UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Two Penn State students are taking their experiences living with disabilities and turning advocacy into real-world action to benefit their fellow and future students.
Tanja Jefferson and Lauren Shevchek are online learners who are advocating for accessibility equity while earning their degrees through Penn State World Campus.
Jefferson has a dynamic invisible disability in which her functioning fluctuates. Shevchek is paralyzed and uses a wheelchair. Together, through their efforts building community and creating events, they’ve succeeded in giving Penn State’s online learners who have disabilities a platform to be seen and heard, and even more importantly, to get involved and be leaders.
“Good advocacy includes action,” Jefferson said. “It’s not just the next logical step in the process of creating effective change, but entirely necessary.”
Advocacy and action
It’s crucial to Jefferson to advocate for all who have disabilities. The multidisciplinary studies major splits time living in Australia and California. Some days she has few symptoms, but other days, she must step away from her responsibilities and focus on her health.
“I think it’s important for me to acknowledge that success differs day to day," she said. “Success is an ongoing process, and you can and should be able to define what that looks like individually and continuously.”
Over the past year, Jefferson worked with the Penn State World Campus Student Government Association (WCSGA) and Student Affairs staff to form a special committee for the governing body that aims to improve the online experience for all students. The committee specifically focuses on advocating for students who have disabilities and increasing awareness of disability services.
The special committee aims to give students with disabilities a lasting voice in the student government that represents Penn State World Campus’s more than 19,000 online learners and create meaningful leadership opportunities that help students shape the future of online education. Jefferson said she hopes to see this group become a standing committee and permanent fixture in the WCSGA in the future.
Continuing education after a life-altering accident
In 2013, Shevchek had finished her first year as a water polo athlete at Penn State University Park when a diving accident left her paralyzed from the chest down. At 19 years old, she withdrew from school to focus on her recovery and eventually began sharing her story with others.
“My advocacy work mostly consisted of sharing my story, experience, and trying to help educate others on life with a disability,” Shevchek explained.
She expanded her efforts earlier this year.
“There is strength in numbers, and when we come together and efficiently organize, we can change perspectives on a mass level,” Shevchek said.
Her return to Penn State in 2021 marked eight years of living with a disability and changing her own mindset. She re-enrolled through World Campus, studying strategic communications and psychology.
“My passion for empowering students with disabilities comes from my own experience and the limiting beliefs I once put on myself,” she said. “I assumed that with my limited hand function, I would never be able to use a computer, and that thought alone kept me from exploring education and other online social opportunities.”
Shevchek said she overcame her worries of not feeling ready and nerves about balancing course work, physical therapy, medical appointments, and a social life.
“With the help of Student Disability Services, I am doing it,” Shevchek said.
Creating opportunities for inclusion and celebration
Through a related project, Jefferson led efforts to create a survey to find out how connected students are to the Student Disability Services office. The results, she said, will help inform the work of the student government committee that she helped organize.
“We can’t do that without speaking to the students we’re hoping to represent — there is no one-size-fits-all for disability experiences,” she said. “Creating the standing committee for disability advocacy will ensure it’s a position and focus that remains consistently represented in WCSGA affairs and the World Campus community as a whole."
The survey is still available for World Campus students to anonymously share their experiences. The committee is just part of their broader advocacy that goes beyond governance.
Jefferson and Shevchek co-led the Penn State World Campus 35th anniversary celebration of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in July. The four-hour livestream was open to the University community and included personal stories of impact, panel discussions, and informational sessions about resources.
The duo is still collecting testimonials of how the ADA has impacted the lives of Penn State community members. Learn more about the project and submit testimonials on the anniversary celebration website.
Jefferson and Shevchek also assisted with the creation of an affinity group for students with disabilities. Affinity groups are led by staff and offer students a space to bond with peers with shared experiences, interests or allyship. The Disability and Neurodivergence Affinity Group at World Campus launched in summer 2025 with 55 inaugural members.
Shevchek said she encourages her peers to consider joining a student organization or affinity group.
“I know it can be tough as World Campus students often juggle a lot,” she said. “But if you can make time for even one club, it will make you feel a lot more connected to your fellow students and help you enjoy the collegiate experience.”
Jefferson said she credits the campus community for showing up, as it is the first step to any effective action.
Student Disability Services at Penn State World Campus
Terry Watson, the associate director of World Campus Student Disability Services, praised Jefferson’s and Shevchek’s efforts as a blueprint for what is possible when students are empowered to lead.
Their efforts, Watson said, will continue to have a ripple effect, as they start proving that meaningful change can start anywhere and that every student’s voice matters.
“You can’t have meaningful conversations about disability without including the voices of those who live it, and what Tanja and Lauren are doing is giving voice to a population that’s often overlooked,” Watson said. “Through their work, they’re creating space for real dialogue and leadership. They’re not just advocating — they’re becoming a resource to the University and a force for change.”
Learn more about how Penn State World Campus supports students through its Student Disability Services office.
Jefferson’s and Shevchek’s story is a part of the series “This is Success: Online learners show what’s possible,” which explores Penn State World Campus students’ successes during all parts of their academic journeys.