Access Miami Program summer experience will become year-round in fall 2027
Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities work closely with Miami students who serve as peer mentors
Access Miami Program summer experience will become year-round in fall 2027
Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities work closely with Miami students who serve as peer mentors
Miami University student Delaney Fackey and mentee Maria Richter sat in a campus art studio listening to country music as they molded pieces of clay into small cowgirl hats.
The sculpture class was part of a four-day Access Miami Program (AMP) that invited a dozen students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) to experience campus life through classes, staying overnight in a residence hall, and eating at the dining halls — all with their peer mentors.
Fackey, a senior Inclusive Education major, said she enjoyed getting to know Richter.
“We have such similarities. We’re both farm girls. We get along really well. We love our dorm. It was fun setting that up together,” said Fackey, who sees the program as a wonderful example of Miami’s core values of Love and Honor.
“I just really love unity and coming together and making this group as one,” she said.
Richter, who works behind the counter at Skyline Chili preparing meals, said the program was a lot of fun. She looks forward to being part of AMP when it becomes a year-round program at Miami beginning in fall 2027.