The amount of snow left in front of sidewalk at Dev Hall near wheelchair ramp.

Students say Bonaventure's sidewalks, doors make lives of disabled difficult

ST.BONAVENTURE (Feb.16) - Sumi Crawford-Ramsahi pushes herself on her wheelchair to Plassmann Hall for class. She struggles to move her chair along the cracked, uneven concrete of the sidewalks.

While Bonaventure students swiftly walk to their classes chatting with friends, the temporarily disabled say they struggle with cracked sidewalks and the lack of wheelchair ramps.

Following summer orientation, Crawford and her mother were in a car accident that left her in a wheelchair. She hesitated about starting her freshman year in a wheelchair but decided to continue to her freshman year, said Crawford.

“My original thought from what I was told and what my mom told me was that Bonaventure’s Safety and Security officers were going to take me to classes every day, but I don’t know what happened to that. I had to rely on friends to take me to my classes who weren’t busy or I had to wheel myself to class,” said Crawford.

For Crawford, a biology major, and others who are temporarily disabled and use crutches or a wheelchair, getting back and forth to classes, dorms and the dining hall becomes difficult.  

“There are cracks in the sidewalks all over this campus and I can’t even tell you how many times I almost flew out of my wheelchair because of those them,” said Crawford.