Graham Turner, assistant director of student wellbeing with Pacific’s Student Counseling Center, said that Young’s project meets a need for a significant part of the Pacific community. The university’s 2023 Healthy Minds survey revealed that 30% of students identified as having a disability.
Pacific is among seven pilot institutions nationwide, and one of only two in the West, participating in the College Autism Network’s Autism-Inclusive Campus designation program. The two-year program, which Pacific began in July 2025, enables institutions to assess how they can enhance the college experience for autistic and other neurodivergent individuals.
June 9, 2019. Ali Stroker wins Best Featured Actress in a Musical at the 73rd Annual Tony Awards. An actor, singer, and wheelchair user, Ali Stroker has been a trailblazer for disability representation on the stage. She was the first wheelchair user to graduate from the Tisch School of the Arts Drama Department at New York University. In 2015, she was the first wheelchair user to appear on Broadway, starring as Anna in the musical, Spring Awakening. For her performance as Ado Annie Carnes in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma!, Stroker became the first wheelchair user to win a Tony Award in 2019.
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