Mark Zupan, a quadriplegic rugby player and documentary movie star, will give a lecture at Sacramento State Thursday. The event is sponsored by Services to Students with Disabilities, Recreational Sports and UNIQUE Programs.

Zupan was paralyzed in a car accident while in college, and began playing full-contact rugby for people in wheelchairs soon after.

In 2008, he and the rest of the United States team won gold at the Beijing Paralympics Games. Zupan was the star of the film “Murderball,” which won the 2005 Documentary Audience award at the Sundance Festival.

Melissa Repa, co-director of Services to Students with Disabilities, said that it’s “great the campus is showing such diversity.”

“Mark Zupan overcame significant barriers to become the best in his sport,” Repa said. “He dispels stereotypes about people with disabilities ? Students are sure to be inspired.”

Zupan’s lecture is Thursday in University Union Ballroom at 7:30 p.m. and is free to the public.

Kyrie Eberhart can be reached at [email protected].