As my December graduation nears, my father recently confided that he never thought I’d make it through my first year at LSU — not because I wasn’t smart enough but because he figured I wouldn’t be able to navigate campus in time for class.
Using a wheelchair was new to me that first semester in August 1998, so I wasn’t yet agile or prepared to traverse a campus that was inaccessible for a person with a disability.
At that time, I didn’t know how life was changing for me as I had to learn to tackle each day using a wheelchair. However, I certainly didn’t think I had to worry about access issues — at least, not in America in 1998.
I knew physically attending college was going to be more difficult than I thought as my first weeks of school ended and situations abounded.
I couldn’t get into many buildings or reach the second floor for classes or meet with my dean, teachers or counselors. No bathrooms were large enough or equipped for me to use. Broken concrete sidewalks caused hazards, making me flip in my wheelchair. And scheduling was a nightmare. If you thought scheduling was bad enough, try having to also make sure classes are in accessible rooms or could be moved there and located close enough to reach your next class in the 10-minute break.
The sad part was that correcting the problems required by a 12-year-old federal law was not a priority, with funding as the key setback.
I’m grateful as I prepare to leave the University that progress has begun. And although I have seen only about 30 sidewalks and ramps corrected from a laundry list of problems inside and outside buildings, those sites are landmarks on the route to a campus created for all students.
I wrote a column more than a year ago detailing situations that were fundamental in fixing accessibility problems and proposing solutions. Although problems still exist, such as inadequate staffing in the Office of Disability Services, most of my suggestions have become realities.
The chancellor created in spring 2002 an executive committee of administrators, staff and students to identify and prioritize issues, develop solutions and organize crews to perform the construction. Through this committee, called CAST, problems around and between buildings in the Tureaud-CEBA area, west Quad and east Quad have been identified and prioritized. Most of the sites in the Tureaud-CEBA area were fixed by the beginning of this semester, as well as the entrances to many west Quad buildings.
Additional money has been earmarked for financing these projects. Student Government has rededicated part of a $6 spring sports fee, which the chancellor matched. The chancellor received more money through the Legislature and pledged to find more as needed.
Outside the chancellor’s doing, progress has been made in the sports arena
For the first time as an LSU student, I felt the rush of sitting in the student section of Tiger Stadium this season. Athletic Director Skip Bertman had a wheelchair-seating section installed. Nearly every seat has been filled since word spread during the first couple of home games, and demand now may call for more wheelchair seating. As basketball season begins, Bertman also promised to develop adequate seating for students with disabilities to be near the student section.
As I leave the University, I know this student-led issue has brought remarkable changes, but I also recognize the great barrier has yet to be completely moved. Only with students’ and others’ consistent pressure, concern and activism will the project be finished.
I can’t express enough thanks to the people who brought disability access to the forefront. Their work has gone far beyond helping people with disabilities on this campus, a group once alienated for qualities outside their control. The work they have done has helped others, including bicyclists and parents pushing their children in strollers.
People with and without disabilities made a task many thought too large to undertake a project worth fighting for and an achievable goal.