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Before Andrew Benbenek stepped foot on Syracuse University’s campus — or any college campus — he knew he wanted to be part of the Orange.

“I had wanted to go to SU since I was probably 3, 4 years old — before I even knew why I was going to college,” Benbenek said.

Benbenek, who was diagnosed with brain cancer as a child, had been told throughout his life that his disability would make achieving his dream of going to college unlikely. In 2017, however, he found a home in SU’s then relatively new InclusiveU initiative — a program that provides accessible higher education for students with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

Now, his alma mater is celebrating 10 years on SU’s campus. It was founded as a program in SU’s Lawrence B. Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education — a center within SU’s School of Education dedicated to finding ways to support college-aged individuals with disabilities.

Since InclusiveU’s creation, the program’s student population has increased by over 600% — from 14 students in its first year to over 100 today. Today, it is one of the largest programs for intellectually and developmentally disabled college students in the United States, said Beth Myers, the executive director of the Taishoff Center.

“They really ‘bleed orange’ like everybody else,” Myers said. “Our students get the opportunity to be a college student and to be a part of college student growth … it’s an opportunity for students to explore what it means to find themselves.”

When InclusiveU was founded, there were only about 25 higher education programs for disabled students in the U.S., Myers said. Currently, there are around 300, according to the PACER Center — an organization dedicated to providing resources to parents of children with disabilities.

InclusiveU aims to educate “students of all ages with intellectual and developmental disabilities who want to experience college life,” according to SU’s Center on Disability and Inclusion’s website. Students in the program audit one to three SU classes a semester, participate in professional and personal development seminars, have the opportunity to live on campus and graduate with a certificate in their selected field of study.

Prior to the creation of InclusiveU, the Taishoff Center, which was founded in 2009, featured two community programs for disabled students — its OnCampus partnership with the Syracuse City School District and the Access program with an external “adult service agency,” InclusiveU Director Brianna Shults wrote in a statement to The Daily Orange. These initiatives allowed only a “small number” of students with disabilities to attend SU.

In 2014, the Taishoff Center was awarded a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities office — which funded the InclusiveU project, Shults wrote. It then began to offer classes to a 14-person enrollment class.

Courtesy of the Taishoff Center

InclusiveU students pose with Otto the Orange at a 2023 orientation. The program emphasizes regular cohort-wide bonding activities.

When Benbenek first came to SU in the early years of the program, he said opportunities for InclusiveU students were limited. During his freshman year of college, he realized he was interested in pursuing a career in sports broadcasting and attempted to take classes at the university’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. At first, he was denied.

“When I started (with) InclusiveU, Newhouse wasn’t really open to InclusiveU students,” Benbenek said. “It was definitely challenging to get classes that wanted to accept an InclusiveU student because they had never done this.”

After getting involved with several on-campus communications outlets and taking thorough notes at Newhouse events, Benbenek said he demonstrated to professors that he was capable of being accepted into their courses. He then became the first InclusiveU student to take Newhouse courses and graduate with a certificate from the school.

Throughout his college career, Benbenek continued to lead among his peers. In 2020, he was the second InclusiveU student in the program’s history to be named an SU Remembrance Scholar, the first being awarded to Cleo Hamilton in 2019.

Benbenek now works as a board operator at Galaxy Media Partners — a digital communications firm in the central New York area.

Over its decade-long presence on campus, InclusiveU students have led the changes to the program. In 2017, InclusiveU saw its first student live in an on-campus housing facility. Next semester, the university expects to have half of the program living in residence halls, Shults wrote.

Both Myers and Shults highlighted the importance of allowing disabled students at SU to enjoy the traditional college experience. InclusiveU is the only four-year, residential, fully inclusive college program in the state, Shults wrote.

For sophomore John Rorro, getting that experience was one of his main draws to the InclusiveU program. Having grown up in Washington County, New York — nearly three hours away from Syracuse — he said his family initially felt hesitant to send him to SU. He ultimately decided to attend the university because of its sports management program.

“The moment I came to visit Syracuse and took my first step on campus, I knew that I could call this a home for the next four years,” Rorro said. “The reason why I’m here is to get the four-year experience that other typical students are getting. I felt like kids with disabilities, and me with a disability, deserve the same thing.”

Now, Rorro said he is heavily involved on campus. Along with working in SU’s Peer2Peer program (an initiative that connects students at InclusiveU with others in the broader campus community), he also works on the sidelines during SU football home games. Like any other sports management student, he said he dreams of having a full-time job with his favorite sports team, the New York Rangers, and starting a family.

“We’re Syracuse students like everyone else. We have a say,” Rorro said. “We want other typical students to recognize and see that, ‘Yeah, we’re in (InclusiveU), but we’re just like you.’”

Rorro, Benbenek and around 280 SU community members attended InclusiveU’s 10th anniversary celebration on April 4. Rorro said he enjoyed the opportunity to advocate for the program with SU alumni, faculty and administrators and plans to continue supporting InclusiveU after he graduates.

Echoing Rorro, Benbenek said he regularly connects with the professors and peers who supported him when he was a student at SU.

Although they are grateful for the opportunity to attend a four-year university, several InclusiveU students said there is still room for the program to grow.

When Benbenek attended SU, he had to campaign to walk with his graduating Newhouse class as InclusiveU students typically walk with the School of Education. In the future, he said he hopes students in the InclusiveU program will be afforded the same opportunities as the rest of SU when selecting their graduation preferences.

“I feel like they should be able to walk the stage with the people they went to school with,” Benbenek said.

As the program continues to grow, Myers said she hopes to further “embed” InclusiveU into SU’s university systems, such as making course registration more accessible and encouraging registered student organizations to further accommodate students with disabilities.

InclusiveU also aims to work with similar higher education institutions across the country and serve as a “blueprint” for schools intending to implement similar programs, Myers said.

“In the next 10 years, I hope we continue to let our students lead in the growth process of InclusiveU,” Shults wrote. “So much of what our program focuses on is what our students want out of this experience.”

Rorro said he thinks programs like InclusiveU are crucial in helping young disabled people grow as individuals. He hopes families of college-age students with disabilities will let their children “give (college) a shot” despite the barriers they may face.

“We’ve just had an amazing 10 years, and I’m just happy that I’ve gotten to be a part of it,” he said. “I’ll tell you right now, it has definitely changed my life.”

Published on April 18, 2024 at 2:00 am

Contact Julia: jmboehni@syr.edu