Re: A Letter to the Editor Regarding an Article from Your Sept. 25th Issue 

Dear Editor, 

Being physically disabled, I read your September 25th story on the Allies of Inclusion exhibit with great interest. I arrived at SLU just over one year ago to teach and conduct research in the Department of Chemistry, and overall, I have been appalled at the general lack of accessibility on campus. The article mentioned the eminent physicist Stephen Hawking, who uses a wheelchair to overcome his physical disability associated with ALS. It is a shame that if I were to invite Professor Hawking to deliver a seminar to my department, we would have to scramble for a different lecture hall because the speaker’s podium in Carlo Auditorium can only be accessed by a staircase. 

In fact, every single seat in the auditorium requires guests to use stairs! If we wanted Professor Hawking to use one of the lecture halls underneath the science quad instead, we would have to transport him in an ancient freight elevator with heavy doors that are operated manually. It is sad that there is no dignified means for disabled students and teachers to independently access the most trafficked lecture space on campus. 

Those are but two examples of many. The shortest walking distance from a handicapped parking space to the ADA entrance of Monsanto Hall is well over 100 yards. The staircase outside the BSC is 25 steps high and becomes so treacherously icy in the winter that it poses a hazard to able-bodied students. Forget accessibility—how has no campus official recognized the liability posed by the needless lack of a handrail? 

While informational events like the Allies of Inclusion exhibit are great, we need to focus on taking action to make obvious improvements to our policies and infrastructure that would fix many of the problems that render our learning spaces inaccessible. 

Paul Bracher 

Assistant Professor of Chemistry