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This month, USA Today ran a story on how well flagship public universities are serving their states in respect to acceptance of minorities compared to their portion of the state population, and how affordable it is to all people in the state. The University of Maine received the highest marks in the country for flagship universities. It’s nice to be No. 1 in something more than just hockey for a change.
While our school provides great opportunities for everyone economically, not all groups are served here on campus. We may have a great disability services program that helps students with disabilities succeed academically, but for wheelchair-bound students, this is not always the easiest school to go to.
Knox Hall is the only fully accessible FYRE residence hall on the hill, which is a problem because it is uphill from all the academic buildings. Gannett Hall has a ramp, but the elevator is too small for someone in a wheelchair.
This year, I saw a student in a manual wheelchair have to wheel uphill against traffic on Long Road to get to his residence hall. The sidewalk to Hilltop is bumpy and in disrepair, leaving the student with no choice but to wheel in the street between Androscoggin Road and the entrance to the Knox parking lot.
In Hancock Hall, the key swipe to the front door broke over the weekend and was not fixed until Monday. This left the only handicap-accessible door unusable, because campus employees just figured Hancock’s other entrance could be used. A friend of mine who is a wheelchair-bound Hancock resident could not get into the building unless somebody walked by the front door to let him in.
Snow does not help handicapped residents on campus either. After the first snow of the year, my friend was stuck in his dorm because the ramp was covered in snow, and the proper employees who are responsible for clearing it had not done their job by the end of the day. A resident assistant in the building took it upon herself to shovel it so he could get out to eat. Last Wednesday, his chair got stuck in the snow on the way to Wells Commons. His chair has four-wheel drive, but its low battery prevented him from using the feature. He had to wait for someone to push him out, because there was too much snow on the path to the dining commons.
Our campus needs to do more for our fellow students in wheelchairs. I know there is a budget crisis, but not making this campus equally accessible to all students is not acceptable. As a former athlete, if not having a spot on the team meant enough money for making the campus compliant to government standards, I would be for it. If it meant a tuition raise, I am sure that most would be OK paying $50 more a year if that was the money needed to fix things.
The main problem is that services that are supposed to be provided are not. Hancock’s door should have been fixed sooner, snow removal where wheelchair-bound students have to travel should be a priority and the overall state of the walkways on campus should be improved so none of them are too treacherous to travel across in a chair.
Martin Luther King day was only a week ago, and we have a plaza dedicated to him on our campus. He wanted us to fight for equality. Our campus needs to do the right thing.
Jonathan Zappala is a senior psychology major.
