Campus Inaccessibility: Perspectives from a Newly Disabled Student
“Pacific strives to provide access to its community members (students, employees, vendors, visitors, applicants) to facilities and websites.”¹
This is the promise that the university makes on its official website, via the ADA Compliance page.
My name is Leah Brent; I am a second-year Political Science major and Pre-Law minor. Since March of 2022, I have been disabled from an accident which has left me with limited mobility. I have been a user of multiple different assistive devices, including a wheelchair, walker, and now a cane, which I use every day. I would like to bring light to the various inaccessible parts of our Stockton campus from the perspective of a student who used to be able to navigate the campus with ease and now struggles to do so.
To accurately depict the various inaccessible aspects of our campus, I will categorize them into five major issues I have noticed: stairs, side doors, uneven ground, distances, and lack of automatic doors.
Stairs
In my two years at Pacific, I have noticed a great number of stairs. Before, when I was able-bodied, this was not something that I even thought twice about – but now, it is an obstacle which I must face every day. Let me provide some examples: the front of the DeRosa University Center, the front entrance of George Wilson Hall, two of the three entrances into the main Wendell Phillips Center, and Burns Tower, just to name a few.
While there are alternative entrances to these buildings, it’s important to realize that most of them only have a few stairs, typically two or three steps, but to someone in a wheelchair or using other assistive devices, these few steps make that side of the building totally inaccessible. This begs the question, why are there so many stairs on our campus? What is the reason for the lack of ramps at main entrances? While it may not be a hindrance at all for most people, for some, it makes all the difference, and that difference is what leads into my next category.
Side Doors
With the abundance of steps into our facilities, there should be a requirement for “alternative entrances” for our buildings. The most obvious example is the DeRosa University Center, which is only accessible on the side entrances of the building.
The aforementioned issue is a problem for two main reasons. The first and most obvious is that it requires extra distance to be covered by disabled persons, which for those who have limited mobility, chronic pain, or use assistive devices with wheels, can be extremely tiring. The second reason, which some may not automatically recognize, is that these side doors create a sense of exclusion and separation. Having to use a “side door” can make people feel as though they aren’t to be seen at the front entrance. The front entrance should be the accessible entrance. Disabled persons should not have to take a detour just to enter a building.
For buildings such as George Wilson Hall, there is a side door, but it is locked and only accessible to faculty. Even if this door was unlocked, it would require disabled persons to travel on very steep incline ground, and from there, there are stairs into the only classroom in George Wilson, making the front of George Wilson totally inaccessible. There is a back door which enters the classroom, but it is not accessible from the outside, and there is no window to tell when someone is at the door. Professors then must remember to prop the door open ahead of time.
As for the Wendell Phillips Center, there is no elevator in the main WPC building – thus, those who can’t take the stairs have to enter into the annex, take the elevator in the annex, and cross the WPC bridge just to be on the second floor of the main building.
Uneven Ground
There are many stretches of the Pacific Stockton campus which have sections of uneven ground. Whether that be due to access covers, hatches, drainage grates, cracked and raised sidewalk from tree root overgrowth, or brick pathways, many parts of the flat ground are rough and obstructed. Especially for those who use wheelchairs, this makes certain areas extremely difficult to navigate, especially if it’s on a narrow sidewalk. Brick pathways, which are purely for the school’s “New England beauty²” aesthetic, make getting around in a wheelchair a real struggle. Because wheelchairs have such narrow, stiff tires, they do not take well to bumps and amplify every shock they fail to absorb. When I was using a wheelchair, I struggled to wheel myself around, especially on the brick pathways. While they are aesthetically pleasing, the brick pathways are incredibly inconvenient and inaccessible.
Distances
At the beginning of this semester, I had to visit the Human Resources office to get my work permit. The Human Resources office is located across Pacific Avenue, and in order to get to the office, the street must be crossed twice. The walk from my on-campus apartment was over 30 minutes long, and the temperature was upwards of 110 degrees.
There were no accommodations available, because I had to present my documents in person, and the office closed at 5:00pm so I had to make time in my schedule in order to make the lengthy walk. For reference, the Human Resources office used to be located across from the WPC, which is in the center of campus. Now, it is beyond the Conservatory of Music. Such an essential office should be available in an accessible location. For such an important facility to be located so far away hinders disabled persons from being able to reach the office, and puts disabled student workers at a disadvantage.
I was not able to work until I brought my documents to Human Resources. To the best of my knowledge, there was not a service available which was able to transport to and from the office. Services for Students with Disabilities claims to have an SSD cart service, but there is not accessible information on how to request that service. Long walks across campus, especially for those who suffer from injuries and chronic pain, are a major challenge and disabled students should be accommodated. A large part of accessibility is providing equitable services for those who are not able-bodied. Disabled students are hindered by the lack of services to remedy the distances between important facilities on campus.
Lack of Automatic Doors
Being able to travel between buildings is important, and being able to enter the main entrances of those buildings is equally as vital. Many buildings on campus, although they have electric locks, do not have handicap door buttons to open the doors automatically.
For example, several on-campus apartment buildings which are accessible on the inside do not have buttons to open doors automatically. This becomes an issue for assistive device users whose arms are occupied with controlling their assistive devices or for those who do not have full mobility of their arms. Imagine trying to roll yourself in a wheelchair while simultaneously swiping your ID card for access and then pulling the door open – it’s nearly impossible. If there is no one around to open the door for disabled students, they simply can’t access certain facilities.
Many buildings on campus are designed this way, and it creates a feeling of dependence for disabled students who can’t open the doors for themselves. Automatic or handicap button doors should be standard on our campuses so that all students are able to easily access our facilities.
As a newly disabled student, these issues were not something that I used to think about, but now I cannot help but notice them. It is important that we bring light to these flaws in our campus’s accessibility, so that we may pave the way for a more accessible campus in the future. Whether that means advocating for better allocation of funds and resources for disability services or pushing for renovations to the school’s buildings and sidewalks, these changes will not happen unless disabled and abled-bodied people alike work together to draw attention to these problems.
We must strive for equity and justice for all body types.We must remove the systemic barriers which put disabled community members at a disadvantage, and endorse a more accessible future for all. We must hold the university accountable, and strive not just for the bare minimum of accessibility, but for a comfortably accessible campus.
Sources
“ADA Compliance (Resources & Feedback Form),” University of the Pacific, accessed October 21, 2022, https://www.pacific.edu/about-pacific/administration-offices/office-of-compliance-ethics/ada-compliance.
“Stockton Campus.” University of the Pacific. Accessed October 22, 2022. https://www.pacific.edu/stockton-campus.
cover photo by Emma Garber
