DREAM fosters inclusion, education on UNK campus

By Noah Johnson

One student organization at the University of Nebraska at Kearney is looking to create a more inclusive environment on campus.

DREAM, also known as Disability Rights, Education, Activism and Mentoring, is a recently established student organization focused on fostering a welcoming environment for students with disabilities on campus.

“Our goal on campus is to spread awareness and lessen the stigma around disabilities, along with helping to make more able-bodied students know about the things they might take advantage of,” said Ally Chacón, a junior and president of UNK’s DREAM chapter.

UNK’s DREAM chapter is one of over 60 student organizations nationally advocating for disability rights, education and inclusion on college campuses. The chapter formed over the last year when Jazzmyn Martin, assistant director for Disability Services for Students, began working at UNK.

DREAM was officially recognized as a student organization in spring 2024. During its first few months, the organization held several events on campus to promote awareness, including trivia nights, movie screenings and other games like adaptive sitting volleyball.

Chacón, a criminal justice major with minors in behavioral health and Japanese, said she was drawn to get involved in DREAM shortly after the student organization was created. The idea of building a community that promotes disability awareness was something she immediately connected with.

“It was interesting to see an organization openly say that when there are people with disabilities, mental and physical, that are still stigmatized,” she said. “It was really interesting to see that they wanted to help students like that.”

DREAM has flourished in its first year, bringing anywhere between 20 to 60 students around campus together to participate in its events and sessions. Martin said she has seen this community become closer and closer throughout its first year of operation.

As a new student organization, Martin and Chacón said getting off the ground can be difficult without financial support.

“We’ve always been limited in funds,” Chacón said. “So whenever we were purchasing stuff for events, we’ve had to go out of our own pocket.”

Thanks to the support the students received during One Day for UNK and beyond, DREAM can begin to expand, reaching more students and spreading its message of inclusiveness across campus.

“These gifts will directly involve and help students grow,” Chacón said. “It will support DREAM, our event planning and will have an impact on our future.”