Enough Accessibility on Campus?

Hurt? Good Luck Getting to Class…   

Students and staff of St. Lawrence University who have temporary or permanent disabilities have a hard time getting the accessibility that they need. Due to the nature of this campus, someone with physical disabilities cannot access certain buildings, parts of campus or even classes.   

Ellie Lashway ’25 broke her foot last winter. “I fell five times due to the lack of plowing and salting of the sidewalks and stairs,” says Lashway. Not only did slipping on the ice hurt, but it was all the more frustrating for her because it was physically difficult to walk to class and get meals due to St. Lawrence being a walking campus.   

Visiting Assistant Professor Patrick Rickert, who teaches the course Politics of Disability, emphasizes the importance of the shortcomings of St. Lawrence as an institution in offering options for those with physical challenges. Although the accommodations do somewhat exist on campus, says Rickert, there are still a lot of flaws in the system. Rickert states, “Hepburn does have a handicapped entrance in the back. However, it is usually blocked by maintenance. And the path from Hepburn to the library is currently ripped up with no alternative route around it.”   

Rickert explains that in a post-secondary education setting, it is up to the students to ask for necessary accommodations, which can be difficult if they are advocating for themselves for the first time. “One big problem for people with disabilities is that they are embarrassed about asking for accommodations,” says Rickert. “They often think that their professor may think that they are not capable or using an excuse.” Anxiety surrounding advocating for help is just another hurdle for those individuals to jump over.   

The point of embarrassment and lack of accessibility is further confirmed by Lashway. “All of the stairs around campus and in the buildings made it very difficult and time-consuming to get around,” she says. The embarrassment that she felt for asking for help led her to not seek out accommodations. “There needs to be better education for students who need help because I felt issues were stigmatized, and I would have liked to have been made aware of these accommodations offered,” Lashway emphasized.  

What is helpful in solving the accessibility issues is the security team at St. Lawrence. Officers offer courtesy rides to students who need them. However, according to the vice president of Safety & Security on campus Pat Gagnon, it is usually up to the student to reach out for help. “We get requests to help students from a variety of avenues, such as the dean’s office, parents, the students themselves or the health center,” says Gagnon.  

Accessibility is also an issue in dorm buildings. Students whose dorm buildings are not on the ground floors can also reach out to security or the Student Accessibility Office for further accommodations.   

   Although all of these accommodations are great, they are not widely known by the student body. “I was totally unaware of the courtesy rides. That really would have helped,” states Lashway. Professors can move classes to accommodate students’ needs to a more accessible building. However, she, along with many other students, had classes in buildings like Richardson, where they were forced to climb stairs to even enter the ground floor. Yet, Lashway recalls that her professor never even offered to move the class.   

Despite all of these resources offered for individuals at St. Lawrence, the accessibility options on campus are very flawed, as emphasized by Rickert. Between no elevators in most of the buildings, no handicap entrances, stairs scattered all around campus and poorly plowed walkways, it’s difficult for those with physical challenges to find their way around campus.