DATE: August 21, 2008
CONTACT:
Arlene Stewart, 864-656-6848
astewar@clemson.edu
CONTACT:
Tim Kelley, 864-656-8130
kelley@clemson.edu
WRITER:
Angela Nixon, 864-656-0382
anixon@clemson.edu
Concert to raise money for Clemson’s Student Disability Services
Local rock band Klaxon to perform
CLEMSON — Enjoy a night of good music while supporting a good cause at EnAble ’08, a concert to benefit Clemson University’s Office of Student Disability Services at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29, at the Madren Center.
Classic rock band Klaxon, a band comprised of Clemson employees Tim Kelley, vocals; Gregg Moore, guitar; Alex Nash, guitar; Andrew Duchowski, percussion; and Matt Lilli, bass, will perform. There will be food, door prizes and special presentations. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for all others. Tickets are available at the Student Disability Services office in Redfern Health Center or at the door.
Band member Kelley, who works for Clemson Computing and Information Technology, said the band wanted to put its musical talents to good use helping others.
“One thing that struck me about Clemson when I first came here is this idea of the ‘Clemson DNA,’ the way people at this university help each other,” Kelley said. “It’s something I’ve witnessed here and something I really believe in and I wanted to be a part of it.”
Kelley wanted the concert proceeds to benefit Student Disability Services because he had met students who had received help from the office and he wants to see it grow to help even more students.
The Office of Student Disability Services helps approximately 650 students who have documented disabilities. Through services such as sign language interpretation, assistive technology, assisted note-taking, tutoring, academic coaching and mobility services, the office develops strategies and offers accommodations both in and out of the classroom to help enhance the Clemson experience. Student Disability Services also offers training for faculty members and teachers in the community in how to work with students who have disabilities.
Arlene Stewart, director of Student Disability Services, said the money that's raised will be used to expand its services.
“We will use the money for faculty training, support meetings for students and to purchase equipment that we did not have the budget for,” Stewart said. “We want to grow our program and go beyond what we’re currently providing.”
Stewart said most of the students the office serves are not obviously disabled.
“Most of our disabilities are invisible. About half of our students have attention disorders and another 18 percent have learning issues,” Stewart said. “When people think of a disabled person, they think of someone in a wheelchair, but that is not our population. Wheelchairs are not a common thing on our campus.”
Stewart said the main goals of Student Disability Services are to help students know themselves, to teach student advocacy skills and to help them learn to transfer their skills into their life after college.
“Fifty-six million Americans have disabilities,” she said. “Only 16 percent of them receive a post-secondary education and 76 percent of them are unemployed. But the students we work with are doing very well. We had 77 students graduate in May with an average GPA of 3.04.”
END