LMU Commemorates 25th Anniversary of Disability Rights Act with 2-Day Global Summit

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Mar 09, 2015, 09:00 ET

LOS ANGELES, March 9, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed 25 years ago this July.

On Friday, March 13, and Saturday, March 14, local, national and international experts will gather at Loyola Marymount University for a global summit to commemorate the anniversary and examine the ADA's progress and challenges in the areas of education, employment, transportation and housing.

The law, which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities, also required employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities and to ensure access to public facilities such as schools, public transportation and businesses that serve the public.

On March 13, former Congressman Tony Coelho, the primary author and sponsor of the legislation, will receive LMU's Inaugural President's Award for his lifelong commitment to improving the lives of Americans with disabilities in a formal ceremony in Ahmanson Auditorium at 4 p.m.

The next day, representatives of the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Education will participate in discussions about disability issues with international educators, representatives of the business community and disability advocates. There will be a significant focus on new regulations in Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that require federal contractors to take affirmative action to recruit, hire, promote and retain individuals with disabilities.

LMU's School of Education and The Education Success Project are the conveners of this Global Summit, which is chaired by the Honorable Tony Coelho in collaboration with Victoria Graf, professor of special education at Loyola Marymount University.

For more information about the summit go to: http://soe.lmu.edu/tespglobalsummit

About Loyola Marymount University
Located between the Pacific Ocean and downtown Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University is a comprehensive university offering 60 major programs, 36 master's degrees and a doctoral degree in education from four colleges, two schools and Loyola Law School. Founded in 1911, LMU is ranked third in "Best Regional Universities/West" by U.S. News & World Report. LMU is the largest Jesuit Catholic university for undergraduates on the West Coast with more than 6,000 undergraduate students and more than 3,000 graduate and law students. For more LMU news and events, please visit www.lmu.edu/news.

Need an expert for your story? Visit www.lmu.edu/experts to find the right faculty or staff member. For more LMU news and events, go to www.lmu.edu/news.

SOURCE Loyola Marymount University