At 30, Americans with Disabilities Act continues to grow
This Sunday marks the 30th anniversary of the day the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law, making it illegal to discriminate against people living with disabilities in regard to employment and access to government services. The Gazette spoke with Michael Ashley Stein, J.D. ’88, co-founder and executive director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, to learn more about the significance of the ADA and what it has meant for the people it protects over the past 30 years. Stein also addressed what Harvard has done since then to expand accessibility on its campuses, and provided perspective on what challenges and opportunities lie ahead. Q&A Michael Ashley Stein GAZETTE: Could you begin by setting the context for when the ADA first came out in 1990? STEIN: Prior to the ADA, Americans with disabilities had been excluded from society and discriminated against by being locked away in institutions and asylums, being subjected...