Alumna speaks at White House for 21st anniversary of ADA

	ALYSHA JEANS

Rice alumna Alysha Jeans ’10 was a guest speaker at the White House Tuesday to commemorate the July 26, 1990, signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act into law. That landmark civil rights legislation reaffirmed the idea that all citizens, regardless of disability, are entitled to the same privileges, pursuits and opportunities.

Jeans, who has been blind since birth, spoke about her background and career to interns with and without disabilities who are working in federal agencies this summer.

She graduated magna cum laude from Rice with a B.S. in electrical engineering. A former NASA intern, Jeans is currently an FBI forensics examiner in training in Quantico, Va.