Office for Civil Rights announces recipients of 2026 Focus Awards

The Focus Awards are presented annually to acknowledge and celebrate the outstanding efforts of members of the Purdue community who advance the university’s commitment to disability accessibility. Since 2001, the Focus Awards have recognized individuals and groups who demonstrate excellence in promoting disability awareness and accessibility across Purdue.

This year, the Office for Civil Rights honored several individuals and an organization with Focus Awards for their contributions to raising awareness and advancing equal access to education, employment and recreation for individuals with disabilities. In addition, three campus teams received Special Recognition Focus Awards. While many groups and individuals across campus are engaged in similar efforts, these teams were recognized for their work supporting universitywide efforts to evaluate Purdue’s digital environment, develop accessibility plans, create and remediate digital content, and share guidance with the campus community — all in preparation for meeting upcoming ADA Title II digital accessibility requirements.

The 2026 Focus Awards recipients include:

• Dr. Eckhard Groll (faculty)
• Dr. Beatriz Castro Bohorquez (staff)
• Sarah Reifel (staff)
• Amy Janis (student)
• Delta Gamma (organization)
• The ADA Instructional Material System Project in Innovative Learning (special recognition)
• Purdue Brand Studio (special recognition)
• Purdue IT (special recognition)

To learn more about the contributions and achievements of the recipients, please visit the Office for Civil Rights’ 2026 Focus Awards webpage.

For questions regarding the Focus Awards, please call 765-494-7255 or email ocr@purdue.edu.