By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle medium
At the University of Washington, an institution known for its strong sense of community, on-campus spaces like the Disability and Deaf Cultural Center strive to create a welcoming environment for those seeking support and connection.
Known as the D Center, the space serves as a physical and virtual gathering place for students, staff, and faculty who identify as disabled, deaf, or as allies. The center is committed to fostering a safe, inclusive environment where people of all abilities can learn, socialize, and celebrate pride in community with one another.
“For any of the student employees, we really just exist to keep the center open. We are a study space, a low-sensory chill place, and a place where we are more than just a front desk,” said Alisha Bose, student outreach coordinator. “We mirror some of the other centers on campus, like the Queer Center, so we are always evolving with what we are able to do and support.”
As a space focused on developing social, cultural, and educational programming centered on the lived experiences of disabled and deaf individuals, the D Center plays an important role in offering rest and refuge.
“People really just like the space. A lot come to study, but people sometimes just come to relax and even sleep. We have a sensory space within the center that is low stimulation where you can shut the door and fall asleep,” said Bose. “There aren’t a lot of similar things like that on campus, and sometimes it can be very overstimulating because there are a lot of things happening all the time, so I think people really like that aspect.”
“Centers on campus are almost like a third home away from home,” said Bose.
The D Center collaborates with student groups, departments, schools, cultural centers, and other partners both at UW and beyond to enhance engagement and build broader community connections. From marketing outreach to clubs on and off campus to newsletters and shared resources, the work is varied.
“The center has been around for about 10 years, but I have only been here for a little over a year, and I just really like getting to know the community,” said Bose. “I think what drew me to this job over other campus jobs was that you really have the opportunity to be interactive and chat with people. Being able to give back and be a resource for people has been a big thing for me.”
Still, the D Center faces challenges. One of the most pressing is the absence of a full-time manager, which makes it more difficult to maintain consistent operations and reach a broader audience.
“It is more difficult for us because we don’t have a dedicated full-time employee. At the beginning of this quarter, I was the only student employee, and I had to keep the center open with what worked around my schedule,” said Bose. “We want to be able to have a wider range of impact, but it really is a student-run center, and balancing running the center with the challenges of being a full-time student has taken a bit of adjusting.”
“Our first priority is just keeping the center open, so we are looking for the best candidate possible to help step into that manager position,” said Bose.
According to the University of Washington, which has 57,067 total students, 57 percent of undergraduates are women and 43 percent are men, while 58 percent of the student body identifies as BIPOC. Given this demographic makeup, Bose said that student staff members help make the D Center more approachable and representative of the campus community.
“I think the demographic we serve is a bit of a mix. Other student employees and I are women of color, and I feel that makes us a very approachable space as employees at the center,” said Bose. “We get a big range of students, and we share spaces that are typically more marginalized spaces, which is great.”
Although BIPOC-specific events have not yet been hosted during Bose’s time at the D Center, the goal is to expand such programming once a manager is in place.
“I think that once we get a manager, we can really focus on having specific events for the different communities that we have here on campus,” said Bose. “When the time aligns, that will be something that definitely comes up for us because we would like to reach more communities and have more specific events.”
Through its programs and atmosphere, the D Center reflects UW’s values of equity, inclusion, and community support. The center continues to offer a wide range of resources that aim to meet students’ diverse needs.
“UW has a great sense of community. I have talked to different disability centers across the country, and they don’t have as many resources, and I think that is great about UW,” said Bose. “I can go on and on about the different types of resources that we have. While the range of resources that we have can be overwhelming, because there is so much you can see and go to, at the same time, I hope that means that people are really able to find a place or resource that works for them. Which contributes to that sense of belonging and community that people can find at UW.”
