The Disabled Academic Collective was founded in the summer of 2020 in the midst of the ongoing (as of May 2025) Sars-Cov-2 pandemic. Originally, the DAC was designed as a virtual meeting space where disabled academics could build community with one another as shut downs continued. Today, the DAC is more than just a meeting place. 

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Over the past five years, the DAC has comprised of three different resources:

1. Our social media presence

2. Our website

3. Our private Discord server

 

Across all of these spaces, we try to highlight ableism in higher education and spotlight disabled academics. On the whole, we have found the academy to be inaccessible. We are aware of the sheer lack of supports for disabled students, staff, and faculty at most institutions. Moreover, we know that higher education is especially hard to navigate for people who are newly diagnosed with a disability, or those experiencing new symptoms. The Collective exists offers a space to vent, chat, and secure community support. As an archive of disabled knowledge, it also serves to preserve the advice, recommendations, and stories of disabled academics who have successfully graduated and left academia. 

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While our social media handles and our website are open to allies, our Discord server is an identity-based community for disabled academics alone. 

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As of May 2025, over 950 disabled academics have joined the ranks of the DAC. Our membership spans a wide range of academic disciplines, and a wide range of roles within the academy at large. 

 

Members include: 

• tenured faculty

• tenure-track faculty

• non-tenure track faculty

• postdoctoral students

• graduate students

• undergraduate students

• librarians

• medical professionals

• medical students 

• law students 

• staff

• independent scholars

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While the collective was founded by Nicole Schroeder, it is run by a slew of academics who have donated their time to the community. Discord moderators, blog editors, and event hosts make sure that the DAC functions on a day-to-day basis. If you would like to get involved, please consider joining us!