Gabriella Garbero is an 18-year-old student at the University of Missouri. Like many freshman, she took part in rush which culminated in accepting a bid from the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. But with this experience, Gabriella made history at MU by becoming “the first woman in the university’s history to participate fully in rush while using a wheelchair.”

Gabriella has type 2 spinal muscular atrophy. To enter sorority houses during rush, a friend set up portable ramps so Gabriella could maneuver her wheelchair over stairs. Now that she is a Kappa Kappa Gamma sister, Gabriella keeps two temporary ramps at the house, which the sorority says will be replaced by permanent ramps. Despite these improvements to the house, Gabriella will not be able to live there due to additional accessibility limitations and her dependency on additional personal aides.

With the thousands of students with disabilities on campus, Gabriella does think it is strange that she is the first to pass this milestone. But, she does give her family credit for her decision to rush, saying “I was blessed to be raised in a family where I wasn’t limited just from being in a wheelchair.” Gabriella has already inspired others to follow in her path, as her roommate, who also uses a wheelchair, is considering the next rush season.

To read the full article from the Columbia Missourian, click here.

Mike Bush, news anchor for KSDK’s NewsChannel 5 in St. Louis, did a piece about a recent show at the Touhill Peforming Arts Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. But, being a musical version of a classic Mark Twain novel is not what made “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the Musical” extraordinary. This show was put on by the Variety Children’s Theater which provides children and teens with disabilities the opportunity to work alongside professionals in all parts of the production, including on-stage performance, costume design, set design, stage management, etc.

One of the children spotlighted in Bush’s report is Kaci Conley, a ten year old with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). When she was born, Kaci’s parents were told she wouldn’t even speak. Through hard work she has proved the prediction wrong, winning the role of Penny Temple in the musical and singing and dancing with all the other actors.

To read the full article or watch the video of the news report, click here.