Disability Awareness Month Celebration – October 2026
Disability Awareness Month is nationally recognized during the month of October. We are proud of the accomplishments and contributions of members of this community and embrace the honor and acknowledgement of their achievements. The James Farmer Multicultural Center is working closely with the Office of Disability Resources, as well as Diversability, Talk to the Hands, and Best Buddies student clubs to coordinate and plan the events for this month-long celebration.
ASPIRE Week/Accessibility BINGO
Tuesday, September 29 | 8:00 p.m. | Chandler Ballroom, Cedric Rucker University Center
Disability Awareness Month Kick-Off – Table Fair
Thursday, October 1 | 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Campus Walk in front of Lee Hall | (Rain location: 2nd Floor Gourley Living Room, Cedric Rucker University Center)
Join us for our Disability Awareness Month kick-off event where information and goodies, including free t-shirts, will be available from campus and community partners, such as: the Office of Disability Resources, the James Farmer Multicultural Center, Delta Alpha Pi Honor Society, Talk to the Hands, Best Buddies, the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, Mental Health America – Fredericksburg, and more.
Adaptive Sports Day
Saturday, October 3 | 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Goolrick Main & Auxiliary Gyms
Co-sponsored by POTS Club, UMW Athletics, and the James Farmer Multicultural Center
This event celebrates the unique abilities of persons with disabilities in the realm of sports. Often, persons with disabilities are discouraged or denied the opportunity to participate in any form of sports. This event will demonstrate inclusive excellence and uplift and champion individuals with disabilities by giving them a platform to shine and excel. It will bring about positive social change through engagement. By participating in the various adaptive sports stations (goalball, wheelchair basketball, boccia ball, and pickleball), individuals have the opportunity to gain a better understanding and appreciation of the complexities faced by individuals with disabilities, as well as their talents and contributions in sports and more broadly.
Silent Dinner
Thursday, October 15 | 5:00 p.m. | The Underground, Lee Hall
Sponsored by Talk to the Hands Club
Join Talk to the Hands for our fourth annual Silent Dinner! The Silent Dinner is an event included in this celebration hosted by UMW’s American Sign Language Club. The purpose of this event is to encourage attendees to try to communicate without using verbal language, instead by using American Sign Language, written language, or any other form of non-verbal communication while eating and having fun! So many people do not use verbal language to communicate, and by trying to find new ways to communicate, we are attempting to make our community more inclusive and understanding.
Disability Awareness Month Celebration Major Performer: Bill Shannon
Friday, October 16 | 6:00 p.m. | Digital Auditorium, Hurley Convergence Center
Bill Shannon is an interdisciplinary artist, inventor and maker who explores body-centric work through video installation, sculpture, drawing, linguistics, sociology, choreography and dance. Bill’s interdisciplinary works have been performed and exhibited globally and include a multi-year street performance “Regarding the Fall” and correlated line art series “Notes on Performance” a video installation series “Fragmentation Series” and five group works for dance theater focused on translating “street dance” to the stage. Bill is a Guggenheim Fellow in Dance, a Foundation for Contemporary Art fellow in Performance Art, and a United States Artists Fellow in Choreography. Bill has performed globally including New York Live Arts, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Sydney Opera House, MCA Chicago, Temple Bar Square Dublin and many more. While primarily a solo independent artist Bill has also worked as an aerial straps choreographer for Cirque Du Soleil’s touring show Varekai and starred in RJD2’s viral music video directed by Joey Garfield titled “Work It Out.” Currently, Shannon lives in Pittsburgh and continues to work independently on a range of self-directed projects while caring for his family.
All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. For more information, please contact the James Farmer Multicultural Center at (540) 654-1044 or visit the James Farmer Multicultural Center website. Please email us at jfmc@umw.edu if you have any questions regarding disability-related accommodations.