From the president
Ella French is a senior at the University of Rochester studying health, behavior, and society with a second major in American Sign Language. Since her sophomore year, she has supported students with intellectual and developmental disabilities through a longstanding community partnership with the University's Center for Community Engagement. She also leads the Special Olympics club on campus, and has gained exposure to broadening educational access for adolescents and emerging adults through summer experiential learning opportunities. She is pursuing the University's certificate of achievement in community-engaged learning, and is exploring partnership with the Rochester School for the Deaf for her capstone project. Ella believes that expanding educational access has transformative potential for individuals and society at large.
Personal Statement
I am committed to advancing accessibility in education and health for marginalized communities. As a public health and American Sign Language (ASL) student, I bring an interdisciplinary perspective that informs my work. Guided by this commitment, I have engaged with individuals from different backgrounds to promote inclusion and opportunity. I have supported young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in pursuing independence and participation in higher education. In addition, I conducted interviews with members of the DeafBlind community to uncover barriers in healthcare access. I also collaborated with colleagues in a fellowship to design and facilitate activities at a program for Rochester City School District students, mitigating summer learning loss, promoting mental health and wellness, and addressing opportunity gaps. These experiences have shown me how systems are often built around able-bodied, neurotypical norms and other structural assumptions, creating inequities. Centering lived experiences has reinforced my belief that lasting social change requires creative, community-informed strategies co-developed with those affected. Through the Newman Civic Fellowship, I plan to work alongside communities to learn from their experiences and apply those insights to initiatives that improve accessibility and opportunity across education, health, and social systems.