Center for Accessibility Resources & Disability Services (CARDS)

The Office of Disabled Students (ODS) partly stemmed from a committee appointed by Barnard President Jacquelyn Mattfield in 1977, the Committee to Meet the Needs of the Disabled (CMND).CMND transformed the administration’s understanding of Disabled students’ needs from a case by case basis to institutional-wide awareness and action. The committee was created well before the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) which prohibited discrimination based on disability.

In July 1978,The Office for Disabled Students (ODS) was created. Julie V. Marsteller, who at the time was named Assistant Dean for Disabled Students, was a major impetus for the office’s creation. Julie V. Marsteller was also the first archivist at Barnard working from 1969 to 1977, a 1966 Barnard alum, and an electric wheelchair user. She became the first ever Dean of Disabled Students at Barnard, advocating for infrastructural changes as well as policy adjustments that would better serve Disabled students on campus. She stated that the office was created to “make Barnard the best possible place for academically able, physically disabled women.” In ODS, Marsteller was accompanied by only one other staff member, Frances V. Dillon, known on campus as Fran Dillon, who was the Director of the ‘Teachers College Project for Handicapped College Students’ which served 80 institutions within 50 miles of New York City. Teachers College and Barnard are separate institutions, so at Columbia University and its affiliate schools, Marsteller and Dillon were the only staff with these roles who often operated jointly in the Office of Disabled Students.

ODS coordinated the academic, recreational, and financial aid resources for Disabled students at Barnard, acting as a liaison between the staff and students. ODS also worked in tandem with the Committee to Meet the Needs of the Disabled to reduce physical inaccessibility on Barnard’s campus. The office was also dedicated to promoting that a college was an appropriate place for a Disabled person to be. At the time, many ODS aimed to show Barnard students, staff, and the nation that it was achievable to create an accessible environment for Disabled students on their respective college campuses.

In May 1979, CMND and ODS, led by Julie V. Marsteller and Frances V. Dillon, were awarded a $505,200 grant from The Max. C. Fleischmann Foundation to ensure accessibility in campus buildings, programs, and services; construction to modify the campus happened from 1980-1982. The Faculty Committee to Meet the Needs of the Disabled oversaw the construction. Members on the committee when construction started included Julie V. Marsteller, Amy D. Barnes, Rosemarie Deckerman, Frances DIllon, Kim Healey, Denise Kaiser, Anya Luchow, Christine Royer, Virginia Shaw, Joseph Tolliver, Elena Alvarex, Kathy Monroe, Marsha Riggs, and Julia Sear.

The 504/ADA Access Committee started in response to the Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requiring public schools to provide access to students with disabilities. The 504 Access committee was led by Julie Marsteller, Chris Baswell, Bill Brown, Liz Davis, Georgie Gatch, Lydia Lenaghan, Jim Metalios, Susan Quinby, Eliza Rubin, and Jane Thierfeld. In 1985, they distributed a survey to staff, faculty, and students to determine if Barnard met the needs and rights of Disabled people.

The Office of Disabled Students continued to thrive, sponsoring events like the Women and Disability Film Festival and the First Barnard Blood Drive, creating resources for Disabled students and Barnard staff on Disability, and fostering spaces for Disabled students to build community. In 1988, The Office of Disabled Students changed their name to the Office of Disability Services and continued offering the same resources. In 1991, Susan Quinby became the director of the Office of Disability Services, having worked with the office for many years.

In 2019, the Office of Disability Services changed their name to the Center for Accessibility Resources and Disability Services (CARDS).