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About the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities

The RCPD has a long and impressive history of helping MSU students and staff members with disabilities. The center, first named the Office of Programs for Handicapper Students, was created in 1972 as MSU's response for equal access to a university education for all students.

For more than 35 years, the RCPD has remained a vital part of the MSU community, seeking to improve the education of students with disabilities. Beginning in the early 1930s, even before the formal creation of an office, the Tower Guard Honor Society read textbooks and classroom materials to blind students, a tradition that continues today with the help of the Tower Guard and many other volunteers.

Over the years, assistive technologies were introduced to students and the greater university community. Foundational services for students with mobility and visual disabilities expanded to include services for students (and later faculty) who were deaf or hard of hearing, as well as those with learning disabilities, brain injuries, psychiatric and various chronic health conditions.

The services that the RCPD provides for the MSU community are important and necessary, but they don't happen by themselves.

They Need You!

Students and employees with disabilities and the RCPD rely on volunteers who are willing to make a difference in the lives of classmates, co-workers and neighbors.

A financial contribution can make a big difference in the education of hundreds of students with disabilities by making possible the implementation of new technologies, programs and scholarships. The Persons with Disabilities Empowerment Fund, the Robert Decker and Benjamin Muns Friendship Scholarship Fund, the Samaritan Scholar Award Fund, the Stern Tutoring and Alternative Techniques for Education Program, the Harold F. and Phyllis N. Wochholz Endowment for Persons with Disabilities, the Tower Guard Scholarship Fund, and the Carlson Accessible Media Program are critical areas at the RCPD that rely on the financial contributions of supporters like you.

You may also mail your contribution to:
Michigan State University
Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities
120 Bessey Hall
East Lansing, MI 48824

Please include the fund code (AB number) associated with your gift. For more information about any of the RCPD funds, please visit RCPD or call (517) 353-9642 x235.

Specific giving opportunities within the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities in need of your support:

• Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities Empowerment Fund AB111
  This fund seeks to empower, motivate and promote the success of students and employees with disabilities, and to educate, support and inspire those working with persons with disabilities. This fund will advance innovations in the following areas: career and employment readiness, leadership development, assistive technology, audiovisual educational material accessibility and disability awareness.
  
• Robert Decker and Benjamin Muns Friendship Scholarship Fund AB112
  The Robert L. Decker and Benjamin Muns Friendship Memorial Scholarship is awarded in the spring to a qualified student with a disability enrolled in a graduate degree program at Michigan State University for the following summer, fall or spring semester. Winners are selected by review of applicant achievement in a variety of areas including: academics, quality of references, clear definition of goals, pre-professional achievements including demonstrated leadership ability, demonstrated financial need, and quality and coherence of written essays.
  
• Samaritan Scholar Award Fund AB1131
  Established by MSU alumni Jim and Judy DeLapa, the fund provides support to sophomores, juniors or seniors with disabilities, and is awarded to students who are United States citizens demonstrating financial need. Awards presented through this endowment will maximize potential and advance excellence for sophomores, juniors, and seniors with disabilities.
  
• Max 'Mickey' and Judith 'Debbie' Stern Tutoring and Alternative Techniques for Education Program at MSU AB116
  Mickey and Debbie Stern established the Stern Tutoring and Alternative Techniques for Education (STATE) endowment to provide innovative and important assistance for MSU students with learning disabilities. The program provides a structured environment, effective learning strategies, academic tutoring and other forms of academic support for students with learning disabilities. Beyond traditional accommodation concepts, STATE provides new disability-specific instructional, tutorial, and peer-mentoring components.
  
• Harold F. and Phyllis N. Wochholz Endowment for Persons with Disabilities Fund AB1163
  Alumni Harold F. and Phyllis N. Wochholz established this endowment to provide the MSU Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities (RCPD) with a source of funding to market MSU as a university with an exceptional and sustained record of success in meeting the needs of persons with disabilities.
  
• Tower Guard Scholarship Fund AB1164
  As MSU's oldest active student organization, the Tower Guard selects its members from the top 5% of the freshman class. They are among the most scholastically dedicated members of Michigan State University. Tower Guards are consistently active, hard-working students who devote a significant amount of time toward the RCPD mission.
  
• Carlson Accessible Media Program AB1165
  Richard and Kathleen Carlson funded this endowment to build a program that will have a permanent positive impact on the availability of accessible instructional materials for MSU students. The fund will support creating, marketing , and delivering accessible education materials to students with print-related disabilities or disabilities that affect access to audio, visual or electronic media.
  

For more information, visit the RCPD home page.