Two recently formed student groups will begin a week of events today including a rally, speeches and wheelchair-accessibility testing to educate students about handicapped access and civil liberties concerns.
Members of Wheels for Change, a student group focused on forming a coalition between students and administrators dedicated to increasing campus building access, will meet with University President Henry Bienen and other administrators at the week’s end.
Weinberg sophomore Chris Sanchez, who uses a wheelchair around campus and helped plan the Accessibility Awareness Week, said he first became aware of these issues when an administrator told him the school would make a fraternity house handicapped accessible only if he pledged the house.
“(This week) will open people’s minds, change their attitudes and generate more interest in the cause,” Sanchez said. “We’re just hoping to get more of a commitment.”
Ari Schwartz, another organizer, said the campus must become more handicap friendly.
“People who have disabilities have a right to visit their friends in any building,” said Schwartz, an Education sophomore.
Administrators are proceeding with a plan allocating $500,000 a year to make academic buildings and residential halls more accessible to handicapped students, said Ron Nayler, vice president for facilities management.
Swift Hall and Cresap Laboratory have seen various improvements in the last four months, including more handrails and a visual alarm system for the hearing impaired, Nayler said.
Contractors should be able to bid on elevator designs by March in about 20 buildings on both the Chicago and Evanston campuses, he said.
“Our goal as a university is to go beyond what we are supposed to do (by law) in terms of program accessibility and even make every building fully accessible,” Nayler said.
The accessibility plan operates under a priority system that first ensures students can get into all the buildings, then into all rooms on the main floor, and then other floors, Nayler said. Buildings used more often by students, such as the Music Administration Building, get higher priority than those that are used less frequently.
Renovations to the Technological Institute ensured that the building is almost fully handicapped accessible but still requires changes to some drinking fountains, Nayler said.
Nayler said he and other administrators are looking forward to the meeting Friday.
“If students actually see issues, that’s where it can be helpful for students to point them out,” Nayler said.
Ten students will learn how to maneuver around the campus in wheelchairs throughout the week and keep a record of the accessibility of each building they enter, said Becca Pascal, one of the week’s organizers and a Music senior.
“(The week is) a wake-up call that this is an issue that is not going to go away,” Pascal said.
The NU chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union scheduled their group’s awareness week to coincide with Accessibility Awareness Week to combine publicity efforts, such as distributing fliers, ACLU-NU Executive Director Tina Valkanoff said.
“Disability rights is an issue of the ACLU, but we don’t have a formal committee established,” said Valkanoff, a Weinberg junior. “We’re going to help them where we can.”
ACLU-NU’s awareness week also will include a membership drive today through Thursday and tables showcasing various committees.
The group’s week will conclude Thursday evening in Harris Hall 208 with a talk by Ed Yonka, the director of communications for the Illinois chapter of the ACLU.
The Daily’s Jerome C. Pandell and Meredith Buse contributed to this report.
