University buildings present difficulties for disabled

David Mann-Podrasky '05 enrolled in five classes last semester, but he was forced to sit through part of a sixth.

A quadriplegic since a swimming accident at age 14, Mann-Podrasky uses a wheelchair. His route to class in McCosh 10 required him to cut through McCosh 46 during the tail end of a Christian ethics course twice a week.

"It was annoying to say the least," he said. "It's sort of strange walking through someone else's class."

McCosh Hall is handicapped accessible — technically. It has an elevator. But its ramps are flimsy and steep, not in accordance with federal guidelines, acknowledged Director of Physical Planning Jon Hlafter '61.

Students with disabilities on campus say they enjoy their Princeton experience; they often say if given the chance to pick again, they would absolutely choose the University. But these students sometimes find themselves unable to fully participate in University life, and some, such as Mann-Podrasky, recognize more can be done.

"I would say that as a whole [the University's accessibility] is middle of the road; they do what the law requires," he said. "Do they do a lot more? I don't think so."

Home to many historic buildings, the University struggles with the expenses of bringing them up to date. Improving accessibility comes after other priorities because of the small number of disabled students on campus.

Nassau Hall is a perfect example of the obstacles. Constructed in 1756, Nassau Hall symbolizes Princeton on keychains, sweatshirts and glossy mailers. As a campus tour guide, Mann-Podrasky leads his visitors to the building, but unlike other guides, he can tell its story only from the outside. To enter the building from the front requires climbing six steps, and the building does not have an elevator.

Hlafter said there are plans to renovate Nassau Hall, but the design has not yet been worked out.

"I think we're going to be careful about how we do it," he said. "Not every historical building in the U.S. is barrier-free. Some sit where you destroy part of the fabric of history if you put a ramp where it shouldn't be."

When the Association for Disability Awareness and Advocacy held its Disability Awareness Week last spring, few people attended its sponsored lectures or films. Charlotte Lanvers '04, president of the organization, said that only emphasized the need for the event.

"If success is measured by turnout, then it wasn't very successful," she said. "But . . . as a beginning point, I would say it was successful. The entire point of an awareness campaign is to attract the interest of the student body."

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Part of the association's problem with low attendance must be attributed to the low numbers of students with disabilities on campus.

Forty-five undergraduates with disabilities attend Princeton, according to Maria Flores-Mills, assistant dean of undergraduate students and liaison to students with disabilities.

With a student body of 4,600, this means less than one percent is disabled. Though Yale is about 700 students larger, three times as many disabled students attend.

Certainly not every Princeton student with disabilities feels excluded from campus life. Eloise Salmon '07 is living her goal. She had always wanted to attend Princeton, even before she became paralyzed at age 14 as the result of an autoimmune response. When she visited the University in the spring of her sophomore year of high school, she saw navigating the campus as possible, provided she take some individual initiative. She purchased a motorized scooter, as her manual wheelchair would not be sufficient for climbing the large hill on which campus is situated.

Salmon visited other campuses during her search, including Muhlenberg College and Yale University. Her final decision came down to Yale and Princeton. She acknowledged that she did not even visit some campuses, such as Lehigh University, because she knew its hills would make mobility too hard.

Now a freshman, Salmon struggled to think of anything she would improve about the University. From her room in Forbes College, she praised the accommodations of the campus, pointing to the double-sized single room complete with handicapped accessible bathroom.

Forbes College is the most accessible residential college because all of its facilities are located in a single building. Though the majority of academic buildings on campus are at least somewhat accessible, many dormitories are completely inaccessible.

Part of the problem stems from the way in which the buildings were first constructed, Hlafter said. The high rock ledge below the earth's surface and the high water table in the area impacted the original construction of University buildings. The rock made it difficult to dig deeply and the dampness caused by the water table encouraged the University to install windows in the basement. As a result, the basements of many buildings are higher, pushing every floor up and increasing the number of stairs needed to enter the front door.

Hlafter knows the role the University's age has played in its inaccessibility. He said that by the time accessibility for the disabled became law in the 1960s, far more than half of the University's buildings already existed.

"There were a whole stock of buildings not complying," he said. "Since the 1970s, the University has been attempting to address those facilities building by building."

