Seaver College Introduces Delta Alpha Pi Honor Society Chapter

Seaver College recently introduced a Delta Alpha Pi (DAPi) Honor Society chapter—a national disabilities honor society featured at more than 200 colleges—that will recognize and celebrate high-achieving students living with disabilities in the campus community. 

“DAPi elevates the voices of those with disabilities, and it allows people to see that one can have a disability and disability accommodations and experience academic success,” says Sandra Harrison, executive director of Pepperdine University’s Office of Student Accessibility. “These students have the potential to be just as successful as anyone else.”  

The launch of Seaver College’s newest honor society was inspired by the undergraduate student body’s dedication to supporting the disability community. In recent years, outreach events such as Disabilities Awareness Week—a student-organized event that educates the college community about disability issues and fosters pride in disability advocacy—have united the college in this cause. The creation of DAPi represents the latest example in this ongoing effort to promote support for the disabled community. 

“Students with disabilities have been dishonored by society for centuries,” says Thalia Markowski, one of the student leaders involved in establishing DAPi. “Universities must recognize this often forgotten community. DAPi, as an honor society, will help us reclaim and rethink a more accessible Pepperdine.”

Since DAPi’s inception on campus, people with disabilities at Pepperdine have gained a stronger voice. Over the summer, push-button accessible doors were installed in the Student Assistance Center, allowing greater access to resources vital to students’ college experience, including Housing and Residence Life, the Student Health Center, and the Office of Student Accessibility. 

Beyond its visible efforts, DAPi offers students a community of support. The honor society aims to act as a refuge where undergraduate and graduate inductees can join together, encourage one another in their pursuit of excellence, and be confident in their identity. 

“I hope that DAPi demonstrates to our students that they aren't alone in their scholarship while they manage a disability,” says Harrison. “I also hope that our students find friendships and co-advocates within DAPi to strengthen their ability to embrace who they are.”

At this time membership in DAPi is open to students of Seaver College with a documented disability. In order to be inducted into the chapter, undergraduate students must have completed 24 credit hours and maintain a grade point average (GPA) of 3.10, while graduate students must have completed 18 credit hours and maintain a 3.30 GPA. 

“In the last century, there have been waves of activism from university students, especially in California,”  says Markowski. “The DAPi e-board hopes to lift up that legacy. I hope that the honor society is a safe-haven for thinkers and change makers at Pepperdine.”