Faculty and students with disabilities face difficulties around OU’s campus.
They just don’t get it.
That’s the sentiment that many disabled students and faculty at Ohio University feel when trying to make their way around a campus established around a hilly Appalachian town.
“It’s all about the culture, because they don’t understand what you go through unless they go there themselves,” said Carolyn Lewis, an instructor in the Scripps College of Communication.
The out-of-touch “they” has been students, university employees and Athens residents, Lewis said. “I’ve had complaints from people who just do not understand what it’s like to have a disability.”
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Although they’re a staple of the Athens campus, the city’s well-known hilly landscape and old, brick buildings pose a big problem for students and faculty with disabilities.
Everyday occurrences, such as chaining bikes to wheelchair ramps, are evidence of the culture gap, she said.
OU has spent millions on accessibility efforts
Over the past five years, OU has spent $15 million to upgrade the campus and its buildings to adhere to standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
The university uses that act, along with sections of another law from the 1970s, to determine what needs to be done to avoid discriminatory practices toward individuals with disabilities.
Renovations to Lindley Hall, the addition of accessibility path markers on College Green and the planned renovation of OU’s Aquatic Center are some of the more recent projects undertaken by the university.
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Still, many have said there’s a long way to go in creating a culturally competent environment that makes it easier for people with disabilities to live and work at OU.
“We’ve got a long way to go with the culture on the campus,” Lewis said.
For example, two years ago, Robin Brigante, who was paralyzed from the chest down in 2004, dropped out of OU for the second time in pursuit of a master’s degree because of accessibility concerns around campus.
“It’s different. It’s totally different,” Brigante said of being a student at OU without a disability and then studying with one.
She currently isn’t enrolled at OU to finish her program.
OU’s location is a problem that’s hard to work around; infrastructure is not
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There is a difference of about 200-feet between the highest and lowest points on OU’s campus, according to university documents. That difference, in addition to outdated infrastructure, creates a hard-to-solve problem.
“The university campus terrain and areas within the city of Athens pose challenges for those who have mobility impairments,” Interim Director of OU’s Office of Institutional Equity Dianne Bouvier said in an email.
Brigante cited broken elevators, insufficient handicapped parking and a lack of automatic doors as some of the problems she experienced. Many of those problems caused her to be late or to miss class altogether.
“Our goal is to assure that students and employees have access to education and employment and with each new facility and renovated facility, we make improvements for our community,” Bouvier said. “I would encourage anyone who has a particular accessibility need to bring them forward so we can address them.”
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Groups on campus are making progress
Groups such as the Presidential Advisory Council on Disability and Accessibility Planning, commonly referred to as PACDAP, also addresses accessibility difficulties on campus.
The council, which reports to OU President Roderick McDavis and other administrators, is tasked with providing input to be compliant with federal law.
“People are ignorant of our needs,” Brigante said. “They’re not willing to spend the money on things to make our life actually — even doing much less — just making it easier.”
University offices such as Institutional Equity and Student Accessibility Services address discrimination complaints and help give students accommodations for registered disabilities.
“I think that we could have done even better with accessibility in some recent projects to be completely accessible,” Assistant Dean for Student Accessibility Carey Busch said in an email. “But I think it is a success that these projects have started a more extensive conversation about how we design and plan … and how we compromise so that the needs of departments who occupy space can be met but also be accessible.”
There are currently more than 1,100 students registered with a disability through the university. Of that, about 12 students are registered with a mobility impairment.
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The university offers services such as CATCAB buses, which are specifically designated for use by individuals with mobility or health impairments which would otherwise make “crossing campus difficult,” according to OU’s website.
Despite progress, Brigante said a fundamental disconnect with Cutler Hall may be the root of the problem.
“The administration has to come down to our level and participate with what needs to be done,” she said.
@dinaivey
db794812@ohio.edu
