Staff

Meet the DCC Team

Emily Shryock at adapted sports nightEmily Shryock (she/her), Director

Emily is proud to be the founding director of UT Austin’s Disability Cultural Center. As a disabled woman, Emily is excited to combine her personal and professional experience in the DCC director role and looks forward to creating a community for disabled students, faculty, staff and alumni. Emily has been connected to UT Austin in a variety of capacities since 2010. She worked in Disability and Access for 12 years, graduated from the Steve Hicks School of Social Work with a master’s in Community and Administrative Leadership and has taught as part of the UT’s Critical Disability Studies program. Emily has served on several nonprofit boards in the Austin area and looks forward to building relationships between the DCC and the greater Austin community. Emily is a wheelchair athlete and has competed in several sports, including wheelchair rugby, wheelchair tennis and paratriathlon.

Photo of a black woman with a pink dress wearing a white UT graduation stole. Jordan is leaving against a stone wall with trees in the backgroundJordan Jessie (she/her), Graduate Assistant

Jordan is one of two DCC Graduate Assistants for the 2023-2024 academic year. Jordan graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in Spring 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in Government and a minor in African & African Diaspora Studies. She is currently a first-year Master’s of Public Affairs student at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Her area of focus is policy analysis and the impact of intersectional identity on life outcomes. Jordan is excited to utilize her knowledge of marginalized identities and social justice in her work at the DCC!

Headshot of a white woman with brown hair wearing a white shirt and brown jacketCarsyn Collins (she/her), Graduate Assistant

Carsyn is one of two DCC Graduate Assistants for the 2023-2024 school year. Carsyn graduated from Texas State University in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. In 2022, she came to the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT to receive a Master’s of Public Affairs, where she is focusing on education and disability policy. During the 88th Texas Legislature, she was a Public Policy Intern for the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities, where she gained invaluable knowledge in policy analysis and implementation on disability-related issues. She is excited to use that knowledge in a higher education advocacy setting at the Disability Cultural Center!

 

Headshot of Lira Amari Ramirez. Latino young adult with short black hair wearing a grey button down shirt.Lira Amari Ramirez, DCC Ambassador

Lira Amari Ramírez is a senior Humanities and History major serving as a DCC Ambassador for Spring 2024. Lira has served as President of UT’s Disability Advocacy Student Coalition since 2022, with an interest in education equity and accessibility, and plans to start a PhD program in History in Fall 2024, focusing on 19th-20th century Mexican intellectual history.

 

 

 

Photo of Latina woman with black curly hair and classes wearing a white button up shirt, black sweater and jeans in front of a hedge of purple flowersAbril Dominguez-Baca (she/her), DCC Ambassador

Abril is one of two undergraduate DCC Ambassadors for the 2023-2024 academic year. Abril is currently a first year in the College of Liberal Arts, working to get her Bachelor of Arts in Government with a minor in Mexican American and Latina/o Studies, with goals to pursue a J.D in Human Rights Law. She is excited to participate in the DCC to help interconnect her own experiences from marginalized communities to further help her change the law in the future!

 

Want to work for the DCC? The DCC typically hires work-study eligible students. Check contact the DCC or check Handshake for open positions!