In a bustling university campus nestled in the heart of Woodcrest, Massachusetts, a fresh semester was starting. The air was alive with excitement as students hurried to their classes, chatters filled with anticipation for new friendships and knowledge. Amidst this flurry, MattySims, a determined and enthusiastic student, arrived at his new home for the next few years. MattySims navigates this world with the help of a wheelchair due to a leg injury sustained in an accident while training a few weeks earlier. He was prepared for the challenges ahead, but he hadn’t anticipated the hurdles that lie beyond his textbooks.
The first sign of trouble came when MattySims attempted to access the main lecture hall. He approached the grand entrance, a majestic set of stairs leading up to tall wooden doors, only to find that the lecture hall was not wheelchair accessible. The university had recently upgraded its facilities, but the lecture hall and a few other buildings, accessed from the quad, had been left out of the renovations. MattySims’s heart sank as he realized that to get to the lecture hall, he would need to depend on the assistance of his sorority brothers to carry him up the steps, where he would have to sit in the back row of the amphitheatre type class room.
MattySims was not alone in his struggle. He soon learned that many other students with disabilities faced similar challenges. The science building, where most of his classes were held, had an elevator, but it was often out of service or overcrowded with storage. The history building, where his seminar was located, lacked a ramp, forcing MattySims to use an alternate route that added time and effort to his daily routine.
Determined not to let these barriers define his experience, MattySims sought out the university’s accessibility office. He found it in a small, dimly lit office tucked away in a corner of campus. The office had recently been rebranded with a new name, but the staff seemed overwhelmed and under-resourced.
MattySims is fortunate, in that his injury is not permanent. In fact he will be able to move around on crutches in the next month. MattySims is not the only student at Woodcrest with a disability or even an injury. This article iaims to highlight the plight of students with disabilities, bringing the issue to the forefront of campus discussions. Faculty members, who have been unaware of the extent of the problem, are urged to voice their support and university administration should agree to a series of accessibility audits and pledge to address the most critical issues.
For the Wheelchair Awareness event, MattySims procured wheelchairs for the attendees and had them move about the pathways in the quad. They were encouraged to roll their way further out, utilizing the few wheelchair access points to see how far they could get, how long it took, and how circuitous the route was to get from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’. All in all, it was an enlightening event that saw students and faculty come out to learn more.
Editor’s Note: This event took place on Saturday, July 27, 2024.