Robert Palmer, vice president for student affairs at Cal State Fullerton, and Jack Faley congratulate each other on being honored for their efforts on behalf of people living with disabilities. The EP Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Awards were presented to the duo during the July 21 Fullerton Flyers game at Goodwin Field.

Campus Honored for Special Games

Distinguished Service Award Presented at Fullerton Flyers Game

July 24, 2007

 

Cal State Fullerton and the Faley family of Placentia were honored Saturday, July 21, for their efforts on behalf of people living with disabilities, including hosting the annual CSUF Special Games - Kathleen E. Faley Memorial.

Before community members attending “Disability Awareness Night” at the Fullerton Flyers game at Cal Sate Fullerton’s Goodwin Field, the EP Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award was presented to Jack Faley and Robert Palmer, CSUF vice president for student affairs.

The awards were presented by EP Global Communications Inc. and EP Foundation for Education and are named in honor of the late founder and editor-in-chief of the magazine Exceptional Parent.

The Cal State Fullerton Special Games-Kathleen Faley Memorial was launched in 1986 as a class project. Two years later, the games were dedicated to the memory of Kathleen E. Faley, a CSUF alumna who died in a car accident in 1987. She was the sister of event co-organizer Dan Faley and among the inaugural core group of Special Games volunteers. To this day, the Faley family remains involved in the event’s planning and organization.

Earlier this year, more than 2,800 special athletes from throughout Orange County took part in the non-competitive events that included basketball and football toss, T-ball, soccer goal kicks and a 50-yard dash. Hundreds of volunteers — including the entire student body of Whittier Christian High School — were on hand to assist and cheer on the participants.

“Our goal is to help all Americans understand that we will become a stronger nation and better human beings when we learn to regard people with disabilities and special needs as people to be respected, not as problems to be confronted,” said Joseph M. Valenzano, president and CEO of EP Global Communications Inc.