From its founding as the Maryland Normal School in 1866, Towson University remained largely inaccessible to disabled students due to campus architectural barriers and specific course requirements. It was not until after the passage of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that the university began to offer disabled students specialized services to assist them in their coursework and begin planning renovations to remove any architectural barriers the campus and its buildings might present.  

In July of 1963, TU became a liberal arts college, which diversified the educational opportunities the University offered and created an opportunity for disabled students to begin attending. However, it was not until the passage of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that the school was required to make itself accessible to those with disabilities.

In 1976, TU began to officially advertise “Services for Disabled Students”, with renovation plans for campus completed five years later. Even with the introduction of these services, disabled students would still struggle for years to come due to the continued existence of architectural and social barriers.  

Did you attend Towson University? Were you a faculty or staff member? We'd love to hear your story.

The content of this page was written by Bethany Firebaugh, Unearthing Towson's History student researcher, Summer 2023, and edited by SCUA staff, Fall 2023.