Delta Alpha Pi honor society provides fall mentorship program for incoming UAB students with disabilities. Delta Alpha Pi, an academic honor society at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is geared up to offer a new mentorship program this fall for all incoming students who have some form of disability.

Incoming students going through the UAB Disability Support Services process can sign up and be linked with a Delta Alpha Pi trained mentor.

Each mentor will help their mentee find their way around campus and answer any questions they may have. The mentors will help them get acquainted with the UAB community and make sure they find their place on campus through clubs and other on campus organizations, says Molly Clay, UAB College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology major, and founding president of Delta Alpha Pi: Epsilon chapter.

“Delta Alpha Pi is an honor society for students with disabilities, and all members of the society have a documented disability,” Clay said. “A big part of the honor society is to be an advocate for yourself and for others with disabilities. The goal is for all students involved in the organization to be proud and open about their specific needs.”

The mentorship program will last for one semester, but students are welcome to continue communicating with their mentor and asking questions. Students who are part of UAB’s Disability Support Services are qualified to receive a mentor, but they must also fill out the mentor survey that the office will send to them upon request.

Any students signing up for accommodations can sign up to receive a mentor from the society. After students complete 24 credit hours — and if they have a 3.1 GPA — they are eligible to join the honor society.

“The UAB DSS office has been a monumental part of this organization,” Clay said. “DSS has always been a safe place for students with disabilities, and with this added layer of a mentoring program through Delta Alpha Pi, they are allowing a community to grow within their office. This would not be possible without this amazing office, and we owe so much of our success to the people who work in the DSS office.”

Clay says mentoring is a way of giving back to the community by helping others understand and love themselves for who they are.

“Having a mentor with similar difficulties in life makes it easier to be open and honest about things you might need help with through your time together,” Clay said. “Being a mentor is beneficial not just to the mentee, but to the mentor as well. Through this program, we hope to help incoming students find their place on campus and make sure they feel welcomed into the Blazer community.”