<Back

Disability talk exposes campus inadequacies

by Abby Rapoport

Meetings for the Political Science department are held on the third floor of Nollen House. Mears Cottage, although newly renovated, has toilets unusually low to the ground. Student refrigerators are moved out of rooms two days before students leave. Although many at Grinnell are used to small inconveniences, for some these seemingly minor issues are actually much larger problems.

Tom Baldwin / The Scarlet & Black (web.grinnell.edu/sandb) Emily Guenther '08, Dilara Yarborough '06 and Dale Mackey '07 listen as Hannah Zurko '08 speaks at Tuesday's roundtable discussion on disabilities. The discussion was part of the college's first Disability Awareness Week.

A group of 30 people, ranging in age from fourth grade to retirement, participated Tuesday in the first dialogue on disabilities to discuss such issues. The roundtable discussion was the first of three events marking Disability Awareness Week, a week sponsored by the Ad-hoc Committee on Issues of Disability. The committee, chaired by Ralph Savarese, English, and Director of Academic Advising Joyce Stern, formed in the fall of 2004 and soon opened itself up to students and faculty.

Eliza Willis, Political Science, who walks with a cane due to childhood polio, finds it difficult to make the trek from her Carnegie office to the meeting space in Nollen House. Savarese suffers from severe arthritis and therefore has trouble bending his knees.

Building renovations are of particular concern to many. The Forum is one of the most inaccessible buildings on campus for those in wheelchairs due to its numerous levels. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires new and newly renovated buildings to be wheelchair accessible, but because most campus buildings are old, they do not need to meet these codes. Because of this, the architect himself, who is now in a wheelchair, cannot attend the building's commemoration this week. "Because it's the center of campus, it's probably scared away some [potential] students with disabilities," said Stern.

Some accommodations have been made. Plans for some new buildings take into account the needs of those with disabilities. For instance, East campus dorms are even with the ground and have elevators. Herrick Chapel now has real time closed captioning.

One roundtable participant with Type I diabetes shared his experience of getting diet, caffeine free soda installed in the dining halls, although this does not address the more serious problem of un-refrigerated medication during the last two days of school.

This is one of many changes that some feel aren't occurring as quickly as they should. According to Stern, the new campus center will have stairs in the front, requiring those in need of a ramp to go to a side entrance, a fact that upset her. "It's just that we had the opportunity to do it right," she said.

While not against ADA regulation, Stern and others felt it did not reflect adequate sensitivity. "There's a difference," said Savarese, "between ADA compliant and ADA generous." Savarese believes much more could be done to make Grinnell a "friendlier place for people with disabilities," both in terms of facilities and assistance.

Students and faculty must often take the initiative to get assistance. According to committee member Hannah Zurko '08, Grinnell provides ample support "if you come forward and propose what you need."

For many, this policy puts undue pressure on students, rather than the school. "The burden should be on the institution, not the individual," said Dilara Yarborough '06, who is also a member of the committee. Of particular concern to roundtable participants was the skepticism with which society views non-visible disabilities, particularly Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

To combat skepticism and streamline responses to special needs, disability has been incorporated into Grinnell's strategic plan and its efforts to promote campus diversity. Jim Sumner, director of Admission and a member of the committee, has worked on methods of recruiting disabled students. The committee has also looked at ways to attract more faculty and staff with disabilities. According to Stern, there has not been a student in a wheelchair attending Grinnell since 1992.

During the roundtable, many questioned why disability was not included in community discussions of diversity. "[Disability rights] is not a sexy issue," said Yarborough.

The committee hopes that Disability Awareness Week will raise consciousness among the campus, and encourage calls for change. Many committee members believe that change will gradually accommodate all types of diversity. "I want to believe," said Savarese, "that a progressive liberal arts education is accessible to anyone with the scores."

In addition to the roundtable discussions, the week's acitivities included Assistive Technopoly, a board game--oriented session where students learned how to interact with different kinds of assistive and adaptive technologies for the disabled, and screenings of the film My Left Foot.

<Back