The McBurney Disability Resource Center celebrated its grand opening Wednesday with tours showcasing technology at the center's new building and speeches by previous and current McBurney students.
The center serves students with physical, learning, sensory, chronic health and psychological disabilities.
The new facility, located at 702 West Johnson St., offers an adaptive technology lab available to students that features a machine that converts text to Braille.
McBurney Center Director Cathy Trueba said the new location is more accessible for students with and without disabilities.
Speakers at the event included Vice Provost Paul DeLuca, UW-Madison alumna Bobbi Cordano and UW-Madison student Meagan Minster.
Trueba said the speakers are ""people whose stories will illustrate not only the benefit of the [McBurney Center's] vision, but also the power for change that is at the core of the Wisconsin Idea.""
Cordano was the first student with a hearing impairment to use interpreting services provided by the university. She recalled the challenge of finding interpreters for classes and events throughout her enrollment at the university.
""This opening symbolizing a new era of creating a stronger and more inclusive community at the University of Wisconsin-Madison,"" Cordano said.
Minster, a student and employee at the center, said she is grateful for its services and believes the center creates a community environment.
Trueba thanked donors in attendance for ""making real the meaning of the Wisconsin experience for students with disabilities.""
Attendees dedicated the new conference room in memory of its cofounder, the late UW-Madison Business Professor James Graaskamp, who became quadriplegic after contracting polio at age 17.
The McBurney family founded the center in 1977 in memory of UW-Madison and UW Law School alumnus Michael McBurney.
