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Editorial: More handicapped seating is necessary in Spartan Stadium

October 2, 2014
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Advertising junior Katie Feirer has a very simple request.

She’d like to experience an MSU football game the same way her peers do.

Feirer is wheelchair-bound, and as such has been segregated from fellow student fans because the handicapped accommodations in Spartan Stadium have effectively banished her to the other side of the stadium.

And it’s not just handicapped students who are forced into a different experience — other disabled fans have been shuttled to the press box when there aren’t enough wheelchair-accessible seats.

We take issue with that. Spartan Stadium can currently seat 75,005 spectators. How can there ever not be enough handicap-accessible seats?

Probably because accessible seating is only available in three sections of the stadium, and can be reached through only four ramps.

None of these ramps are near the Student Section, which seats about 13,000 spectators.

In a space that seats 13,000 — and a stadium that can house more than 75,000 — why are fans like Feirer treated like such an afterthought?

It’s not that way at other stadiums, not at other schools and not even on MSU’s campus. Breslin Center and Munn Ice Arena take much better care of ensuring disabled attendees have a place to sit among, and not isolated, from everybody else.

The view from the press box is great, but guess what? It’s also quiet. Certainly a lot quieter that it is in the stands among fans.

No one who buys a ticket to a college football game is looking for peace and quiet. If that’s what they wanted, they could have saved money, stayed home and watched TV.

Experience is everything at a football game, for students more than anyone. When Feirer sat in the north end of the stadium, here’s what we want to know — could she hear or participate in the cheers unique to the student section? Could she high-five other students? Could she bring friends to sit with her, as all other students who buy tickets have a chance to do?

Probably not.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives several definitions for the word “accessible.” One is “capable of being reached.” The other is “easy to appreciate and understand.”

Accessibility isn’t just finding Katie Feirer and students like her a seat, it’s allowing her to appreciate and understand the experience she as a student football fan is entitled to.

We don’t think MSU has any ill intentions here, but that’s not an excuse. This is still discrimination.

It’s time to invest in better disability accommodations in our football stadium. And we can absolutely afford it. We just won a Rose Bowl, and with winning comes prestige, and with prestige comes money. And MSU just spent nearly $25 million on renovations to the venue’s north side, putting in better locker rooms and a new media center, among other things.

For students, sitting in that section is a precious experience and a lifelong happy memory. For many, it’s the first time they truly feel like a Spartan.

Disabled fans need more than access — they need and deserve the same experience as everybody else.

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