There are many news sources for this, but here's the news from UCBerkeley News giving a short account of the life of Ed Roberts and the legislative action that created an "Ed Roberts Day." Here are the first two paragraphs from Wendy Edelstein's "Ed Roberts, disability-rights leader and Cal alum, gets his own state day":
BERKELEY — January 23 has been named Ed Roberts Day in California, in honor of the Cal alum who pioneered the disability-rights movement on campus and nationwide.Roberts, who was the first Berkeley student to rely on a wheelchair when he arrived in 1962, is recognized as the father of the independent living movement for people with disabilities and special needs. He died in 1995.
Remember January 23-Ed Roberts Day