The University Lectures 20th season will conclude on Tuesday, March 23, with Nyle DiMarco, deaf activist and winner of “Dancing with the Stars” and “America’s Next Top Model.”
Nyle DiMarco
Syracuse University’s premier speaker series, the University Lectures bring to Syracuse University audience members and the larger public notable guest speakers of exceptional accomplishment who share their diverse global experiences and perspectives. The series was created through, and is supported by, the generosity of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51, H’91. Media sponsor for the University Lectures is WAER.
The lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET and be presented in an interview-style format. Following public health guidance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lecture will be virtual and viewable via Zoom webinar. Audience members will be able to submit questions for consideration as part of the experience, time permitting. Those attending should register in advance at lectures.syr.edu to receive the Zoom link. Communication Access Real-Time Translation and American Sign Language interpretation will be available.
DiMarco will be interviewed by Kate Corbett Pollack, coordinator for SU’s Disability Cultural Center (DCC). The lecture is co-sponsored by the DCC and the Barnes Center at the Arch.
DiMarco is a deaf activist and ambassador for the deaf community. He won the mirror ball trophy on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” (Season 22) and was the last model standing on The CW’s “America’s Next Top Model” (Cycle 22).
Born into a multigenerational deaf family, he is an honorary spokesperson for Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K) and founder of the Nyle DiMarco Foundation, which works to improve the lives of deaf people around the world. DiMarco produced the 2018 return to Broadway of “Children of a Lesser God” and was a creative collaborator on The ASL App, developed by native deaf signers to teach conversational American Sign Language.
With a passion for language, literacy and advocacy within the deaf community and beyond, DiMarco shares his barrier-breaking story as a deaf man who has risen above stereotypes to take the world by storm. Believing that his deafness is “an asset rather than a limitation,” he builds a bridge between the deaf and hearing by shining a light on not only the struggles, but also the triumphs of the deaf culture.
