The diploma that Bill Crowley earned from Carthage College a couple weeks ago represents more than just his academic accomplishments.

In his four years at the Kenosha college Crowley, who became a quadriplegic at age 2 as the result of an accident with a drunken driver, not only earned a degree in political science with a minor in history, but the keys to independent living.

Crowley was in his freshman year when we first told the story of his decision to live on campus while pursuing his college degree. Having been cared for by his parents in his family home up until that point, the Algonquin, Ill., resident was determined to live on campus so that he could experience college life to the fullest.

That determination, along with a lot of assistance from a Racine-based organization called Society's Assets, enabled him to do just that. Society's Assets - whose slogan is "Ability, Not Disability" - not only helped outfit his dorm room with assistive technology such as voice-activated lighting and a remote control door, but provided home- and health-care aides who came to campus several times each day to help Crowley with his personal care needs. The agency worked closely with the student to make sure he had what he needed to live as independently as possible along side his classmates.

Living on campus took some adjustment at first, Crowley said.

"It was my first real time away from home and it was hard to say goodbye to my parents. But it got easier as the years went by."

It helped that his parents visited often, he said, and through the years he became close with his aides from Society's Assets, some of whom worked with Crowley the entire time he was at Carthage.

Fitting in

At the same time he was learning about everything from the political process to the history of baseball in the classroom, Crowley was also gaining experience in how to arrange for the care he needed through the agency. The result of all of his and their efforts is that four years later, he has lots of great college memories. And he isn't done making those memories.

This fall, he'll be attending law school at Marquette University in Milwaukee and he plans to live in a university apartment. Crowley is confident that he can handle apartment life now, and Society's Assets played an important role in helping him build that confidence. While the agency's services don't extend to Milwaukee County, Society's Assets can help Crowley connect with the appropriate organizations in that area so that he can continue to live independently, said Robert Henken, marketing manager for the agency.

When we talked to Crowley a few weeks ago, he hadn't yet made such arrangements - he was too busy taking exams and getting ready to graduate. He was also enjoying the end of the semester with his Carthage friends, many of whom were very helpful to him in his four years on campus, he said.

"They would help with the physical stuff I couldn't do, like opening doors," he said. "I did use some note takers the first couple years, but I took all my own notes the last couple years."

Crowley's connection with other students also went beyond such assistance to treasured friendships. He found it easy to get involved in the social life on campus, he said, and joined several clubs while at Carthage.

"A group of us joined a fraternity that was dying and got it going again," he said. "We got back in touch with some of its alumni, dating back to the '60s, and got together with a bunch of them in the last couple years."

Some of the guys hadn't seen each other in years and have since created a Web site forum to stay in touch. Crowley said he is hoping to be able to continue getting together with his fraternity brothers in the years to come.

"I never thought I'd be in the German Club or be vice president of a frat, but I am," he said.

Lessons learned

Crowley is one of a number of college students that Society's Assets serves, said Henken. Others at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, as well as at Carthage, also receive assistance from the agency in order to be able to live on campus, he said.

"We work with people of all ages, and all disabilities," he said.

In Crowley's case there were a lot of hurdles to overcome but, with everyone from him to Society's Assets to the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation and the college working together, he was able to clear those hurdles, said Linda Vogelman, assistant director of independent living services with Society's Assets.

"Carthage was wonderful," Vogelman said. "There is a nice little community there that really worked with Bill to help him through his four years on campus."

The goal, she said, was to do everything possible to make the college experience go smoothly for Crowley. And everyone involved seemed to learn something during those four years, including the staff at Society's Assets.

"Patience is one thing we all learned from Bill," Vogelman said. "Bill is very low key and never was in a hurry. He always felt that things would fall into place. We all really enjoyed working with him."

That attitude, along with a grade-point average of 3.93 going into his final semester at Carthage, are things that will probably serve Crowley well as he pursues his law degree. He isn't sure yet what field of law he'd like to specialize in, but he is confident that such things, too, will eventually fall into place.

"Law is a fairly flexible field," he said. "If you get a law degree you can pretty much do anything."

Crowley's advice to other students with disabilities considering whether to live on campus is to go for it.

"That's where 90 percent of college life is," he said. "You just have to try it and keep going. It's going to be hard, but before long you'll like it a lot."

Society's Assets

Started as a grass roots effort by people with disabilities in Racine back in 1972, Society's Assets has grown through the years into an independent living center that serves the disabled community throughout Racine, Kenosha, Walworth, Jefferson and Rock counties.

When the agency incorporated in 1974, one of its first goals was to expand home health care in Racine. At the time, home health care services were available only on week days and the agency wanted to increase those services to allow people access to around-the-clock care. With funding from the Comprehensive Education and Training Act, which provided funds for non-profit agencies hiring people with disabilities, Society's Assets opened an office and established home care service which operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Since then, the agency has developed other services and resources for those with disabilities, in addition to home health care. They include information and referral, independent living skills training, advocacy, peer support, telecommunications relay systems, adaptive equipment try out programs and Americans with Disabilities Act consultation.

For more information about Society's Assets and its efforts to assist people with disabilities in living as independently as possible, visit http://www.sai-inc.org