Barriers to Access: Education, Disability, and the Bigger Picture

This week, we’re connecting the dots between national policy shifts and everyday realities—starting with what’s happening right now with the Trump administration’s tariffs and the dismantling of the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights divisions. What does that mean for access, equity, and accountability in education?

To help us explore those questions from the ground up, I’m joined by Julia Kelly, Disability Services Accessibility Specialist at the University of Richmond. Julia has been working at UR since 2005 and currently oversees academic accommodation support for students with disabilities. She manages the Disability Services Testing Center and leads the determination and implementation of academic accommodations—playing a key role in making sure students have what they need to succeed.

Together, we talk about what real educational access looks like, how accommodations are misunderstood, and the intersection between policy, identity, and lived experience. Julia brings years of knowledge, compassion, and advocacy to this work—and her insights are especially urgent in a political moment where access is being quietly undermined.

If you care about equity in education, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.