Hlafter added that, by law, previously constructed inaccessible buildings do not have to be made accessible unless they undergo major renovation. He said all new University buildings are fully accessible and comply with current codes. However, the ADA code does not require every room or space in the building to be accessible.

Hlafter defended the University's progress so far.

"I think that it's doing things in a responsible, continuous, effective way. There's a limit to how much you can accomplish. To do it faster, something else has got to give," Hlafter said. "We've had about as much construction on this campus the last year or two as we've ever had. At some point, the quality of life begins to go down."

Other campus buildings can pose problems as well. Mann-Podrasky said, as a tour guide, he met one student with disabilities who had wanted to attend the informational session held by the Admissions Office. Typically, the meeting is held in West College, an accessible building, but because of the large group, the office moved the session to the Faculty Room in Nassau Hall.

"Can you imagine trying to go to an information session for the University and they're not even putting it in an accessible place?" Mann-Podrasky said. "What kind of message are you getting?"

Richardson Auditorium, the largest auditorium on campus and the site of freshman orientation and many musical events, is also not fully accessible. Elizabeth Greenberg '02, assistant director of the auditorium, said the University added two platforms for wheelchairs in the seating area this summer. However, to reach the only handicapped accessible bathroom, located on the lower level, patrons with disabilities must exit the building, travel halfway around, and then reenter on the ramp used by performers. In addition, the ticket office, raised several steps above the ground, is inaccessible.

Hlafter said his office is working to add accessible restrooms and a ticket office on the main level.

"The charge to the architects is to develop a solution that can be realized for $1,000,000 or less," Hlafter said in an email. "So far they haven't found an acceptable solution, but they are still working on the problem."

As a result of the many inaccessible buildings, the University must make accommodations on an individual basis. Theri' Pickens '05 has myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease, which leaves her debilitated some days and able to walk others.

Before she moved into Scully, completed in 1998, the University installed an automatic door opener activated by a button both in her individual room and for the door accessing her hallway.

The University also makes adaptations unrelated to its physical plan. Flores-Mills said she coordinates accommodations for undergraduate students. These may include hiring notetakers, readers, and sign language interpreters, prioritizing the clearing of paths and making technology available. Salmon said Flores-Mills even accompanied her to New York City on a Sunday for a class trip because Salmon could not take the train.

But Mann-Podrasky said perhaps the largest problem is not the buildings or the accommodations in place; it's the unresponsiveness of the University administration.

The Disability Services Network, consisting of roughly 20 staff members from departments throughout the University, is the main administrative group designed to address disability issues.

Mann-Podrasky criticized the administrative network for refusing to talk with students. He said the group wouldn't allow the student disabilities association to sit in on a meeting and has not met with them in any other forum.

"I emailed Vice Provost Mitchell and never got a response," Mann-Podrasky said. "I would go to her office [in Nassau Hall], but it's inaccessible."

Vice Provost Joann Mitchell, who heads the group, was unavailable for comment.

The decentralized network is different from the disability services provided at other similar institutions. Harvard University has an office with its own director devoted entirely to disability services.

Judy York, director of the Resource Office on Disabilities at Yale, said the advantage of a centralized office is that it can assist faculty and administrators who might not feel educated in how to best accommodate a student with disabilities.

However, Pickens said a centralized office would be isolating for students who required its services.

"To have it inside the system is important," she said. "One of the problems . . . is that people often don't know what's going on in other offices, people in the disabilities office are not aware of what goes on in admissions. It just sort of creates a separate institution within an institution."

Regardless of the advantages or disadvantages of the University's administrative approach, administrators face a continuing challenge: the full integration of students with disabilities into campus life.

Mann-Podrasky has no doubt the University will continue to improve the accessibility of its buildings. But he is unconvinced this alone will improve the lives of disabled students.

"I see two roads: one is with a dialogue, one is without a dialogue," he said. "If there's a dialogue, I imagine at least a fair amount of things being addressed. Without a dialogue, things are going to pretty much remain the same."

When Mann-Podrasky sees the care given to other minority groups on campus, based on race, ethnicity, and gender, he is frustrated with the University.

"I don't know what it would take for them to embrace this issue like they've embraced other issues."