#SupportingMargaretRoseWhoSupportsFutureScholars

Margaret Rose McDonnell has been an inspiration to her students at Saint Xavier University for years--not because she works tirelessly to encourage students to overcome all obstacles to achieve their dreams, but because she does so while overcoming her own challenges--serving as a role model to all who know her.

What distinguishes Margaret Rose from all others is that for the last forty-three years, she has been a tetraplegic, paralyzed from the chest down, after sustaining a spinal cord injury at the age of fourteen. Now, she needs the support of her community. So the student workers, former students, colleagues, and friends of Margaret Rose McDonnell are requesting your help with her medical expenses and ongoing care.

Margaret Rose requires daily, around-the-clock Nursing support and other medical products that total over $90,000 for her care each year, most of which is not covered under any health care plan. For years, Margaret Rose has been able to maintain the increases associated with her spinal cord injury and paralysis, but she has incurred significant medical challenges in the last few years, and costs for her care have steadily risen. We are requesting your financial assistance to ensure that Margaret Rose can continue to employ caregivers and receive the medical support she needs to lead her life as independently as she always has, and so she can continue to come to work with her students at SXU each day, as they value her guidance and support.

For those fortunate enough to work with Margaret Rose, we have seen her commitment to empowering students, enhancing equity, and respecting and valuing the diversity of each student's human dignity. For over 25 years, Margaret Rose has served in multicultural environments as an administrator, educator, speaker, and community liaison to advocate for and advance the educational and personal opportunities of those she supports. One of Margaret Rose's greatest gifts, that so many have experienced, is her invaluable understanding of each person's unique gifts, and her persistence in encouraging everyone to succeed in academia. She sees and enhances her students' unlimited potential, especially when pursuing their careers.

While Margaret Rose's life-altering disability could have stopped her from pursuing her dream of becoming an educator, she never gave up and dedicated her life to serving others. She has not only been able to earn a Master's degree in Education with honors (and received additional certifications in Special Education and Diversity and Inclusion), but she has served as the Director of the Center for Accessibility Resources for Saint Xavier University for over fifteen years. She serves as a model of living up to one's potential, thus, inspiring everyone to do well in school and make the most of our educational opportunities. Margaret Rose exemplifies how someone can deal with a life-challenging disability and still achieve academic and professional success while advocating for all of our rights in all aspects of public and private life.

Learning early to value the importance of inclusive education, Margaret Rose is also a first-generation student, as her parents were immigrants from Ireland. This has only increased her to resolve to lead her life by their strong example of a life of service and faith. As Margaret Rose has given us the valuable and incredible gift of serving everyone and tirelessly advocating on our behalves, we humbly ask you for any help you can provide with the medical and full-time care expenses for now and for her future, especially since insurance does not cover these.

The following quotes from Margaret Rose's students and peers speak to her compassion, character, and commitment to others as they share their experiences with working with her (due to confidentiality reasons, we cannot document nor state their names):

 “As a nursing major, I was fortunate to work with and have Margaret Rose provide me

with my academic accommodations. Throughout my time with Margaret Rose as the

director of the Center for Accessibility Resources, I have excelled in my studies and I am already working as a nurse at Little Company of Mary Hospital. She was invaluable

when I became pregnant and helped me graduate on time due to her Title IX assistance.”

 “Since I became a student at Saint Xavier University in the Fall of 2020, I have received services and additional resources from the Center for Accessibility Resources. I will never forget the first time I met with Margaret Rose to request her Center’s support on extended time for my incoming placement tests. She e-mailed me back right away and then scheduled a Zoom meeting for the next week. I remember that meeting because as a first-generation student who would be the first person attending university, I felt such relief knowing that she would be ‘looking out’ for me when I started school that year. On her suggestion and continuous prodding, I also applied to become a member of the Student Success Program (a federally funded TRIO Program). I was accepted and I now serve as a mentor for my fellow peers. I cannot thank her enough for all that she has done for me and helped me achieve in the last two years.”

 “As someone with a disability, I often feel like an inconvenience to others. However,

during my time at SXU, Ms. McDonnell was very welcoming and made me feel like I

mattered and was a top priority. I appreciated how she reached out to me regularly to

discuss if there were any changes in the accommodations I would need and how life was going as I lived with my disability. Ms. McDonnell always ensured I received the

accommodations I needed for a successful academic career.”