Lloyd E. Shelton is the recipient of the 2014 James T. Neubacher Award, which is conferred annually by the university’s Council for Disability Concerns in recognition of extraordinary leadership and service in support of the disability community.

Regent Julia Donovan Darlow will present the Neubacher to Shelton on Oct. 24, in a ceremony that begins at 9:30 a.m. with refreshments and ends at noon, at the Rackham Building’s fourth-floor Assembly Hall. It is open to the university community and general public.

Shelton’s Neubacher keynote remarks will address “The Intersectionality of Disability and Diversity.”

“Mr. Shelton is both inspired and inspiring. In the nominating process, we were astounded to learn about his numerous substantial contributions across a broad array of important initiatives,” said Neubacher Award Committee Chair Anna Ercoli Schnitzer. “The committee’s 2014 award decision was exuberant as well as unanimous.”

Shelton, a second-year Master of Social Work student on track to graduate in 2015, is founder and president of the Students with Disabilities and our Allies Group at the university. Shelton formed SDAG to tackle disabled students’ priority issues from two directions: a support network of disabled students and their allies, and proactive engagement with the broad campus community. 

Shelton’s vision brings together students, faculty and staff with disabilities, along with allies, for networking, learning, educating and activism. 

“Although Lloyd humbly credits the group for the creation and continuation of SDAG, it is clear to the group’s members that, without his drive, leadership and commitment to issues facing students with disabilities on college campuses, this group would not have come to be,” wrote nominator Marie Ting, associate director of the National Center for Institutional Diversity
 at U-M.

Shelton’s additional leadership and service includes: member of the Ann Arbor Commission on Disability Issues Commissioner and U-M’s Council for Disability Concerns; Students of Color of Rackham political activist chair and executive board member; S.O.S. Community Services tutor to homeless youth and those recently placed in housing. 

The Council for Disability Concerns was established in 1983 by then-President Harold Shapiro to act in an advisory capacity regarding university programs and policies which affect people with disabilities.

The council established its most prestigious honor, the James T. Neubacher Award, in 1990 as a memorial to U-M alumnus Jim Neubacher, who was a columnist for the Detroit Free Press and an advocate for equal rights and opportunities for people with disabilities.

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