A recent study by undergraduate students in this semester's Sociology and Disabilities class examined the accessibility of buildings on Homewood campus for students, faculty, staff and visitors with physical disabilities and shed light on a serious problem.
The study showed that even though the Milton S. Eisenhower Library and Levering and Shriver Halls adhere to disability regulations, these buildings remain insensitive to the needs of disabled students.
All affiliates and visitors of Hopkins should feel welcomed at Homewood and should not feel discouraged from traveling freely around campus.
The building that is the most egregious violator of this simple concept is the MSE Library.
The doorways for graduate rooms in the library are four inches too narrow for wheelchairs to enter. This completely inhibits wheelchair-bound students from entering graduate rooms.
Some of the deficiencies that make life even harder for disabled students could be corrected rather easily. The wheelchair-accessible entrance to Shriver Hall is difficult to locate, and searching for it adds yet another unnecessary burden to the lives of our peers.
The lack of signs informing students where the accessible entrance is could be easily remedied. The University should take immediate action to fix this problem. Moving to designate handicapped seating at Shriver Hall is yet another simple solution that the University should undertake now. It is baffling that these problems have not been addressed by this point.
The class's suggestion that MSE should offer a delivery service of library materials for disabled students and extend their online reserves is worthwhile. These reforms, however, must not come at the expense of a fully accessible library for all.
The News-Letter is encouraged that Director Peggy Hayslip of the ADA Compliance and Disability Services has shown a willingness to speak with the students who conducted this review. We urge the University to consider these and other recommendations with earnestness and haste.
Furthermore, the University should assemble a task force to examine the accessibility of the entire campus. No student should feel that going to the library, eating at Levering or seeing a MSE symposium is out of reach.
The inconvenience of making alterations to Hopkins's buildings is vastly outweighed by the consideration Hopkins owes all of its members and visitors. For that reason, steps must be taken, budgets must be passed and construction must begin to change the Homewood environment and make it accessible for all.
