Welcome to the School of Health Professions
Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The mission of the School of Health Professions Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is to work collaboratively with faculty, staff, students, and other stakeholders to promote a broadened individual and collective understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion.  Our aim is to create a culture of inclusion and social justice within the school, by recognizing its diversity and addressing mechanisms of systemic bias that affect marginalized groups. The aim is to foster growth and advocacy for all members of the school. With support from leadership, the office advises and recommends policies, professional development, and pedagogical practices as is consistent with the mission of the SHP.

The School of Health Professions Celebrates Disability Pride Month

What’s in a flag? When it comes to the Disability Pride flag – everything!

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In 2019, Ann Magill, a writer who is also part of the disability community, created the Disability Pride Flag. She intended to bring awareness, unity and pride to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act and all that it means to our society. She was also compelled to design the flag after hearing of a mass murder in Japan by a man who horrifically killed 19 and injured 24 disabled residents at a care facility on July 26, 2016, specifically chosen by the murderer because it was the anniversary of the signing of the ADA. It ignited Ms. Magill to do something that would visibly unite the community because, as she describes it, that story didn’t make it to the 5:00 news that evening. “We need to be visible…we’re here. We exist.”¹

Her original design intended to fully represent the disability community: the dark background as a recognition of the “anger and mourning over the eugenics and the neglect that disabled people have to fight against”¹, the jagged lines as indicative of the barriers that disabled people must
navigate and the colored stripes to represent the breadth of representation within the disability community. The original design garnered feedback that it was visual triggering for some. In a beautiful example of coming together to solve a problem, the community provided an open-minded Ms. Magill with feedback for adjustments that were accessible to all. Ms. Magill waived her rights to the flag and any copyright because she felt strongly that the disability community needed the flag, collaborated on the design and that the end-result represented their collective efforts.

Each color represents the multiple layers of the term ‘disability’: physical disabilities (red), neurodivergence (gold), invisible/undiagnosed disabilities (white), mental illness (blue), and sensory disabilities (green). These six standard colors, also on the Olympic flag, aligned in parallel and cutting across the flag, was part of the choice to acknowledge the international solidarity of the disability community. Solidarity should not be confused with ‘sameness’, it is clear that the Disability Pride flag intends to capture the breadth of united representation not the extent of lived experiences across the globe.

For the month of July, we are reminded to celebrate Disability Pride. I can’t help but wonder how many of us knew this month even existed? After learning more about Ms. Magill and the story behind the design, the focus of how you acknowledge or celebrate Disability Pride month may have changed. It did for me. You might choose to reflect on how each of us, all of us – identifying as disabled or not – are part of the global community. We strive to be a community of accessibility and inclusion. It may not be possible to achieve this everywhere and for everyone, but we can certainly do better. The disability community, families, caregivers, providers, educators, friends, and allies, all play a role in a societal change for the better. It takes, as the creative process behind the creation of this flag exemplifies, a community of collective collaboration to move forward.

Agnes McConlogue Ferro, PT, DPT, PhD
Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Pediatric Physical Therapy 
Clinical Associate Professor
Physical Therapy Program
Director of the Center for Community Engagement
School of Health Professions
Stony Brook University

1. Magill, A., Ladau, E., & Khachadurian,K., Episode 106: The Accessible Stall interviews Ann Magill, Disability Pride Flag Creator. The Accessible Stall with Kyle and Emily. July 26, 2022, https://www.theaccessiblestall.com/episode-106-accessible-stall-ann-mag…, Accessed July 16, 2024.