Raising awareness
Road to campus accessibility paved with student input
Christina Stephens, Opinion Editor
The issue of campus access never hit home for me until I met a student with a disability who I now call a good friend.
I saw firsthand the many hurdles students with disabilities must face on campus. It was then that disability access became a personal issue for me.
My friend spent weeks trying to schedule. She’d pick classes and then wait and see if counselors and advisors could move them into buildings she could enter. She fought battles everyday for simple things I took for granted — parking spaces, elevators and ramps.
And as I witnessed her struggles firsthand, I became angry. I assumed the University didn’t want to help my friend, that no one cared and it would take a major lawsuit to bring LSU up to code.
A class project changed my mind. In fall 2001, I joined fellow journalism students in researching the issue. We walked campus with digital cameras and notepads recording inaccessible places. We interviewed numerous students, faculty and staff members. We even interviewed Chancellor Mark Emmert as a group.
This exhaustive two-month process gave me some perspective on the issue. LSU is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. No one denies this. And administrators do care, making now the perfect time to tackle this issue.
At the time, administrators said it would take about $8 million to make LSU compliant with ADA code — this figure is now considered to be underestimated. Contrast the sum needed to become compliant with LSU’s $220 million in deferred maintenance costs, and you begin to see the problem doesn’t lie in uncaring administrators.
Every year, LSU battles against other state entities — other colleges, cities, departments — for capital outlay money. The amount of money the state has to dole out would barely cover our deferred maintenance costs. And when you realize building better ramps and fixing elevators in classroom buildings takes funding away from major road projects elsewhere, you begin to wonder if my friend will ever see the upstairs of her college building.
Poor planning and an impoverished state were the real culprits — but since our class project, things have improved.
Legislators have since given LSU funds which were devoted to compliance and student fee money has been diverted to the cause as well.
My class and student activists complaining only got us part of the way there. Right now is the best time for the LSU community to push for greater accessibility across campus. If this problem isn’t solved soon, lawsuits will surface. The key to fixing this problem is bringing it out into the open and discussing it. But even Emmert admitted to our class that once legal action is pending, he and other administrators can’t be as forthcoming.
Procrastination and poor planning are how we ended up in this mess, not how we climb out of it.
Because LSU is in violation of federal law, administrators have no choice but to listen to students. However, because this was an issue forced into the spotlight by students, we must be the ones to keep it alive. Many of my classmates and other activists have or will soon graduate. Don’t let our hard work be wasted.
Administrators would be foolish not to continue to work with us to formulate a plan — before the lawsuits and hefty fines come into play — even if it takes years to correct.
Making this campus accessible is not only the legal thing to do, but also the morally right thing to do. Look at your classmates around you. Everyone enrolled at LSU is entitled to an equal educational experience while here.
If LSU gets sued, things will only get worse. Consider this — one ADA violation could cost LSU $50,000 in fines. Each additional violation brings about $100,000 of fines. Couple with this the costs of a lawsuit the University would surely lose, and LSU is looking at paying out a large sum of money it doesn’t have.
The flip side is the millions it will take to make LSU compliant also could finance many other things. As a community, we have to decide if we’re willing to trade a few improvements to the campus to do the right thing.
Are you willing to pay more fees? Should we encourage alumni to donate and fix this problem? We need solutions, and solutions come from open discussion.
LSU must unite as community and form a game plan for how to tackle this problem. Students can start by contacting their Student Government representatives or the campus committee on building access. The more student support we have for this issue, the sooner it will be fixed.
Maybe I won’t be here to see this campus completely accessible to students with disabilities. I know my friend won’t. However, we have been fortunate to see LSU make strides toward accessibility since we were juniors.
But if I return to visit campus as an alumna in 15 years and don’t see major improvements, I will be sorely disappointed we didn’t seize the opportunity before us.