Seen & Heard
Robby Dahill ’25 is a top finance student in the business school at Stevens with a 3.9 GPA. He spent his summer interning as an analyst for Evercore, a boutique investment banking firm in midtown Manhattan, where he worked on the data analytics team.
The internship comes on the heels of deep extracurricular involvement on campus. He sits on the dean’s student advisory board for the School of Business; he’s one of the founding members of Stevens’ Delta Sigma Pi chapter, a professional business fraternity; and he works on the Student Managed Investment Fund, which entrusts select students to manage a portion of Stevens’ endowment.
Dahill is also legally blind.
Through Stevens’ Office of Disability Services (ODS), Dahill has gotten the support he needs to learn and thrive. For Dahill, that means visual accommodations. Professors teach lessons using electronic devices that are mirrored on Dahill’s personal tablet. He’s able to use screen readers to zoom in on text and complete his work electronically. Some of his fellow classmates and friends also work as note takers, providing Dahill a backup should he miss something in class.
“I have been held to the same standards as any other individual my age,” says Dahill. “Not being able to see doesn’t mean that you can’t perform at the highest levels. Those standards have gotten me to where I am today.”
He adds, “I wanted the best education I could get. I definitely made the right decision going to Stevens.”
Dahill is just one of 356 students with disabilities currently attending Stevens and registered with the ODS, a number that has increased from 105 since 2016 — a 239% increase. Some have physical challenges, such as mobility issues requiring use of a wheelchair, or vision or hearing loss. Many others have a distraction-related disability such as ADD, ADHD, are neurodivergent, or have a learning disability. Others may be on the autism spectrum or have an anxiety disorder or depression.
These various disabilities require a range of accommodations, a challenge that is met by the ODS and its leader, Phillip Gehman, who joined Stevens in 2016. He and his team are charged with creating an inclusive and equitable atmosphere for living and learning at Stevens — from academics to housing to dining — and making sure students like Dahill have what they need to thrive. While federal civil rights law requires universities to accommodate such students, Gehman and his staff go above and beyond.
“It is a core mission that we address diversity, equity and inclusion on campus, and we seek to have everyone partner,” he says.
Like Dahill, Gehman emphasizes that classroom accommodations only change how information is presented to make it more accessible.
“All students are required to learn the same information and demonstrate understanding and knowledge of that information,” he says. “There are no shortcuts with accommodations. It simply levels the playing field.”
For Gehman, this isn’t just a job, it’s a lifelong pursuit that’s close to his heart. He grew up with two deaf parents and a best friend, his cousin, who used a wheelchair. So, he’s always been aware of the barriers that people with disabilities can face.
He finds that students at Stevens are often already experts in what their needs are, and his office simply needs to help advocate for those needs. “What we like to offer students, beyond accommodations,” he says, “is becoming familiar faces that students can come to with whatever concerns they might have.”
Since Gehman took over, his office has expanded to include Gloria Garcia, coordinator of disability services, and Tina David-Cisse, graduate coordinator of disability services.
An Emphasis on Access
Stevens students with disabilities served by the Office of Disability Services account for just under 9% of the university’s undergraduate population of 4,092 (as of fall 2023, the most recent data).
This is right in line with national figures: About 8% of students with disabilities are registered with their campus disability center, according to the think tank Postsecondary National Policy Institute.
Like Stevens, colleges and universities across the country are serving more students with disabilities. According to a recent analysis of U.S. Department of Education data by The Chronicle of Higher Education, the number of colleges and universities where at least one out of 10 undergraduates reported a disability has risen more than 64 percent in the past five years. In 2022-23, 538 colleges fit this description, compared to 327 colleges in 2018-19.
Stevens being a smaller university, Gehman says, has made it easier for him and his office to build relationships with professors and staff, such as the IT team. Among its work with ODS, IT has partnered with Eve Riskin, dean of undergraduate education, to help create training materials for faculty working with students who have low vision.
The familiarity of a smaller campus also gives students an increased comfort level once they settle into campus life, he says.
Says Dahill, “If you’re in a school with 30,000 students, you can’t really make a personal connection with the majority of the other students, the faculty and the staff. Stevens is small enough that you can do that.”
For students with disabilities, that means having advocates in the administration. When a blind student moved to an apartment near an intersection that was hard for her to navigate, Dean of Students Ken Nilsen and Gehman worked with the city of Hoboken to advocate for improvements, which the city later made, including adding audio cues for when to cross.
On the academic front, accommodations offered through the ODS include extended test-taking times, quiet exam rooms, utilizing assistive technology that can mirror materials on tablet devices, having note takers, and getting priority housing and class registration.
'Nothing About Us, Without Us'
Gehman joined Stevens after spending three-and-a-half years as disability services coordinator at Susquehanna University.
