SCS Newsletter - June 2019 (Disability Accomodations)

Two weeks ago the AIA and SCS travelled to Washington D.C to view the Marriott Marquis Washington D.C., the property where the 2020 Annual Meeting will be held. We are pleased to report that the property is willing to work with us in meeting our goals for creating a more accessible and inclusive atmosphere for 2020.

Some of the things we plan to include at the 2020 Joint Annual Meeting are:

1. Gender neutral/family bathrooms, located in the same nook as male and female bathrooms, so that members needing these will not have to search far and wide. The location of all bathrooms will be included in our annual meeting maps and the annual meeting app.
2. An updated memo for panel presiders to include a “Handout and Presentation Best-Practices Guide”
3. An onsite Ombudsperson to handle claims of racism and harassment
4. We are working on creating a quiet room for members with disability to temporarily step away, as well as a lactation room for those needing it.

In addition, this year we will have a workshop titled, Responding to Harassment: Bystander Intervention, which is led by Collective Action for Safe Spaces, D.C., and is in collaboration between Classics and Social Justice, the Women’s Classical Caucus, the SCS Committee for Diversity in the Profession, and the SCS Committee for Gender and Sexuality in the Profession.

The purpose of the workshop is to “equip members with skills in resisting and intervening in incidents of harassment, intimidation, and bias, especially harassment grounded in race, ethnicity, gender, sex, or class.” This is a non-mandatory workshop and the SCS is looking into other non-mandatory training opportunities which will be available in the future. We hope the workshop will receive a healthy audience.

As always, we encourage members to live tweet at the annual meeting so that those not in attendance can be included. We appreciate the dissemination of these events in real time so to that our members can gain more out of these sessions and create dialogue as they unfold.

Lastly, the AIA and SCS has finalized a Joint Disability Policy for the Annual Meeting which will be implemented in Washington, D.C. The policy outlines instructions for members requesting special accommodation and the offices will work with members on an individual basis to best accommodate their needs. In addition, there will be someone at the AIA booth to answer any onsite questions regarding our disability services. The Joint Disability Policy will be available on our websites, on the annual meeting registration site, and the annual meeting paper registration when registration officially opens in late summer.

We hope that the above is an indication that the SCS and AIA are taking steps to ensure that the annual meeting incorporates an atmosphere of inclusivity and accessibility for all. Further information regarding the 2020 Annual Meeting will be distributed in the upcoming months, and we look forward to an exciting program in Washington, D.C.

Thank you to all our members who have given us feedback on these important issues.