We’ve all become familiar with the challenges of living on top of a hill. There’s the evil midwinter walks down to your car in student parking, and getting downtown on foot always takes longer than you think it will. But have you ever thought about how much more difficult those walks would be if you were on crutches, or even in a wheelchair?
Recently, a friend of mine became disabled. Witnessing her struggle to get around campus was so difficult because I knew I couldn’t do anything about it; it’s just the way campus is designed. Her experience demonstrated that St. Olaf needs to get rolling on accessibility upgrades.
Back to the walks I mentioned earlier: The only way that someone who can’t use stairs can get down to Skoglund or New Hall and into town is by maneuvering themselves along the winding roads that lead to the bottom of the hill. This puts them at an extreme risk of being hit by a car, especially when the roads are icy in the winter, but it’s their only option to get to campus sporting events or to go out with their friends. They shouldn’t have to give those things up for their safety. But what’s the solution? We may not be able to change how steep or curvy our hill is, but we can create more sidewalks along these roads. It’s an easy fix to allow everyone to avoid accidents and still engage in St. Olaf’s social scene.
St Olaf’s residence halls also present accessibility issues. Could someone explain to me why it’s impossible for someone in a wheelchair to enter Thorson or Mellby, or why there are still residence halls that don’t have elevators? Imagine you want to visit your friend’s dorm room, only to find out that there’s genuinely no way for you to enter their building. That kind of experience can make people feel incredibly alienated from their friends. Ramps and elevators should’ve been added to these buildings a long time ago.
I get that St. Olaf is not the only college with accessibility problems; however, it’s about time that we start paving the way to solutions.