As he’s worked to expand the footprint and offerings of the ODS, he’s remained active in the American Sign Language (ASL) community: He crosses the Hudson River into New York City to see ASL slam poetry (he hasn’t worked up the courage to perform it himself yet). He’s invited the host of the ASL Slam events, Zavier Sabio, to come to Stevens to share his story. Gehman also started ASL workshops at Stevens during the pandemic when everything was being offered online. That effort has since evolved into a student ASL group that he advises.
Beyond accommodations, ODS takes a holistic approach to creating community among Stevens’ unique student population of techie students from STEM backgrounds and offers a number of programs that help them integrate into college life.
“Less Quack While You Unpack” is a quiet, one-day pre-orientation for students with social anxiety where they can learn about campus resources and work with peer leaders. After hearing from students with social anxiety and students on the autism spectrum that they had trouble making connections on campus, Gehman and his team started Connectivity, a bi-weekly meeting of students who build relationships in small groups through conversation, snacks, pizza, video games and bowling.
To keep the purpose of this work top of mind, Gehman displays a phrase from the 1990s South African disability rights movement in his office: “Nothing about us, without us, is for us.”
“I have that in the office just to remind us that if we aren’t giving students the platform to either talk to us about what their needs are, or be part of the conversation, then we’re not doing them justice,” he says.
To that end, since 2019 the ODS has presented a student panel each semester where students with disabilities tell their stories, sharing what life on campus with their disability is like. It underscores the larger mission: It’s not just about supporting students with disabilities, but creating a rich, diverse campus environment for everyone’s benefit.
Lily Stone ’26, who is neurodivergent and on the autism spectrum, spoke on a student panel with Dahill in fall 2023, and in spring 2024 spoke on another panel with a friend about neurodiversity in women. Participating in these talks makes her feel seen, something neurodivergent people struggle with, she says.
“I used to be scared to share with my friends that I am autistic because people don’t understand it,” Stone says. “But by having them come to these panels and just hearing me explain it, I feel like they really understand me better and are able to be there for me in a different way.” It also helps faculty understand that her brain works differently, she adds.
The Personal Touch
A computer engineering major, Stone is in the early stages of launching a company called Amplifly, through which she aims to give voice to underrepresented communities. For her first project, she plans to create a videogame that shows what it’s like to be neurodivergent in a neurotypical world.
“I hope to create more understanding and awareness, also make people in those communities feel heard and seen if they can’t communicate that themselves,” she says.
Stone is getting support through the Launchpad@Stevens program, a 12-month program that connects students with entrepreneurs to help them build their technology-based businesses. Stone has also found a lot of support among Stevens’ alumni community.
She joined Sigma Delta Tau sorority her first year and later became vice president of risk reduction and a student ambassador. Those positions have allowed her to interact with Stevens’ administration, and even took her to her native California for a national event.
Stone says the ODS staff does everything it can to ensure students with disabilities have what they need. “Everything’s very streamlined and efficient, and they’re super willing to just make sure you can succeed,” she says. “I feel like the whole team really understands what it’s like for us and wants to see us do great things.”
Setting students up for success, Gehman says, frequently requires an individual analysis of what’s needed, often looking at each of a student’s classes and speaking with professors to understand how materials are presented. His office also assesses students and gets faculty feedback at the end of each semester.
In Stone’s case, that has meant extra time on exams in smaller rooms with reduced distractions. She also has priority registration so she can avoid night classes, take breaks in between classes and build a schedule around her routine. Since she can get overwhelmed in a messy living space, housing accommodations allow her to have her own room.
“Although working in this field for over 12 years has given me a good sense of what accommodations might be helpful,” Gehman says, “it’s also given me a keen understanding that what works for one student might not work best for another student.”
Chris Alessandri ’25, who is also a computer engineering major, says Gehman has been like an advisor to him in his time at Stevens, a connection that goes back to when they met in 2019 during Alessandri’s first visit.
As a person living with Tourette syndrome and associated ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety, Alessandri has found that Gehman’s hands-on approach eased his mind. When Alessandri arrived on campus after COVID-19 lockdown restrictions were lifted, Gehman gave him a campus tour to show him where all his classes were. The two met weekly for Alessandri’s first couple of years. He even recalls times Gehman would send follow-up emails to advisors and faculty to help address Alessandri’s needs.
“That’s probably not in his job description, but he takes that time, and that personal touch means so much to me,” Alessandri says. “He’s so good at making time for people on a very personal level.”
Like Stone, Alessandri is given extra time on exams in a quiet room. He has use of other accommodations he says he has used rarely — or not at all — since his condition has been stable. Professors know, for example, that he may step out and take a break if he’s having a bad day and needs to stabilize himself. Still, he feels secure in knowing he has options if his condition flares up.
On campus, Alessandri is the special events coordinator for the Entertainment Committee, the student-run organization that offers subsidized tickets to Broadway shows, concerts and sporting events. In this role, he’s the assistant to the coordinator for Techfest, a free concert festival for students, and he coordinates other large on-campus events.
