to increase understanding and support for disabled students on campus. Everyone learned new things in the process of reporting, which, as we see it, was a massive success. 

We hope these stories inspire you to continue seeking out information, and that we as reporters can continue to expand our horizons and use our work to foster change and inclusivity. 

Sincerely,

Joyce Riphagen and Matt Blaustein

Managing Editors

Our Team

Abie Thiel

Multimedia Team

Abie is a junior from Hilbert, Wisconsin on both the reporting and strategic communication tracks in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and is also receiving a certificate in public policy.

Allyson Fergot

Copy Editor

Allyson is a junior from La Crosse, Wisconsin double majoring in journalism on the reporting track and political science with a certificate in educational policy studies.

Caitlyn Halfon

Web Team

Caitlyn is a junior from Los Angeles majoring in journalism with certificates in both environmental studies and gender and women’s studies.

Carlos Dávalos

Editor-in-Chief

Carlos is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Journalism & Mass Communication.

Caroline Brown

Web Team

Caroline is a senior from Meredith, New Hampshire double tracking in strategic communications and reporting.

Danny Tabaska

Multimedia Team

Danny is a senior from Milwaukee on both the reporting and strategic communication tracks and is also receiving certificates in sports communication and education policy analysis.

Erin Gretzinger

Web Editor

Erin is a junior from Appleton, Wisconsin majoring in French and journalism on the reporting and strategic communications tracks.

Gillian Rawling

Multimedia Team

Gillian is a junior from Verona in the school of Journalism and Mass Communication studying reporting.

Grace Houdek

Multimedia Editor

Grace is a senior from the suburbs of Chicago double tracking in the School of Journalism & Mass Communication and receiving a certificate in digital studies.

Isabella Byrne

Promotions Team

Isabella is a senior from Long Island, New York in the School of Journalism studying strategic communications and reporting.

Jamie Randall

Web Team

Jamie is a junior from Westchester, New York in the School of Journalism & Mass Communications dual tracking in reporting and strategic communications with certificates in digital studies and business.

Joyce Riphagen

Managing Editor

Joyce is a junior from Best, Brabant, in the Netherlands majoring in journalism and conservation biology with comprehensive honors.

Justin Alpert

Copy Editor

Justin is a junior from Newton, Massachusetts double tracking in both reporting and strategic communication and completing a certificate in sports communication.

Lila Szyryj

Web Team

Lila, born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, is a junior journalism major double tracking in reporting and strategic communication.

Marissa Mortenson

Promotions Team

Marissa is a junior from New Richland, Minnesota in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications double tracking in reporting and strategic communication.

Matt Blaustein

Managing Editor

Matt is a junior from Edgemont, New York majoring in journalism with a certificate in sports communication.

Rachel Clark

Promotions Director

Rachel is a senior from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin double majoring in journalism and economics and completing a certificate in entrepreneurship.

Rebecca Kite

Promotions Team

Rebecca is a fifth year student from Denver, Colorado majoring in journalism and plans to receive certificates in studio photography and African American studies.

Sally Reed

Promotions Team

Sally is a junior from Minneapolis, Minnesota double majoring in journalism on the reporting track and political science with a certificate in public policy.

Shannon McManus

Multimedia Team

Shannon is a junior from Germantown, Wisconsin and in the School of Journalism studying strategic communications and reporting.