MOLLY VANDENBERG
Staff Writer
Many of us have the privilege of walking to class without a second thought about how we will get there or what different obstacles might be standing in our way that day. However, this isn’t the case for every student.
McEwen Hall is home to the Reed Library, classrooms, a cafe, the radio station and the Communications Department. Most of the classrooms and offices are on the second or third floor. There is only one elevator in the entire building. Some students or staff depend on that elevator to get to where they need to go if they’re disabled, injured or even just dealing with asthma.
The McEwen elevator has been out of service before, but never for six days.
This created a problem for Victoria Hendrix, a senior interdisciplinary studies self-design major who has to use a wheelchair in her everyday life to get around campus.
Hendrix has had classes on the upper levels of McEwen in previous semesters. This semester, her only class in this building is University Chorus in McEwen 209. She depends on the elevator to get to this class every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
On Wed. April 18, Hendrix attempted to get to this class by the elevator only to find a sign on the elevator saying that it was out of order. This was the sixth day in a row the elevator had been out of service.
Hendrix felt it was necessary at this point to take matters into her own hands. The elevator is in close proximity to the stairwell people use to get to the upper levels. She got out of her wheelchair, left it at the bottom of the stairs and climbed up the four flights of stairs to her class without the help of anyone.
A lot of people who were also in the staircase offered her assistance, but Hendrix didn’t want to be carried as that was out of her comfort zone.
There were obvious safety concerns for Hendrix.
“I was sitting at the top of the steps and saw that students were only walking on one side of the steps, it was the wrong side, too, so I was confused,” said Monica Manney, a junior journalism major. “When another student pointed, I got up and was horrified. No student should have to go through that. People offered but she didn’t want any help. Someone . . . grabbed a rolling chair for her and helped her into the chair.”
After her class, Hendrix was escorted back down the stairs in a chair by two other students.
Why did Hendrix have to resort to this?
The McEwen Elevator had been having issues all week, starting on Friday, April 13.
Kevin Cloos, the university’s director of facility services, said that they couldn’t determine what the problem was at that time. They called in an overtime technician in attempts to get it fixed.
“We know it’s a very heavily used elevator . . . accessibility was a high priority,” said Cloos.
The following Monday, April 16, a regular technician was sent in efforts to fix the same problem. Come Tuesday and Wednesday, nothing had changed regarding the elevator’s status. It was still broken and no one knew why.
“I see people who just don’t want to use the stairs and they use [the elevator], too, but I don’t have a way around that. I can’t choose that. For me, it’s like I need this . . . I’m not trying to place the blame on anyone, but communication needs to be better around here . . . I was being told all of my support systems already knew [about the elevator being out of service],” said Hendrix.
University Chorus prepares for a concert every semester. With the semester getting close to an end, her class at that time had only two rehearsals left before its concert. If Hendrix didn’t find a way to class on Wednesday, she would have felt unprepared for the concert and unaware that there were significant changes made to some of the music.
On Monday, April 16, her class was held in an accessible different room. So, the broken elevator wasn’t an issue.
A cleaner in McEwen who is close with Hendrix witnessed the incident as well and called her boss right away. She was told that Hendrix could just skip class that day.
“I’m like every other student. I pay to be here. Are there times when I don’t go to class when I’m very, very sick? Yes, but do I just skip? No. In a lot of my classes, [attendance] is part of my grade. Even if it wasn’t part of my grade . . . if you miss something [by not going to class] . . . it’s not like middle school or high school where you can be behind by a worksheet. You’re behind a whole class,” said Hendrix.
Some students who witnessed Hendrix go up the stairs went to speak with President Horvath. Hendrix also went to speak to the president herself.
President Horvath worked with Hendrix in revising a Monday update email about the incident that was sent out to the entire campus on April 23. Hendrix wanted it to be known that she felt that the action she took was indeed necessary.
The McEwen elevator was fixed on Thursday, April 19. Hendrix’s class was also permanently moved to Mason.
What was wrong with the elevator and why was it out of service for so many days in a row?
According to Cloos, there was something going on with the elevator’s computer programming that controls the call buttons along with the elevator controls. They had to delete its computer entirely and reprogram it with new software. A specialist who isn’t the normal service technician had to come in to make this fix.
There have been issues going on with this elevator for a while, but it’s possible that all of the problems could have stemmed from the software issue that is now fixed. The issue would have been more problematic and costly to fix if it were a mechanical problem.
Cloos acknowledged that there were requests from President Horvath for better communication and to ensure that emails are being sent out on listservs.
At this time, if an elevator is down in a building, the immediate staff of a building are the first ones notified. Cloos wants to work on developing better protocol of who should immediately be notified by something like an automated email and also updated on the status of an elevator that’s down.
“The hardest part is trying to send messages on the listserv. There are only authorized people who can send those. I’m not one of them. If an elevator goes down on a Saturday, I don’t know who can send that email. I need to get a procedure set up through the president’s office or Marketing and Communications so I send them an email and they forward it on. We have to work on some of the behind the scenes part of that, [regarding] how we’re going to get these communications out,” said Cloos.
Disability Support Services (DDS) offers support to those on campus with disabilities. It will also work with Facility Services to deal with access issues when they are reported. In circumstances where there is an out-of-service elevator or another physical access issue, students should reach out to DSS so accomodations can be made.
“Accomodations can range from moving a class to an accessible location to excused absences,” said Adam Hino, the coordinator of the DSS.
After dealing with this, Hendrix still remains positive. Even though she didn’t want help getting up the stairs, she is grateful to everyone who offered assistance. Her intentions weren’t to scare anyone.
“I’m very, very thankful for Fredonia in general. In my high school, people would have walked [by me] and not said anything. There is a very supportive community here,” said Hendrix.
However, at the end of the day, this was an action she felt she had to take for herself.
“I hope to at least shed light that there’s an issue . . . I advocate for myself on a daily basis,” she said. “There are things I’m going to need to deal with in my life that you never will have to. I’ve also learned that I have to advocate for others.”