A winner of America’s Next Top Model and Dancing with the Stars is coming to campus — but he isn’t here for show.
Nyle DiMarco — a deaf man and advocate for deaf people — will be coming to UW-Madison Jan. 30 to meet with deaf and hard of hearing students before giving a presentation to the UW-Madison community about his life and being an activist for the deaf community.
In addition to using the fame he gained from winning America’s Next Top Model and Dancing with the Stars to advocate for deaf people all over the world, DiMarco is an American Sign Language advocate and a spokesperson for deaf actors. His foundation — the Nyle DiMarco Foundation — is working to provide resources to parents so they can support their deaf children.
According to Mari Magler, the assistant dean and director of the McBurney Disability Resource Center, there are fewer than 50 deaf or hard of hearing students at UW-Madison.
This event, she said, will not only provide students a window into the experiences of someone who lives in a world where they are a linguistic and cultural minority, but will also allow the university’s deaf students to meet people with similar experiences.
“This is an opportunity for students to see a deaf role model who is a successful professional,” Magler said in a release. “We hope for any students out there who have had messages of ‘you can’t’ that they will see clearly from Nyle that they can.”
DiMarco’s presentation will be held Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the Wisconsin Union Theater. The event is part of the Wisconsin Union Directorate Distinguished Lecture Series and is cosponsored by The McBurney Disability Resource Center.
