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.
Students say the poor conditions of the sidewalks can be dangerous to even those who are not temporarily disabled. When walking in crowds outside on the way to class areas with cracks and holes like that many people are at risk for rolling an ankle or injuring themselves.

“The way the sidewalks and walk ways are here are ridiculous,” said Jon Wong, sophomore Bonaventure chemistry major.

Students say the snow and ice that accumulates on the sidewalks and walkways can be considered to be too much. With the snow, slush and ice going unattended it makes it more dangerous for people to go back and forth and makes the chances of people getting injured increased.

“With the lack of salting and shoveling of the sidewalks combined with all the divots in the cement here when I walk to class I know if I make one wrong step I could slip or get hurt,” said Wong.

“Most of these buildings have the most inconvenient handicapped accessible entrances ever because they are all placed at the back of the building,” said Crawford.

When there is no one to help students up the stairs of the academic buildings or if they are in a wheelchair they must bring themselves to the back of the buildings where the elevators and ramps are inconveniently located, said Crawford.

“The location of the elevators makes it harder for the disabled because while they are focusing on getting themselves to class they have to use extra energy to get to the back of the building to get to class on time, said Angeline Pham, a freshman Bonaventure biology major.

“I know for a fact the Butler Gym does not have a handicap accessible entrance. For my University 101 class we had to go the club fair and I couldn’t go because they didn’t have a handicapped entrance. I couldn’t participate in certain activities for class and it was exhausting and frustrating,” said Crawford.

Butler Memorial Gymnasium is Saint Bonaventure’s oldest building opened in 1918.

With the loud squeaking of the doors and dented and stained walls students say it gives them the impression that these elevators are old. They tend to get stuck and do not have large amount of space or the advanced sensors of the newer elevators, said students

“I could barely fit my wheelchair in the elevator, I remember one of the first days of classes I got stuck in the elevator and because it’s so old it kept closing on me because it doesn’t have the sensors like the new ones,” said Crawford. “Bonaventure says they’re handicapped friendly but they’re not all that friendly.”

“There was a point in time where I was on crutches for awhile before coming to Bonaventure. I do not think I would have been able to get around to my classes and back very well if I had been disabled while here on campus because of the condition of sidewalks, lack of shoveling and the small number of handicapped entrances,” said Wong.