Dani Lucchese

Dani Lucchese, M.A.,  (they/them) is a disabled, non-binary and queer doctoral student in higher education and the coordinator at the Disability Cultural Center (DCC) at the University of Arizona. Their research focuses on examining how disability justice can be utilized to make higher education more accessible for disabled students. They hold two masters degrees: one in disability studies from the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Professional Studies (June 2016) and one in sociology with a minor in design studies from the New School (May 2020). They received their bachelors degree from Wagner College in sociology with a double minor in journalism and english literature (May 2014).  
           In addition to being the coordinator at the DCC, they are also adjunct faculty at CUNY Lehman College and the University of Arizona where they teach courses for the school’s disability studies minor. Prior to their work at Lehman College, they have taught disability studies courses at CUNY School of Professional Studies, CUNY College of Staten Island, William Paterson University and the University of Arizona.  
           They also have a history of disabled student activism. While they were a graduate student at the CUNY School of Professional Studies, they served as a delegate for the CUNY Coalition for Studies with Disabilities (CCSD). During their time with CCSD, they advocated on the City and State levels for funding for numerous access needs for disabled students. Furthermore, they also served as a faculty representative on the CUNY School of Professional Studies’s Disability and Access Coalition (DAC), mentoring disabled students and working with other departments in the school to ensure event access. As an undergraduate student, they co-founded and served as the first president of Exceeding the Expectation (ETE), Wagner College’s first student club dedicated to disability education and activism on campus.