FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 5, 2008
Media Contact: George Cagala, (760) 750-4012

CSUSM Student to Meet Laura Bush on Braille Literacy

Since going blind nine years ago, Cal State San Marcos student Juliet Cody has not only adapted to her disability, she’s mastered it.  

She’s also become an ardent advocate for Braille literacy and education, something, she says, that is rapidly disappearing from schools as new technology attempts to take its place.

But without Braille, a blind person is illiterate,” says Cody, who graduates this spring with a bachelor of arts in communication.

On Thursday, Feb. 7, she will have an opportunity to share her thoughts with First Lady Laura Bush, who is hosting a reception for Cody and two other scholarship winners from Recording for the Blind. The organization is a non-profit library serving people who cannot read standard print due to visual impairment, dyslexia, or other physical disability.

From hundreds of applicants, Cody received the organization's top national scholarship, which includes a $6,000 award plus a trip to Washington D.C. in February. She will also address an assembly of Recording for the Blind in May in New York City.

With the help of her guide dog, Marley, Cody navigates the CSUSM campus and makes an impact on everyone she meets. In addition to her studies, she advises the university on issues that concern the needs of all disabled students and also sits on several advisory boards. Both her intellectual ambition and moral strength have earned her approximately $20,000 in scholarships since beginning her studies, including CSUSM’s President’s Circle Scholarship.

She resides in Escondido.

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