Naya Brown, Monet Davis, Rocky Smith

June 17, 2016

Campus Issues Report
Students With Disabilities

Disability Rights and Access to Services on College Campuses

Wright State University is ranked third among all universities within the discipline of
disability provisions. The year of 1974 was a big year for Wright State University, this was the
year that wright state initiated its effort to accommodate academically able, but physically
incapable students (Bireley, M. 1980 p. 12). Since the completion of the initial stage in 76 Wright
State has lead in expanding opportunity to the disabled (Bireley, M. 1980 p. 12). Wright State
provides many other solutions to issues beyond that of accessibility but also to those who have a
mental handicap but have the capacity to achieve academic success. This solution has been put
forward in two general forms one is academic accommodation, and the other is a group of people
dedicated to supporting achievement among the handicapped populous here at Wright State.
Truly, Wright State University is in a three way tie for first.
Ever since disability rights allowed the disabled to participate in the public school
system, the accommodating programs have seen incredible academic achievement among this
populous. However many of these students who graduated often had no college opportunities.
Upon hearing this Wright State began renovating, and preparing to accept this new body of
students. In the year of nineteen-seventy-six Wright State finished renovations providing a
wheelchair accessible plant for the incoming disabled students. This plant included button
operated doors and additional elevators, ensuring one of either of these accommodations for each
building. While originally intended for maintenance of subterranean utility connections, the
tunnel system expanded right alongside the disability renovations being done, and became a huge

asset to the physically handicapped on campus. Wright State has a very advantageous campus for
not only its fully able, but also its handicapped students.
At Wright State, there is an extraordinary group of people. They are willing to jump
through hoops and leap buildings in a single bound to make academic success possible for the
mentally and physically handicapped students here. In their mission statement you can find the
extensiveness of their services, and get the full picture within their staff directory. Their mission
statement in short is to: 1 Serve as a knowledge base for all disability related topics; 2 To provide
a parental connection with the disabled student; 3 To facilitate the resources to meet the needs of
the disabled.
Human Services
There are many aspects that are important to make disabled students more comfortable on
college campuses. Marianne S. Hugar is the assistant dean of students as American University. In
her journal article called Fostering a Disability-Friendly Institutional Climate she exclaims "To
make an inclusive campus environment the community has to provide support and
assistance". She also expanded on this by saying "as accommodations expand for the disabled
students we must help a greater number of individuals understand what they have to do to
integrate the disabled students". Wright State university has disability services already set up and
has had it for decades now. Wright State proudly emphasizes their forever growing population of
disabled students and their furthering updates to the school to accommodate any and every
student who attends.
"Offices of disability services are increasingly called on to find creative solutions in a
difficult economy, provide guidance to offices on campus in order to improve accessibility, and
advocate for students with disabilities" (Hugar, Marianne S). This explains some of the jobs that

the offices of disabilities have to do to accommodate disabled students. Wright State University
not only provides an inclusive environment for students but also for staff and guest as well.
Wright State has history of serving students with disabilities before it was required by law in
1973 with the Rehabilitation Act (Masten, Angela Marie). The 1973 Rehabilitation Act was an
act that said that any organization that received money from the federal government must
accommodate all personal with disabilities and these accommodations should be reasonable to
comply with the law. Wright States office of disabilities are more than capable of handling the
toughest issues that may come for accommodating disabled students.
One of the issues that Wright State has faced according to Angela Marie Masten, a
Vocational Support Coordinator for the Office of Disability Services at Wright State, is the cost
of the services provided. These things include building a service dog park, which is the only dog
park of its kind in the country on a college campus, books and sign language interpreters. Wright
State has done an excellent job with accommodation and accessibility for disabled students and
will continue to expand with these great services in the future.

The Tunnels
A major mode of accessibility with many myths as to the origin are the Wright State
University tunnel system, the subterranean campus as I call it. Many rumors have spread about
the purpose, time of construction, and the origin of the wright state tunnel network. However, as
this is about the accessibility aspect Ill refrain from those topics for the most part. The tunnels
have been a staple of accessibility since they had first been built between the basements of Allyn
and Oelman hall.
The most critical service to the disabled is the fact that the tunnels provide elevator
access to every building they connect too. Furthermore there is never a grade greater than eight

degrees as to provide the most wheelchair friendly terrain. Something that can also be noted is
the fact that despite some rumor against this, the student success center can be accessed via the
tunnels, right off of university hall. I should also mention that there are elevators there too.
The students here at wright state have come up with some pretty kooky stories about the
tunnels, despite the fact that there is a lack of evidence to back up their hypothesis. The purpose
of the tunnels were for maintenance of intrabuilding utilities. This truth is well backed up by the
number of consolidated utility related structures that riddle the overhead space, and even the
walls in specific places. The tunnels that came after oelman hall were built to serve the dual
purpose of student transportation and for maintenance ().

Wheelchair Accessibility

Wright State University has done a lot to accommodate the disabled and make the
campus more wheelchair accessible. There was a book published called College Success for
Students with Physical Disabilities and Wright State was mentioned among several other
colleges, Wright State has been named among Americas top disability-friendly universities in a
new nationally distributed book designed to help disabled high school students select a college
(Hannah, 2012). Wright State has the Disability Services to help accommodate the needs of all
students with disability on campus and continue to make the campus more disability friendly
than it already is.
Wright State has accessible housing with the option of using the ramps to make life for
those students much easier. The university has underground tunnels that connect to just all of the
academic buildings and some of the dormitories. They have additional buttons in the elevators so

that students and adults that may be wheelchair bound can get to where they need to go without
the strain of reaching. They also offer an online guide to provide those students with access to
help prepare themselves for college. They provide personal care assistants and specialized
wheelchair sports.
Most campuses built before 1973 arent made to accommodate students with disabilities,
unlike Wright State, they have a mostly flat terrain. They would like to do more but there are
problems that arise in doing so. Cost is always an issue, as part of our services are mandated by
law (such as sign language interpreters, books in accessible format, etc.) others are not mandated
(transition programs, career counseling) and the university does not get federal money
specifically for mandated services (A. Masten, personal communication June 13, 2016). Despite
all of the cost issues, Wright State University has done more than enough to make students with
disabilities feel comfortable.

Reference List

Hannah, J. (2012, February 28). Wright State named one of nation's top disability-friendly
schools. Retrieved June 17, 2016, from
http://webapp2.wright.edu/web1/newsroom/2012/02/28/wright-state-named-one-ofnations-top-disability-friendly-schools/
Hugar, Marrianne S. (2011) Fostering a Disability-Friendly Institutional Climate. New
Directions For Student Services, (134), 3-11.

Bireley, M., & Manley, E. (1980). The Learning Disabled Student in a College Environment: A
Report of Wright State University's Program. Journal Of Learning Disabilities, 13(1),