Senior Gift Heightens ADA Awareness Cold Climate, Hilly Terrain Remain Challenging for Students With Disabilities

Author: Campus Editor in Chief

As prospective students with disabilities weigh their college options, campus accessibility and the support services available to the disabled figure prominently in their decision-making process. The Senior Class Gift advertisements, promoting the campaign to establish an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) appropriations fund, have identified this trend by asking potential donors, "Why not help them to chose Middlebury?"

The concept for the fund, which was approved overwhelmingly by current seniors, holds special significance for the Class of 2002 — two members of the class have acquired mobility impairments during their time at the College. With an eye towards making the campus more universally accessible, the fund will provide financial support for projects that enhance accessibility. Hinting at the fund's agenda, another advertisement points out that a student in a wheelchair cannot enter the Dean of Student Affairs Office in Forest Hall.

ADA Coordinator Elizabeth Christensen, who provides support to students with disabilities ranging from mobility impairments to dyslexia, said that prospective students with disabilities often wonder whether there are other disabled students at Middlebury. She is quick to point out that 128 current undergraduates have registered disabilities with her office. These students represent a broad cross section of the disabilities covered under the ADA, federal legislation enacted by President George Bush in 1990 to safeguard the rights of the disabled.

At the College, for example, 11 students have medically-related disabilities while 13 report psychological disabilities. Students with learning disabilities top the list at 75. "It's more usual for my office to call a professor and say, 'There are two students in your class who need extra time on an exam,'" Christensen said. Many prospective students with disabilities hesitate to request such assistance because they have been "ostracized or tracked" earlier in their academic careers, Christensen explained, but few realize that they would not be the first disabled student to successfully navigate the College's rigorous academic program.

"Students who come to speak with us know instantly that we're going to be a place that cares," said Christensen, who frequently meets with disabled students and their parents.

The Office of Admissions, however, is on the front line of presenting Middlebury as a welcoming place for those with disabilities.

"What we attempt to do is project a general ethos of acceptance and appreciation for diversity of all kinds," said Director of Admissions John Hanson. The College not only complies with laws barring institutional discrimination against disabled people, but also "is pleased to offer admission to disabled students."

"We see it as part of the diversity of the class that [we accept] students of all different backgrounds," affirmed Hanson.

He cited the difficulty of gauging the number of disabled students in each applicant pool, however, because many prospective students are reluctant to label themselves.

"There's still a school of thought that says their chances of admission will be enhanced by not mentioning that they have a disability," acknowledged Hanson. Others take pride in not gaining special consideration in the admissions process, so news of students' disabilities often surfaces after matriculation.

For students with mobility impairments, Middlebury is a particularly tough sell. "Almost all say that they're here in spite of what they know life would be like in the winter and with the hills," said Hanson. He recalled his tenure as executive director of campus life at the University of Southern California, which has a "wonderful advantage in climate and a flat campus."

Because of the challenges posed by winter weather and Middlebury's sloping sidewalks, few students in wheelchairs visit the College. Just one was among the droves of accepted students taking guided tours over the past two weekends.

"Many are oriented towards Sun Belt states and flat campuses," Hanson remarked.

"Students are more inclined, especially if they don't come from the Northeast, to self select and go somewhere that weather isn't an issue," Christensen said.