“It’s a great position because I very much like having structure and being told what to do,” he says. “It’s a community, like a family, and I fit in very well there.”
A Path to the Professional World
Alessandri is the recipient of a Department of Defense (DoD) SMART Scholarship, which provides full tuition, annual stipends, internships and guaranteed civilian employment at the DoD after graduation. After graduating next spring, he plans to pursue a master’s degree either in computer engineering or applied artificial intelligence, with a concentration on software engineering. He will then work for the DoD for at least three years as part of the scholarship agreement.
He’s already found a community among the government employees he collaborated with last summer during an internship at Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County, New Jersey. Many were Stevens alumni, he says.
Jack Brummer, who earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees in computer science at Stevens in 2022 and 2023, just started working as a technology consultant at EY (Ernst & Young) in August. He was previously working as a freelance software engineer and web developer, something he plans to continue on the side.
Brummer was born with Schwartz-Jampel syndrome, an extremely rare disorder affecting less than one in 1 million people that causes stiff muscles and joints. He used a powered wheelchair to get around campus but can walk shorter distances with a cane.
At Stevens, Brummer was given extra time on exams and had quick help from ODS if elevators were down in buildings he used. When there was a construction project near the gym, the ODS made sure a ramp was installed so Brummer didn’t have to take a long route around the construction.
Brummer, who first came to Stevens for a pre-college program in game design in the summer of 2017, spent many happy hours with the developers student club, console gaming society and game development club, and worked as a teacher’s assistant during his master’s program. He especially enjoyed his time in the coed service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, which volunteered throughout the Hoboken community.
“Whether it was the major I was in, or the clubs I joined, I can’t be more grateful to Stevens because I think they set me up on a good path and certainly helped me get to where I am professionally,” Brummer says.
Transition from college life to the world of work can be challenging for many students, including students with disabilities, who may receive less support than during their college years. Brummer says that Stevens was crucial in helping him find meaningful work, crediting his co-op experience, career development workshops and, via ODS, his connection with the non-profit Disability-IN, which gave him “invaluable networking opportunities.”
ODS works with organizations that connect its students with companies looking to diversify their workforces. Some of these organizations also provide information sessions on when to disclose a disability and how to secure accommodations in the workplace, Gehman says. His office also has 1:1 discussions with students regarding helpful accommodations to request in the workplace.
Students who join ODS’ Connectivity support group also share tips on connecting with others at Stevens and beyond, Gehman says. He acknowledges that today’s hybrid and remote work environments can make social connections difficult.
Brummer believes that it is especially vital for companies to foster these social connections in the workplace for people with disabilities; this could also build more awareness among all employees. Looking ahead, as he begins work at EY, he says, “the accommodations that help day-to-day work are definitely improving, but the social aspect of disabilities tends to lead to disabled people still being victims of ‘othering.’ If people with disabilities are truly going to thrive as smoothly as their peers, that is what needs to be worked on.”
An Inclusive Environment
Zahra Pournorouz, a teaching assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was born in Iran. She came to the U.S. to earn her Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Arlington, where she struggled to find a sense of belonging as an immigrant with an accent. She never wants any student with a disability to feel left out.
“I want them to feel that feeling of belonging, that they don’t have to shy away from society,” Pournorouz says. “That should be very easy — to give them that feeling of being included, not separate.”
Pournorouz also serves as a mentor for Stevens’ first-generation college students and limited-income students. She also teaches the First-Year Experience Course, which provides support for new undergraduates as they transition into college life, and was on the committee that chose “What Can a Body Do?” for the course’s recent summer reading, which explores how the world is designed and how that relates to those with disabilities.
Pournorouz, who taught Alessandri in her thermodynamics class, says the Office of Disability Services is very responsive and makes it easy for her to work with students with disabilities. She’s notified ahead of the semester if she has students who need accommodations, and she can generally work directly with students to schedule exams if they need a quiet room or extra time.
Jing Chen, an accounting professor who taught Dahill in her managerial accounting class, concurs, noting that faculty members have a training with the IT team ahead of the semester to make sure they can effectively use assistive technology. Once, when she couldn’t reach a student who was consistently missing class, Gehman personally reached out to the student’s family.
“I feel like this a school-wide effort — not just the [work of the] Office of Disability Services — and that the university really cares about this,” Chen says.
For Gehman, the proof is not only in successful alumni landing dream jobs, but also seeing friendships blossom, especially for those who may have had trouble making connections.
Dahill reiterates that it’s all about the people.
“You could be at the best school, but if it doesn’t have the right people, it’s not going to work,” he says. “That’s huge, and that has been the best part. The students I’ve gotten to know at Stevens, the faculty, the staff — those are connections and relationships that I’ll keep the rest of my life.”
– Marc Shapiro