Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass joined about 200 administrators, faculty, staff, and students at Loyola Marymount University on Oct. 16, 2024, to dedicate The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy, and Innovation’s new location on the Westchester campus. “I’m here to recognize a national hero,” said Bass of Tony Coelho ’64, a six-term congressman, principal author of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and founder of the center.
In her remarks, Bass noted that when the Olympic Games return to Los Angeles in 2028, the city will also host the Paralympic Games for the first time. She said she “would love to establish a partnership with the center to continue the inclusion revolution.”
Coelho movingly addressed the rapt crowd, relaying the obstacles he faced with epilepsy and describing how he tapped his spiritual resources to discover “the path the Lord wanted for me” to find the work he was meant to do, leading him to become the disability rights advocate that he is today.
The Center, which was established in 2018 at LMU Loyola Law School primarily as a legal center to inspire future lawyers to take up the work of disability inclusion, will take on a more interdisciplinary approach with the move to the Westchester campus.
“The Coelho Center’s time at Loyola Law School provided an amazing opportunity to build its foundation, establish strong connections within the LLS environment, and develop signature programs, including the Coelho Law Fellowship Program,” said Thomas Poon, Ph.D., executive vice president and provost. “Our vision for the Center has always been an interdisciplinary hub, allowing students and faculty from all colleges and schools to utilize the Center and its expertise to advance research, policy, and advocacy efforts.”
Poon said the Center, under Kat Weaver, Ph.D., vice provost for faculty, research, and strategy, and Director Katherine Pérez, J.D., Ph.D. will leverage the expertise of the LMU faculty to build toward greater accessibility in all areas of life.
“Since moving to the Westchester campus, I have started to develop deeper connections with LMU leadership, faculty, staff and students dedicated to disability justice. Their work, combined with our efforts through The Coelho Center, promise to make LMU a leader in this space,” said Pérez. “I’m hopeful that this will have a positive effect not only for the LMU community but for our community at large.”
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