Don't forget about campus disability issues

Varsity, club and intramural sports comrpise more than 80 of the sports activities offered here at IU, Little 500 is one of the main annual events in Bloomington, and the gym might be the busiest place on campus.

With all of the different physical activities that IU offers, you have to expect some injuries. But our campus is not injury or handicap friendly.

From personal experience, I can attest that Bloomington is not easy to get around when you cannot walk correctly. If you have crutches, it is a struggle just to make it to
class. But no one seems to care.

Stairs, doors and bridges may not seem like problems when you can walk around freely. But if you get injured those things make getting around campus a challenge.
An abundance of stairs make many of the buildings on our campus not handicap accessible at all.

When I was injured and relegated to crutches, about half of the automatic doors I tried didn’t work, making the buildings that are supposed to be handicap accessible difficult to get into as well.

And if you have a class in Ballantine Hall, it just gets worse. Yes, you can get a key to the elevators. But that is only after you make the trek to the library, which could be a difficult task in itself.

The recent abundance of ice here in Bloomington has added an extra challenge to the already difficult-to-navigate campus.

You’re probably wondering why injured people just don’t use the handicap van program.

The problem is, there is a waitlist to get a spot in the van. This makes it so new people cannot use the service until the current riders are able to walk around again.
In theory, the van service is a good idea, but it is of no use to the people who are stuck on the waitlist.

All of these factors make campus seem like an obstacle course for students with disabilities.

People who have trouble getting around might not choose to come to a school as large
as IU because they are worried about traveling to class.

That should not have to be a factor when choosing what college to attend.

Lack of accessibility might not seem like a big deal if you can walk easily. But for those who are injured or have some sort of disability, getting around campus is yet another thing to worry about.

College students already have enough stress in their lives. Not being able to make it to
class and falling behind because of an injury or disability should not be one of them.

syrafter@indiana.edu