As Lisa Paulson gets ready to receive her doctorate in Physical Education and Physical Activity 领导 in the College of Natural and Health Sciences this spring, she has many accomplishments to look back on and celebrate during her time at the University 北科罗拉多大学.

保尔森对 physical education stakeholders' policy work in the United States, addressing misunderstandings 缺乏政策和培训. 她还在一份研究海报中获得了第一名 去年的比赛. But what Paulson is truly proud of is being part of something 重要的, 在博天堂官方校园进行文化变革，使其更具包容性.

Three years ago, when she first arrived at UNC, Paulson saw something that piqued 她的兴趣. She noticed a Unified Schools banner hanging in the 校园娱乐 Center, which signifies the university has a club that provides opportunities for students with and without disabilities to engage in activities together.

“我知道我想参与其中，”保尔森说. “我对这个程序做了一些假设 would be up and running, but it turned out the club had been wiped away by the COVID-19 pandemic. 所以，我们从零开始，银行账户里只有0美元.”

Paulson and two student leaders made it their goal to resurrect the club, calling 它是UNCO统一的. 俱乐部起源于 统一的运动 与特奥会合作. 根据他们的网站，这是创建的 to combat the issue that people with disabilities didn't always have the chance to 参加学校的运动队. 俱乐部帮助人们打破刻板印象，赋予权力 people on the team to try something they may not otherwise have the chance to do.

Paulson says it is becoming more common to see Unified Sports at the kindergarten through 12th grade levels, but less so in a college setting since many universities 没有包容性的高等教育项目或俱乐部.

“I’ve seen how beautiful [Unified] is and the difference it can make in the culture, but I’ve never seen it happen as much as I have on UNC’s campus."

——丽莎·保尔森

The club has seen tremendous growth, starting with 0 members and growing to 60 in 仅仅三年. The first sport the members took on was basketball, and there were 需要教授的技能. 但现在，他们参加比赛，赢得了很多 四季游戏.

“Everyone that’s played, we’ve had a really good dynamic from the very start.” said 乔什·洛，博天堂官方大三学生，联合运动员. “看到这种友谊是很有趣的 整个赛季成长，甚至通过竞争力.”

This year, the club added flag football to the roster to cater to athletes who may 不像篮球. 保尔森说，他们计划继续增加其他体育项目 future.

“We’re leaning toward bowling because it’s a little bit more social,” 保尔森说. “We really want the club to not just focus so much on sports, but also provide other 如果会员对运动不感兴趣，就有机会加入. 我想只是提供一个保险箱 and secure planned social outlet is a unique opportunity that maybe they don’t get 在他们的学术支持下.”

UNCO Unified also hosts craft nights, holiday parties and other events to include those who aren’t interested in athletics, but still want to connect with others. Everyone 在社区被邀请参加活动.

在这一学年，联合学校与 焊缝县弧, an advocacy organization that helps promote the rights and independence of those with intellectual or developmental disabilities in the county and surrounding counties. Many of the athletes who have disabilities come from the Arc along with UNC students from the 继续学习(目标)计划.

“It’s been really great to have that partnership with the community and make a bigger 对校园以外的影响。.

Unified has been a conduit for many of its members to explore new things, get out 他们的舒适区，甚至建立终身的关系.

“Everyone on my team is my best friend because [we] connect together,” said Xavier 秘密，是联合篮球队的一名运动员.

许多会员在俱乐部之外进行社交活动. 作为一个团体，他们去校园 Recreation Center to lift weights in the mornings, eat lunch with one another at the dining hall, walk around campus together or go off campus to participate in activities they wouldn’t have known about if they hadn’t met other people through the club.

“A lot of times, the partners — the students without disabilities — sign up for Unified Club because they think they’re going to do something good and are doing a service,” 保尔森说. “But what ends up happening is [the partners] always get more out of 而不是他们给运动员的东西. 他们建立关系和友谊 they didn’t think were going to exist outside of the club hours they showed up for. 他们意识到每个人都参与其中是多么美好. 我见识过这种文化 我希望它能继续下去.”

Throughout her time with UNCO Unified, Paulson capitalized on the knowledge and expertise 她获得了博士学位. 她和本科生一起研究 importance of adding Unified sports to their future physical education curriculums and recruited Physical Education students to join Unified to make club membership 更加多样化的. 展望未来，保尔森与P.E. Club and the Kinesiology, Nutrition and Dietetics (KiND) program to ensure Unified continues 而且在她这学期毕业后还能维持下去.

“Students can help by keeping an open mind, being supportive and learning how to help 或者是包容。. 还有听别人说什么 需要并让他们感到被关注、被赞美和被倾听.”

Recently, the Unified Club participated in the Windsor Polar Plunge, raising $2,200 科罗拉多特奥会. 尽管北卡大学有足球俱乐部和极限飞盘 teams joined the club at the plunge, all the money raised by the two clubs went to 联合起来为其成员提供更多的机会.

With the club expanding in membership, funding and activities, Paulson hopes the connections, relationships and memories continue to grow after she graduates.

"It is just so beautiful to see students, especially young adults, embrace inclusion 这是联合国军司令部的首要任务之一。. “我想继续传播这个词 并保持这种势头，因为还有空间 all 每个人都应该感受到被重视、被包容和被赞美.”