Parts of the Diana difficult to navigate for disabled profs, students

When it comes to accessibility in Barnard’s new Diana Center, students and professors say some details may have been overlooked.

Disabled individuals must go through underground tunnels if they want to access the first floor. According to Barnard English professor Christopher Baswell, who uses a wheelchair, the student center does not allow wheelchair users and other disabled individuals to move from the main level down to the Milbank courtyard to the north.

“The north-south axis of the campus remains accessible to wheelchair-users only by a basement route,” Baswell wrote in an email. “The same restrictions will apply to some who use canes, many who use crutches or have trouble with arthritis, lung or heart trouble, and many more whose lives are connected to baby strollers, etc.”

He noted that there had been discussions about adding a ramp, though one was not built.

“It is sad because it’s hard to appreciate the beautiful weather like everyone else sometimes,” Daliya Poulose, BC ’12, who is a wheelchair user, said. “Sometimes you don’t want to take the tunnels, you want to be outside, but that’s not an option for me if I want to go certain places, including the Diana.”

Individuals with disabilities are not the only ones affected by the lack of a ramp. Injured students, including athletes, are also at a disadvantage.

“Athletes are constantly getting injuries like sprained ankles that require them to be on crutches, and all campus buildings should be there to assist injured students,” Kelly Buechal, BC ’12 and a lacrosse player, said.

Mary Glenn, BC ’13, a dancer who recently had an injury, said that she became aware of the campus disadvantages for disabled individuals when she was on crutches for two weeks.

“It takes more time to go through the tunnels to reach the Diana,” she said. “I can’t imagine how much harder it is for people with long-term injuries.”

Students without those difficulties said they were also concerned about the lack of a ramp.

“It is just really unfair and unsettling that a building that such an exorbitant amount of time and energy was put into overlooked details like accessibility,” Camille Bernier-Green, BC ’13, said.

“I think it is a bit backwards, although the fact that the tunnel system still allows access does negate that somewhat,” Stephanie Bradford, BC ’12, said. “However, it is an inequality that must be rectified, and a ramp should be implemented immediately.”

But Lisa Gamsu, Barnard’s vice president for administration, said that the building has wheelchair access at one of the 119th Street entrances and at McIntosh-Altschul Plaza—the front doors. She also said that during the design phase, Barnard engaged an independent Americans With Disabilities Act consultant to review the Diana Center drawings as an added check for ADA compliance.

“The college wanted to make the north-south connection between Lehman and Milbank Halls accessible outside too, but the ADA route’s design had to accommodate a very steep change of grade, and it was felt that the resultant switchback design, while perhaps meeting the letter of code, did not meet the spirit of the code as the route was more enormous than it was convenient or ‘equal,’” Gamsu wrote in an email.

But Baswell said this aspect of the Diana’s design meant that the building was less inclusive.

“In my view, all new construction should aim at greater integration of everyone, and in this case, that opportunity was missed,” Baswell said. “It’s too bad, since so many things about the Diana are great additions to Barnard, its facilities, and its community.”

amanda.evans@columbiaspectator.com