During Disabled Students Empowerment Day 2025, CUNY SPS students were among the many passionate advocates fighting for funding to support college students with disabilities, supporting the time-honored slogan, “Nothing About Us Without Us.”
Disabled Students Empowerment Day, an annual event that brings together city and state lawmakers, students, and faculty from several New York campuses, seeks to increase awareness as well as funding for higher education institutions to improve services for disabled students.
Unlike previous years, when Disabled Students Empowerment Day was held in Albany, New York, this year’s event was hosted online on Zoom, with an audience of 300 virtual attendees (reaching full capacity), to serve as a statewide virtual press conference.
Since 2018, advocates have been calling for a full $15 million investment for these services. This year, the target was at least $13 million in state funding to support the grant program entitled, “Enhancing Supports and Services for Postsecondary Success of Students with Disabilities,” according to the New York State Disability Services Council (NYSDSC).
Students also advocated for State Senate Bill S3369, which would “expand NYS financial aid options for college students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and make aid sources such as TAP accessible for these students.” While the bill has only recently been introduced into the State Senate, it still has to pass through the Senate Finance Committee before being added to the Senate Floor Calendar to be voted on.
Two CUNY SPS students led the charge during the event: Lennyn Jacob (BA Disability Studies), who serves as co-chair of the CUNY SPS Student Association as well as co-advisor to the CUNY Coalition for Students with Disabilities (CCSD); and Daniel Reden (BS Business), who serves as chairperson of the University Student Senate (USS) and student trustee on CUNY’s Board of Trustees.
Jacob, who has advocated during the past seven Disabled Student Empowerment Days, is a self-described disabled Latina woman with a neurodiverse son about to embark on his college journey. Speaking early on during the event, Jacob outlined her proposal to use the funding for a comprehensive summer and winter immersion program for students with disabilities to adjust to the transition from high school to college.
“As a disabled college student and a mother, I have insights that some may not fully grasp,” Jacob explained during the event. “It’s no secret that transitional services for high school students entering college are critically lacking. For many disabled students embarking on their college journeys, the process is often overwhelming.”
In addition to navigating a labyrinth of university departments, disabled students must adjust to new study routines and technologies without the help of paraprofessionals that aren’t available in post-secondary education settings, she said.
“Now, imagine, if you will, if we had enough full-time staff dedicated to developing and sustaining this initiative,” she said. “Consider the difference that it would make if a familiar face could assist these students in navigating the various departments they need to interact with.”
Jacob’s concept for an immersion program would guide and support students for their academic journeys, providing foundational classes in math and English, as well as help with assistive technology and effective study habits.
“This mission may seem like a dream, but it has the potential to elevate retention and graduation rates for college students with disabilities significantly,” Jacob concluded. “With the state’s investment of $15 million, this dream can become a tangible reality, setting us on a path toward workforce success. So, I urge you to support this dream. Fund the initiative of $15 million. Please invest in our future.”
Towards the end of the event, Daniel Reden took the floor to speak on behalf of USS, which represents the rights and interests of CUNY’s 240,000 students, and CUNY’s Board of Trustees, the University’s governing body.
“Disability affects everyone, whether directly or through a family member, through a friend, or through a colleague,” Reden said.
One of Reden’s first votes as a CUNY trustee was to approve an operating budget request for increasing support for services for students with disabilities, a $4.1 million increase from the state and a $2.1 million increase from the City of New York, he explained.
“So today, I urge state legislators to increase the support for the Fiscal Year ‘26 operating budget for mandatory disability accommodation services at CUNY and to students,” he explained. “USS also believes that the New York State Education Department (SED) Post-Secondary Advanced Service Program should be fully restored [for the following academic year] and increased by $2 million in fiscal year ‘26. Ultimately, the state-wide SED program should be fully funded at $15 million.”
To finish his speech, Reden added words of determination that summed up the day’s events: “The students united will never be defeated.”
