The "December 3rd Day of Persons with Disabilities" program was held with the cooperation of our university, Ordu Metropolitan Municipality, and the Ordu Branch of the Turkish Association for the Disabled.
The event held in the Conference Hall of the Morphology building was attended by Rector Prof. Dr. Ali Akdoğan, Ordu Metropolitan Municipality General Secretary Coşkun Alp, Gülyalı Mayor Ulaş Tepe, Faculty Deans, representatives of public institutions and organizations, protocol members, academic and administrative staff, students and guests attended.
In her speech, Selma Gülseren, President of Ordu Disabled Association, stated, “What makes us who we are is not our arms, eyes or ears, but our heart and conscience. We disabled people do not want to be mentioned only once a year, but we want to live under equal conditions. December 3 is World Disabled Awareness Day, and I would like to express my love to the very special loyal families of all our beautiful brothers, especially our special puppies, and I congratulate today's awareness day on behalf of myself, my management, and our entire community.”
Our University Disabled Unit Coordinator Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sevim Acaröz Candan expressed her thoughts, “In recent years, our country has come a long way thanks to the reforms made by our government for our disabled citizens. As Ordu University Disabled Unit Coordinator, we carry out various studies to increase the academic participation of our disabled students and to ensure their adaptation to the campus. Our goal is for our students to collect memories that they will remember years later with a smile on their faces. I hope this special day will create social awareness about the problems of the disabled and contribute to the development of a solution-oriented attitude.”
Rector Prof. Dr. Ali Akdogan stated, “As Ordu University, we put forth whatever material and moral needs are required to facilitate the academic and social lives of our students with disabilities. In the forthcoming years also, we are always ready to remove the obstacles as much as we can in order to increase the quality of life of our disabled students studying at our University and to prevent them from experiencing any kind of victimization. With these thoughts, I wish that 3 December International Day of Persons with Disabilities will raise awareness and consciousness for our disabled individuals.”
Çağla Baş, a student of the School of Physical Education and Sports, speaks on behalf of disabled students, “We are all candidates for disability, the important thing is to eliminate the prejudices in our heads. We should not forget that there are many educators and disabled people in many parts of the society in our country. The more we help each other and the more aware we are of each other, the more livable this world will be. I have never let difficulties overwhelm me, I have been a wall to them. We should not let obstacles prevent you from catching the rhythm of life.”
After the opening speeches, the play "Kördöğüşü" was performed by the actors of the Ordu Metropolitan Municipality Black Sea Theatre.