The lack of access on the campus is an issue of equality. The barriers that students with disabilities experience on the campus means that they often are not able to fully benefit from the resources, opportunities and experiences of university life. They affect the quality of education students receive. Being a student with a disability at this university often means one has to work harder and organize better, only to receive less. It’s not fair that students with disabilities pay the same amount in college fees for transportation but have much less access to it. It’s not fair that I have never been able to meet any of my American Studies professors in their offices because there is no wheelchair access to Holzapfel Hall, where the American Studies department is located. Although some access issues have improved in my four years here, there is a lack of urgency from the university to solve many seemingly minor barriers that create major problems for students with disabilities. This suggests that improving disability access on the campus is not a major priority at the university.
Students with disabilities are students first. As students, we deserve the opportunity to fully take part in all that the university has to offer. Unfortunately, structural and attitudinal barriers prevent students like myself from participating in both academic and social life. In 2004, I attended the Roots concert held at Cole Field House with a friend. When I arrived, I was told that there was no room for my wheelchair on the stadium floor. Because I wanted to see the show so badly, I parked my wheelchair and walked down the stadium stairs with assistance from my friend so that I could find a seat. Since I have been a student, I have requested that several events be moved so that people with disabilities could attend. However, whenever I want to participate in any event on the campus, I must call ahead to find out if it is in an accessible venue. I must then call ahead to find out if the bus to that venue is accessible.
At a time in life when most young people value freedom and spontaneity, the choices that students with disabilities have on this campus are very restricted. A simple request from a friend like “Do you want to go to the movies at Hoff?” becomes a complicated one. I must first call Shuttle-UM to see if the bus to the Stamp Student Union is wheelchair accessible. If it isn’t on that day, than I must request a paratransit ride. If the paratransit schedule is full, which is common, then I don’t have a ride to the movies. By the time my friend and I make it to Stamp after rolling across the campus for quite some time, the theater may be full and I may not be able to sit next to my friend because the space reserved for wheelchair seating no longer has a chair available for my friend to sit next to me. So, I must always plan ahead and arrive early.
The lack of accessibility on this campus holds me and other students with disabilities to rigid organizational standards that most other students aren’t expected to meet. Imagine if every time you registered for a class, you had to visit it ahead of time to make sure that there was an actual chair available for you to sit in. These are just a few examples of how the campus structure hinders students with disabilities. I challenge all of you to look at this campus with new eyes. Is your dorm accessible, your fraternity or sorrority house, your home? Suppose I wanted to come visit you, or go out with you this weekend. Could I? Or would you have to change your plans?
As a community, we need to consider the various ways in which this campus’ social, architectural, academic and political structures often privilege some bodies (ie. able, straight, white, male, etc.) and exclude, threaten or disadvantage others (disabled, gay, black, female, etc.) Inviting speakers to come and address the campus body about social inequality as it pertains to disability or starting a disability studies program are just two of many ways we could help educate students, faculty, staff and members of the surrounding community about disability issues and their relationship with other identities such as race, class, sexuality and gender.
I am glad The Diamondback wrote about the importance of removing architectural barriers on the campus. However, it is most important that the campus community understand that the structural barriers are only a symptom of a much bigger problem – ignorance. The university is even less responsive to addressing issues about campus climate and attitudinal barriers that exist for students with disabilities than they are about architectural barriers. Much of the architectural barriers are a reflection of a lack of consciousness about what it means to be disabled in society. As an institution of higher learning, the university has a responsibility to use its resources to help educate the community about issues of diversity.
Angel Miles is a graduate student in women’s studies. She can be reached at amiles3@umd.edu.
