The Dangers of Allegheny College

Bentley https://www.flickr.com/photos/alleghenycollege/sets/

72157605917402204/

A discussion about disabled and differently-abled bodies immediately reminded me about the lack of accessibility of my college campus, Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. The campus is wholly inaccessible to physically disabled people and poses huge problems for getting around to students, faculty, staff, and visitors. So not only on an academic level does the school close itself off to many people but the school might find itself with higher enrollment, an additionally diverse staff, and a better sense of inclusion to visitors who may be looking to attend the school, send their kid here, teach here, or be a guest speaker here.

I get it: the school is built on a hill. Sometimes I even refer to the school as being built into the hill because of the way buildings have exposed levels down the hill but things like the basement floor or the first floor get buried as the building stretches up the hill. So the topography is hard to overcome. To get almost anywhere you have to go up or downhill, even if you’re walking laterally across the campus’ main hill. So that obstacle is, unfortunately, impossible to get rid of.

Reis http://sites.allegheny.edu/gatorblogs/2013/03/11/my-favorite-

allegheny-spots-part-3/

However, the inaccessibility of the buildings is incredibly disheartening and, in many cases, pitiful. For a school that boasts how lengthy it’s been an accredited undergraduate program, it doesn’t show 201 years of improvement and betterment in its physical adaption. Of the roughly 14 living buildings, dorm and apartment style included, only one has working elevators that are safe for regular student use. The one, of course, is in a newer building. Yet all of the other living buildings require you to be able to use the stairs to get inside the building and to your room. The sole exception I know of is one wing of the first-year only building which has a ramp to the main door and a lift inside the main lobby. But even the one residence building that is “one floor” (i.e. no floors layered on top of each other) still has stairs you need to use in order to just get down the hallway.

But truly, the residence buildings require you to be physically able in order to live in them. While the school does a decent job making sure students with disabilities or medical issues get the housing they need, the choices are severely limited. Participating in socializing or activities in other dorm buildings, though, is incredibly tricky and could be made an easier activity if the college put in the work to make residence buildings better.

Academic buildings, in which education is arguably the whole reason one goes to college in the first place, are an even bigger headache. Three of the 11 academic buildings, including the library, do have elevators and mostly accessible exterior doors. However, unlike residence buildings, it’s harder to avoid certain inaccessible buildings. Classes that meet there, professors’ offices are there, equipment you need to complete your work is scattered between buildings. All built likely decades ago, before there was widespread recognition of the importance of accessibility. Travelers have to use random quantities of stairs to get most places.

Featured in the photographs are buildings that are inaccessible to many students because of their stair-only access points. The first photograph is of Bentley, our administration building, which has two entrances where neither are easy to get to. Reis is the second building featured, with residence life and the counseling center and only one main access point. The third photograph features the campus' security building. All three of these buildings have not been adapted for the accessibility of students, faculty, guests, or the general public. Yes, architecture and historical character are important for their own reasons but making sure people can get to the buildings in the first place is more important than what they look like. 

http://sites.allegheny.edu/gatorblogs/2011/12/29/my-3rd-favorite-thing-about-al

leghenythe-campus/

The school’s inaccessibility is unacceptable. They’ve made meager attempts to provide basic functional buildings. The sprinkled mechanisms of easy use are so few and far between it seems hard pressed to assert that the administration tried to be mindful of others' physical accessibility needs. I find it incredibly disturbing too, that under the school’s guide for professors teaching students with physical limitations who are chronically late, the appropriate action is to discuss how the student can better plan getting around the campus. When the steep topography and the administration’s insufficient attempt to mediate the issue makes student’s daily travels incredibly difficult, it is not the student who is responsible for difficulty maneuvering the campus.

As a result of the campus’ structure, it’s incredibly rare to see someone with physical limitations on this campus frequently, let alone consistently. And because the college shows no signs of changing the structure anytime soon, it’s unlikely people with physical challenges will more frequently participate in this community. 

Previously in this country, there were explicit laws that forbade people with physical difficulties or physical differences from participating in certain social, cultural, economic, and political activities. Called the ‘Ugly Laws,’ they targeted individuals for their physical appearance, branding them as freaks and outcasts. The policies prevented people from get the education or job they wanted and overall not leading the life they should’ve had the freedom to live. 

Unfortunately, the administration’s lack of significant effort to provide a campus that is safe and easy to use for all demonstrates a certain implicit kind of ‘Ugly Law.’ For those who have difficulty with the campus’ layout are shown that their needs, unlike the needs of so many other kinds of students, aren't met. That sentiment makes it difficult to feel welcome and want to pursue an undergraduate degree here.