A Shameful Low in Higher Education

If there was a fire in the University at Buffalo's disability testing center, freshman Mark Shaw would not be able to get out.

Sophomore Raymond Matuszak can't fit into a regular classroom desk, so he often has to stand or sit in a chair without a desk during class.

Junior Alec Frazier often gets shuffled into back rooms and offices to take exams because he needs voice-automated software to help him.

Senior Catherine Scharf, who is visually impaired, clings to the walls of UB's staircases, because the signs and staircases are hazardous for those with limited vision.

UB is responsible for much of these students' struggles.

Eight years ago, the University at Buffalo agreed to make this campus accessible to the roughly 500 disabled students who attend every year. Today, almost a decade later, UB has failed to follow through on that promise.

"I have made it known to my friends and family that UB is inaccessible but no one knows a solution," Scharf said. "Looking over the American Disability Act [ADA] regulations, I would argue that most of what is required of UB is not being followed."

Disabled students across campus are urging the administration to bring UB up to code and are suffering because UB remains non-compliant.

Even the Disability Services Office is inaccessible to students in wheelchairs. And the testing center is a life-threatening hazard. If there was a fire, students in wheelchairs would have no safe way out.

Stairs and signs in the Academic Spine violate ADA rules. Bathrooms are non-compliant, and services intended for disabled students fail to adequately meet their needs.

And there is no sign that this will change.

A thorough review of UB 2020, a plan that the administration claims will enhance virtually every aspect of student life, doesn't mention disability services.

Where it all Began

On May 12, 2000 three wheelchair-bound UB students sued the university and the State University of New York in federal court for violations of the American Disability Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The lawsuit, filed by Jason Bowman, Rudy Denmeade, and Tammy Milillo, contended that UB failed to "provide persons with physical disabilities legally required access to facilities, services, activities, and programs owned, operated, controlled and/or maintained by the State University of New York, a governmental and public entity."

Because UB is a public institution that receives federal funding, it must be fully compliant with ADA code and the stipulations outlined in Section 504.

"When I first went to the campus, they only had one dorm that was remotely ADA accessible," said Milillo, who has cerebral palsy and was a chemistry student. "The only bathroom I could use was back in my dorm. The bathrooms [on campus] were not ADA compliant. For someone like myself in a power wheelchair I could not use them because they weren't deep enough. If I could even manage to get into the bathroom, I had to leave the door open. It was very embarrassing. But those were the best of bathrooms; most of them I couldn't even enter."

Milillo recalls not being able to visit the student health center in Michael Hall because she couldn't navigate the stairs that led inside.

"When I started as a freshman, Michael Hall was completely inaccessible," Milillo said. "I wasn't even able to get into the waiting room; I had to be seen in the doorway. I was told by staff that for routine check-ups, I should just go to the emergency room."

Numerous attempts were made to get the University at Buffalo to settle the case out of court, said Ron Hager, a senior staff attorney with the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), who was one of the lawyers who represented Milillo and her co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

But all attempts led nowhere. According to Hager, it was only after he and his co-council walked the campus and pointed how inaccessible bathrooms, dorms and signage were to attorneys representing UB that the university acknowledged there were ADA violations across campus.

The court case was settled in the Fall of 2004 and UB was ordered to complete an audit of the accessibility of all three campuses and make a comprehensive plan to bring the campuses up to code.

The Audit

The 2004 audit reviewed every building, bathroom, classroom and walkway on campus and listed compliance issues in all buildings along with a rating scale that determined how inaccessible a particular building was and how high a level of priority it was to make it compliant.

Some of the most inaccessible buildings – and the ones on the top of the "to do" list – were: Capen Hall, Alumni Arena, Center for the Arts, Lockwood Memorial Library, Knox Lecture Hall, Abbott Hall, Harriman Hall, the Student Union, the Natural Sciences Complex, Kimball Tower, Squire Hall, Education Building and Diefendorf Hall.

UB's office of Facilities Planning and Design, the office responsible for all new construction on campus, created a "priority project list" for these buildings, separating the renovation into two phases.

The first phase of changes was a five-year plan spanning from 2005 to 2009, in which buildings across campus, including the Student Union, were renovated in an attempt to make them compliant at a cost of $7,792,300. According to Facilities, implementation of phase one projects is complete, with the exception of areas impacted by "larger holistic projects." The second phase of proposed renovations is set to be complete by August of 2013 with an estimated cost of $7,535,300.

Kevin Thompson, the director of Facilities Planning and Design, says steps are being taken, but bringing UB up to code is a long process.