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After Oakland University barred Micah Fialka-Feldman from living in student dormitories, he advocated for inclusive housing and established himself as a figure in the movement toward inclusive higher education.

Now, over 15 years later, Fialka-Feldman co-teaches classes in Syracuse University’s Disability Studies Program and serves as outreach coordinator for InclusiveU, a program to provide accessible college education to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

For Fialka-Feldman’s parents Janice and Rich, watching their son accomplish his life-long goal of attending college inspired them to support InclusiveU’s “incredible” work, establishing the Opening Doors Fund in February.

Inspired by Fialka-Feldman’s book of the same name, the fund provides InclusiveU students financial support for housing, food, academic materials and other expenses.

Following his advocacy work at Oakland University in the 2000s, SU invited Fialka-Feldman to speak on campus, where his parents said he left an impact not just on everyone in the room, but on the school system as well.

The couple said they created the fund after seeing firsthand the growth that can come from InclusiveU’s support.

“If we can play a tiny part in continuing that legacy of supporting people, then truly, it’s our honor to do that,” Janice Fialka-Feldman said. “And we hope then to also motivate people that we know, family, friends and people that we don’t know.”

With rising tuition and housing expenses, the scholarship will provide relief for many families with SU students, Rich said. The financial aid will allow students to participate in everyday college experiences, while also being able to afford housing, food and academic costs.

While participating in the program, InclusiveU students can also take disability studies classes and develop social and communicative skills while living in on-campus dorms, Brianna Shults wrote in a statement to The Daily Orange.

“We continue to focus on what is next for the program and deepen integration within the campus community from study abroad to Greek Life,” Shults wrote. “InclusiveU is fully embedded into Syracuse University’s community.”

Fialka-Feldman said he is confident his fellow InclusiveU members will find strength in the opportunities provided by the scholarships.

“I hope it impacts future students to be able to have a scholarship and have the full college experience,” Fialka-Feldman said. “And to be able to take the classes they want, and live on campus if they want and just be able to choose what they want to do in college.”

The fund is not only a transformative financial opportunity, but an incentive for the Syracuse community to strive for inclusivity, the Fialka-Feldmans said. They said it encourages greater conversations about intellectual disabilities, bringing attention to its prioritization in college education and campus life.

To the Fialka-Feldmans, the fund and partnership with InclusiveU is a way of turning what was once “unimaginable” into a reality.

“This is a way for people who have a little something to give a little something for a few folks to gain opportunities, relationships and skills through that initiative that really represents students with intellectual disabilities and our families,” Rich said.

Published on March 2, 2026 at 11:19 pm