Students push for university ADA compliance

Mechelle Hankerson
Executive Editor

VCU psychology junior Jenson Larrimore was finishing recreational therapy after a car accident left him paralyzed from the chest down. His therapist, who also uses a wheelchair, gave him advice that he still carries with him.

“The one piece of advice that he gave me when I left, right before I rolled out that door was … ‘Jenson, be your own advocate,’” Larrimore said. “I had no idea how much that meant until a couple of years down the road.”

Larrimore, who has lived in Richmond his whole life, said he experienced some accessibility issues on campus and in taking the advice his therapist gave him, he formed Students for Disability Advocacy and Awareness (SDAA) on campus.

Larrimore formed the SDAA after administrators approached him last year to share his experiences to help them make the campus more accessible. He knew he wouldn’t be able to explain all the challenges so he began to form a group of students with disabilities to advise the administrators and the group eventually became the SDAA.

SDAA held a panel discussion about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the university’s compliance with the act last week. The panel was during Disability Awareness Week, which the group also organized.

“It’s a completely different experience when you become a wheelchair user after being an able-bodied person, the least of which is dropping about two feet in height,” Larrimore said at the panel discussion. “A lot of things change and one of the things that you notice is that the world is not really built for people on wheels.”

Joyce Knight, director of VCU’s Disability Support Services estimates there are about 900 students with disabilities between the Monroe Park and MCV campuses. Due to equal opportunity laws, the university cannot ask if a student has a disability during the admissions process or when the student enrolls. The office’s estimations are based on the number of students who choose to seek regular assistance and services.

Because VCU is a public university that accepts federal funding, they are also subject to the ADA, which requires buildings to be as accessible as possible in order to keep receiving federal funds.

At VCU, ADA compliance is complicated by the university’s historic buildings, new construction and the urban campus.

VCU’s historic buildings, such as the university’s offices on Franklin Street, are subject to the ADA, but they only have to be made “as accessible as possible.” For most of those buildings, having a ramp and an elevator are as accessible as they can and legally need to be.

Larrimore said one of the biggest issues on the VCU campus for students with physical disabilities is the condition of the sidewalks. SDAA, according to Larrimore, is working on developing some sort of plan to engage the city of Richmond in talks to find realistic solutions to the problem. Otherwise, the panelists also said education was key in making VCU more welcoming for students and other community members with disabilities.

Michael Chenail, one of last week’s panel members, works with Compliance Alliance, which evaluates buildings to make sure the building is abiding by the ADA. Chenail, who has used a wheelchair for 26 years after a motorcycle accident left him partially paralyzed, said the ADA is easily misunderstood and difficult to implement.

“The ADA has made a lot of impact, its also had some issues that come along with it and that’s primarily due to the way they introduced it,” Chenail said.

The ADA is an act, not a law. Chenail said this means it is up to the individual to report any non-compliance, which can be a daunting task.
VCU Facilities Management and the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity, which deals with ADA compliance, could not confirm, but Larrimore said the university has approved installing two new hydraulic lifts in the Hibbs Hall to help make the building more accessible.