SDS office will relocate permanently to Shaffer

The Office of Student Disability Services (SDS) will move permanently to a larger and more accessible location in Shaffer Hall this October. Previously, the office was housed on the third floor of Garland Hall. Some students reported frequent elevator malfunctions, which they said made it difficult to access testing accommodations and other important services.

Due to Garland’s closure following the sit-in, the SDS office was relocated to Shaffer 103 this semester and will move across the hall into Shaffer 101 once construction is complete. 

Before the month-long occupation of Garland in protest of the planned private police force this past spring, the student organization Advocates for Disability Awareness (ADA) had staged a  sit-in during April 2018. Protesters called for the University to improve resources for students with disabilities and to provide a better location for the SDS office.

Most recently, the office was set to move into the first floor of the Mattin Center’s Offit building — right up until March, when University President Ronald J. Daniels  announced plans to create a student center  in Mattin’s current location. 

Although ADA President Madelynn Wellons appreciates having a new space for the SDS office, she expressed her frustration with the way Daniels handled the process.

“It was a complete slap in the face,” she said. “It was like, ‘Oh, we didn’t even think about you guys when we were planning this thing for all students.’ The subtext was that the student center was built for students without disabilities.”

Wellons alleged that during the Student Government Association’s (SGA) annual dinner with administrators in November, Daniels told her and other SGA members about plans for a student center. 

He instructed the students not to tell anyone about these plans because a donor had not yet been secured. Wellons served as a junior class senator last year, but is no longer part of the organization.

According to The Hub, the findings of a study launched in 2014 revealed that Mattin’s high foot traffic made it the optimal location for a student center. As a result, Wellons reasons that Daniels knew about Mattin’s planned demolition when he first told SGA members about plans for the student center’s creation. 

“We as ADA were very upset with President Daniels for knowing that Mattin was going to be the location since at least November, if not earlier, and just letting the Mattin construction continue,” she said.

Furthermore, Wellons recounted meeting with Daniels and other student leaders the night before he announced the student center to the public.

“I asked him then, point blank, ‘Where is the SDS office going to go?’” she said. “And he literally just said, ‘I don’t know.’”

Assistant Vice President of External Relations for the Office of Communications Karen Lancaster responded to Wellons’ claims in an email to The News-Letter.

“We’ve had hopes and dreams for a new student center at Hopkins for years but the incredible donor commitment that was needed to make it happen didn’t come together until last spring, not long before the March 5 announcement,” she wrote. “If this generous donation had taken longer to secure, the SDS relocation to Mattin would have proceeded as planned, and the President and other university leaders shared the information we had when we had it.”

Lancaster added that the University is prioritizing the new SDS office’s funding.

Wellons commended other administrators’ efforts.

“We really like the idea that we’re getting a new space built just for us,” she said. “I don’t want it to seem like it’s all doom and gloom; I am really grateful for a lot of administrators’ work, especially everyone in the SDS office because they’ve been great about our feedback and very communicative.” 

Wellons added that after Mattin, Shaffer is the next best space for the SDS office due to its being a central location on campus. 

Junior Sabrina Epstein said that ADA, of which she is vice president, was not asked recently for their thoughts on Shaffer as a new permanent location. She noted, however, that concerns raised by protesters during spring 2018 were considered. 

She explained why she prefers Shaffer over Garland. 

“The location is better, especially since there aren’t steps to it or a faulty elevator to depend on,” she said.

Vice Provost for Student Health and Well-Being Kevin Shollenberger explained in an email to The News-Letter how the new Shaffer location was selected.

“The news of the planned student center to replace the Mattin Center caused us to re-examine the possible locations and in the process of doing so, Shaffer rose to the top of the list,” he wrote. “With its central location (close to Brody and the future student center) and easy access off of Wyman Quad, SDS will be well-positioned to serve students for years to come.”

Public Relations Chair of ADA SJ Burris shared her optimism about the new location.

“[The office] was on the third floor of Garland, and the elevator would break down often,” she said. “And there’s actually more space in the new office than there was going to be in Mattin.” 

She also predicts that remodeled testing space in the new office will help her focus better during exams. 

SDS Executive Director Catherine Axe, who oversees student disability services across all nine divisions of the University, stated in an email to The News-Letter that new testing spaces will contain desks that are adjustable by height, along with standing desks. She mentioned other renovations designed to make SDS more accessible. 

“The door to the SDS space will have an automatic opener on it,” she wrote.

Wellons expects to more frequently take exams in the SDS office now that it’s not in Garland.

“Before, everyone was sitting on top of each other,” she said. “Now that it’s larger... I might be more comfortable taking exams there.”

In addition, Wellons remarked that the new location will allow SDS to support more staff members and a lounge for students. 

Senior Anthony Boutros, a lead organizer for ADA during spring 2018, agreed. He commended the recent progress that students with disabilities have made.

“We’ll have not only a physically accessible space but also a space in which we can build community,” he said. “When students organize, we can make our priorities University priorities and improve our lived experience and that of other current and future students.”