New Name
Same Purpose

Almost 20 years ago, the University of Houston established the first student disability center at a major university in Texas. It was named the Justin Dart, Jr. Center for Students with DisABILITIES after UH alumnus and activist Justin Dart Jr.

Highly regarded as the "godfather" of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Dart was instrumental in the passage of the groundbreaking civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It was signed into law July 26, 1990.

Cultural norms have progressed since that time. The all-caps emphasis on abilities in the Center’s name was empowering nearly two decades ago, but, recently, students shared that the name did not seem to reflect a current celebration of diversity and inclusion. They expressed that all caps emphasis implied that there is something negative about having a disability.

To be more inclusive, this past July, on the 31st anniversary of the passage of the ADA, the Center’s name changed to the Justin Dart, Jr. Student Accessibility Center. In addition, it announced it will be hiring more counselors, improving its facilities and adding a new online service database.