The Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability will be separating from San Francisco State University on Monday due to a lack of funding.
SFSU’s budget cuts have been impacting various things, from class options to sports programs. Centers and institutes aren’t immune as they’ve been gradually required to support themselves more than usual, according to Emily Beitiks, the institute’s interim director.
The institute is a hub for disability studies and functions as a community space for people with disabilities. It was named after Paul K. Longmore, who was a history professor and specialized in the history of people with disabilities and later became the director of the institute in 1996.
After his death, the university and donors founded an endowment for the institute, and in 2012, Emily Beitiks was hired as the associate director.
She said that the Longmore Institute would have a better chance at surviving if it left the university.
“We will stay in the Bay Area but detached from the university with hopes to collaborate, but financially still independent, and housed under a separate 501(c)(3),” Beitiks said. “Which just means we become a nonprofit.”
The student organization Disability Rights Education Activism and Mentoring has been receiving most of its funding from the institute, according to former DREAM President Hannah Wilson. Without those funds, the club will only be supported by Associated Students.
Reina Howell, current president of DREAM, wishes that more students were aware of the Longmore Institute.
“I think it’s a huge loss, not just for us, but for the community as a whole,” Howell said.
Beitiks said the institute has been a place for people to connect and discuss disability, as well as a platform for mentorship. Without the institute, she is concerned about students’ voices being heard.
Wilson echoed that sentiment.
“Disabled students lack representation, historical representation at SFSU,” Wilson said. “Paul Longmore did a lot of advocating at SFSU and having that huge piece of history removed, it’s like removing a piece of SF State’s disability history.”
Wilson described how the Longmore Institute has established a community for her.
“When I first came to SF State, I was very isolated and felt very alone because of my autism,” she said. “Once I found DREAM and the Longmore office, I realized that there were some similar feelings of isolation. I became proud of having a disability.”
Wilson is also concerned that with Longmore’s departure, the Disability Programs and Resource Center will become the main space for disabled students on campus.
“The focus will be on the DPRC and disability will just be accommodations and not a culture,” Wilson said.
This sentiment is aligned with the All-University Committee on Disability’s open letter to President Lynn Mahoney back in April, which called for an institutional shift in how the university supports the disabled community.
Despite concerns, Wilson believes that the institute’s separation will push DREAM to become something new.
“The only good thing is that it’s going to push the DREAM officers out there to connect to disabled students on campus,” Wilson said. “I hope San Francisco State University evolves into the kind of institution Paul Longmore envisioned — one that truly values and celebrates the disabled community.”
