Mobility hindered by lack of accessibility

The lack of accessibility at Saint Joseph’s University makes it difficult for students with physical disabilities to move around campus.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) ensures equal opportunity for people with disabilities in employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation.

The ADA requires that there must be public accommodations for accessible design. Routes must include walking surfaces with a running slope no steeper than one unit rise to 20 unit run, including doorways, ramps, curb ramps, elevators, and platform lifts.

Ather Sharif, ’15, was one of the few students at St. Joe’s who relied on a wheelchair for transportation.

“I think I was the first person that they are dealt with in years I probably am the last person they will deal with in a long time to come I think,” Sharif said. “That is why the whole infrastructure with accessibility around campus is not that great because they have never had to deal with someone with a wheelchair before.”

Molly Mullen, ’19, was injured in a car accident, leaving her with a broken ankle. She had to rely on a scooter in order move around campus and she said that it was difficult because the ramps were out of her way and limited.

“I always had to be with someone, or call someone to go up or downstairs, so it made me more of a dependent,” Mullen said.

Christine Mecke, Ph.D., director of Student Disability Services, said there is an accessibility committee consisting of one student with a disability, the Office of Public Safety, the Office of Facilities, and the Office of Student Disability Services.

“There is an accessibility committee that meets twice a year to determine if upgrades need to be made,” Mecke said. Sharif, the student on the committee last year, stressed the fact that when the ramps were closed it became an inconvenience for him.

“I guess one of the important things about accessibility at St. Joe’s is it’s very dependent on the fact that there aren’t very many people in wheelchairs so there isn’t that much of a need,” Sharif said.

The Accessibility Committee decided that from now on, if a ramp is closed, Mecke would be notified so she could then tell students who are using the ramps. Sharif also mentioned the fact that even though there are ramps, they sometimes turn into stairs and he would have to find another way around.

“There are ramps that are separated,” Sharif said. “A ramp would take you to a place but at the end of the ramp you would find out there are actually stairs. If you try to enter across from Starbucks, you cannot get to the library because there is no straight way to get there.”

In order to get from one side of campus to the other, a person has to call public safety ahead of time so they can transport the student.

“I had to get up in the middle of class to call [Public Safety] so they could be somewhat on time because I had four classes in a row,” Mullen said.

Mecke said the reason they have students call Public Safety is because, in the past, Public Safety has waited for students who never showed up.

“The one thing I have heard from some students is [that] it’s a pain to have to ask every time. We say [to] give 15 minutes notice—but you can’t text,” Mecke said. “A while ago it would just be a blanket thing and a student may decide to skip a class or get another ride and public safety is waiting, so now you have to call each and every time.”

Mecke said that Public Safety recently contracted the Easton Coach Company for the shuttle service to have officers more available for those who need escort services and she hasn’t heard of any problems yet.

“So, in the past we have heard that sometimes the services weren’t happening as quickly as they should or there were some issues of the timeliness of it, so this was put in place to address the issue of timeliness,” Mecke said.

Sharif was a computer science major, and many those classes take place in Barbelin Hall, where there are no elevators because it is a historical building.

“I actually never went inside the building,” Sharif said. “They always had to put my classes in another building, but I never actually saw the building from inside. That also means I never went to the labs; that also means I was never able to go into the professor’s offices.”

The Office for Student Disability Services makes sure that students who are disabled do not have classes in Barbelin because it does not have elevator accessibility.

“If they have a class in that building, we have to switch the building to another so they can easily access that,” Mecke said. “We talk with the Registrar and we make sure, with those three students, they are on our roles so we can make sure of that right away.”

Sharif said that he doesn’t have as severe of a disability as others who would be unable to move around campus at all.

“It is not just about the building; it is about the classroom and the teaching methodologies,” Sharif said. “It is about a lot of other things which at this point I don’t think St. Joe’s is even close to. Everybody was really helpful and considerate and very sensitive to such things, and that satisfies people and me specifically to know that that is the case.”