Consider the scenario: a philosophy professor is paralyzed in a car wreck and uses a wheelchair to get around.
If the professor teaches at OSU, he or she may have trouble moving about the building housing the philosophy and the communications sciences and disorders departments.
The problem lies in the lack of accessibility in Hanner Hall because improvements to the building have been dubbed too expensive.
This could potentially paint the university in a negative light.
Considering the millions of dollars the university spends to attract students, it would seem like a small price to pay to avoid negative publicity.
What we see in this decision is a gamble by the university. The university is wagering that the accommodations in place — moving classrooms, having professors meet students in accessible areas — is accommodation enough.
However, it takes just one failure of this process to land the university in a lawsuit. The question we ask is, why not install assistive technology in this building?
It is a shame that our university drops tens of millions of dollars accommodating athletics to a ridiculous degree, while not doing minor improvements to university infrastructure.
University officials say because the improvements are too expensive, they are justified.
This argument has been heard before when university officials justified not building a pedestrian bridge over Hall of Fame by the Colvin Center.
Although, Hanner Hall is slated for destruction to make way for expansion of the business school, it will continue to be used as a backup for other departments after the current tenants move into Murray Hall when renovations are completed.
Ensuring all facilities on campus are in compliance with the ADA and other regulations are steps in modernizing OSU and shouldn’t be ignored.
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