A recent Supreme Court decision to guarantee accessibility in government-owned buildings, such as schools and courthouses, provides greater encouragement for MSU to push for more accessibility on campus, officials say.
"We have, for the past years, taken strong steps to make the campus more barrier free," said Carol Swinehart, chairwoman of the President's Advisory Committee for Disability Issues at MSU. The organization oversees accessibility proposals at the university.
The 5-4 ruling came last week after Tennessee resident George Lane sued the state after not being able to enter a courthouse because it wasn't wheel chair accessible.
As an MSU student with a vision impairment, Kim Borowicz said the campus has improved its own accessibility and accommodation.
"It has gotten better, but it still has a long way to go," the interdisciplinary studies in social sciences senior said. "Making the school accessible to those with disabilities is a top priority."
During the summer, automatic door openers and Braille signs will be added to more academic and residence halls. A major project in the planning stages is updating the Psychology Research Building with ramp entrances, automatic door openers, barrier-free parking, accessible bathrooms and Braille signs.
Swinehart said the university is allotted $300,000 each year for campus accessibility improvements.
As a physical disability rights advocate, Borowicz interned during the spring semester at the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency in Washington D.C.
Present at the Supreme Court trial when it began in January, Borowicz said the case held special meaning to her. Unable to gain advance tickets to the hearing, Borowicz stood outside with others.
"People met at the Supreme Court steps, and some had even crawled up the steps for justice's sake," Borowicz said.
Within the last 25 years, the university has worked steadily on barrier-free projects, said Michael Hudson, director of the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities. Hudson is blind.
"Each year, the campus is more and more accommodating," Hudson said. "We're going above and beyond the legal requirements, with making power door entrances and Braille signage."
The added ramp entrances, automatic door openers and barrier-free parking to the IM Sports-Circle last year were costly but needed, Hudson said.
"We spent a chunk of change on that," Hudson said. "It was a real big renovation. We had a lot of monumental accomplishments with that because it was a real old building."
The recent Supreme Court decision simply strengthened the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, Swinehart said. The act requires businesses, private groups and the government to provide equal access to all. Legal disputes, prior to last week's Supreme Court decision, had been made as to whether the state government, specifically, was immune to this act.
The age of MSU's buildings plays a significant role in renovation and reconstruction.
"Many buildings are well over a hundred years old," Swinehart said. "They were built at a time when accessibility issues were not publicly addressed in society."
Of all the residence halls, the halls located on West Circle Drive have been noted as the most difficult place to live on campus because of the absence of ramps or elevators, said Melinda Haus, former president of the Council for Students with Disabilities.
Haus served as president the past spring semester and worked with the advisory committee in deciding what needs to be improved on campus.
"That whole entire area is a really historical area with a lot of steps," the recent social work graduate said. "It's not wheel-chair accessible and still doesn't have Braille signage. Those are issues that need to be addressed."
A common misconception is accessibility only has to do with wheelchairs, but people with a visual impairment also require certain accommodations.
"I had to walk a friend of mine to her classes because she couldn't read the room numbers," Haus said. "Changing the numbers on a sign is not that hard."
With no official timetable set, MSU's list of improvements to be made is far from being completed. Haus said the university not only needs to work on accessibility to buildings, but also incorporating integrated wheelchair seating, adding more Braille signs to classrooms and providing easy access to parking.
"The ruling has basically stated that all state and government property must comply in all shapes and forms - not just physical access to buildings," Haus said. "This includes signage, parking; the list goes on and on."
