Sundance Channel’s ‘Push Girls’ star Tiphany Adams to visit Wright State

In addition to starring on "Push Girls," Tiphany Adams speaks and advocates on the topics of drunk and distracted driving, LGBT issues, nutrition, wellness and fitness.

At age 17, Tiphany Adams was a rebellious high school senior with dreams of modeling. But when the car she was riding in was hit head-on by a drunk driver, her life changed in an instant. The crash killed three of her friends and left Adams a paraplegic with a fracture to her T10 vertebrae.

Remarkably, Adams persevered through months of painful recovery to graduate with her class. Harnessing that same determination, Adams refused to let her disability derail her professional dreams.

Today, Adams is an actress, model, ability advocate, fitness enthusiast, speaker and currently a star on the Sundance Channel docu-series Push Girls.

The Wright State University community will get a chance to meet Adams and view an episode from the show’s second season on Monday, March 10. The event will be in the Student Union Apollo Room from 3 to 7 p.m. and is open to the public.

Those who attend can meet Adams and participate in a Q&A session after the screening.

“The fact that Tiphany can come to campus and share her experiences and her thoughts on the things she cares about is energizing and sorely needed at Wright State,” said Thomas Webb, director of the Office of Disability Services. “Push Girls is a widely viewed reality show that portrays people living their lives, day in and day out, with disability. It stands out in excellence, as there are so few accurate portrayals of disability in the media.”

Webb said it only makes sense that Adams would choose to visit Wright State because it’s one of the best universities in the country for providing support and accessibility to students with disabilities.

In 2012, Wright State was named one of the nation’s top disability-friendly schools.

“We could bring a lot of disability-related speakers to campus, but we can’t bring a lot of disability-related speakers who are relatable to students, and Tiphany is exactly that,” said Webb.

In addition to her work on Push Girls, Adams speaks and advocates publicly on the topics of drunk and distracted driving, LGBT issues, nutrition, wellness and fitness. She is an ambassador for Wish Upon a Teen, an organization that provides resources and opportunities to teenagers who have Autism Spectrum Disorder and/or are recovering from injury or chronic illness.

“If you look around this campus and in this office, we have several ‘Tiphanys’ that we are serving, and I think that will really hit home when she comes here,” said Webb. “There’s a lot of interest from our students already, and I think that is only going to keep growing as we get closer to her visit.”