Students with Disabilities and Greek life acceptance and access

[Low C Sharp]

That's a nightmarish campus to try to navigate in a wheelchair/on crutches if you ask me. Lots of steep hills, lots of multi-story buildings built into the side of the hill, winding streets, some without sidewalks...not good.
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Marijuana Card

[Kevlar281]

Originally Posted by Low C Sharp

That's a nightmarish campus to try to navigate in a wheelchair/on crutches if you ask me. Lots of steep hills, lots of multi-story buildings built into the side of the hill, winding streets, some without sidewalks...not good.

So true, I’m able bodied and I had a tough time getting around on that campus when I was visiting. From the looks of many of the houses that I saw it would not be an easy task to make them all wheelchair accessible. Take this from a guy who has spent quite a bit of time on accessibility projects. I’m not saying it couldn’t be done, I’m just saying I’m not surprised that it hasn’t been done.

[kathykd2005]

Originally Posted by Kevlar281

So true, I’m able bodied and I had a tough time getting around on that campus when I was visiting. From the looks of many of the houses that I saw it would not be an easy task to make them all wheelchair accessible. Take this from a guy who has spent quite a bit of time on accessibility projects. I’m not saying it couldn’t be done, I’m just saying I’m not surprised that it hasn’t been done.

I'm not a bit surprised, either. Particularly in the case of private universities, often, making the campus accessible is not the biggest priority to administration, which is a shame. When I graduated, our class's senior gift to our university was a wheel chair ramp into the chapel, which had been, from the time I entered the school, only accessible to individuals in wheelchairs or having other differences, if someone or many people could carry the individual into the building--I'm not kidding. It was quite ridiculous.

The idea for the senior gift was actually proposed by several prominent Pi Kappa Phis on our campus, one of which was in a wheelchair and also a Religion major. It makes me wonder--if he hadn't been there, would that building EVER have been accessible? I'm glad we have Pi Kapps on that campus, because they definitely "pushed" the issue into view. They are actually working in conjunction with KD and the House Board on the same campus to make our house accessible, since only one is currently--The Pi Kappa Phi House.

[violetpretty]

I agree with 33girl that no sorority owes her a bid. More than likely, her class status was her undoing for try #3 as a senior, and possibly try #2 as a junior. Anyone familiar with Berkeley correct me if I am wrong, but I imagine a good amount of sophomores go through recruitment and receive bids, so her class standing was probably not a factor in try #1 as a sophomore.

It's probably not the fact that she was disabled, but rather, how she dealt with it and/or approached recruitment. For example, my chapter cut a [non-disabled] PNM because we got the vibe that she was going through recruitment as a joke. If the chapters at Berkeley thought this woman was being insincere, like she was going through recruitment to "prove a point", that could've been a factor.

Maybe she had a rotten personality. Maybe her grades weren't up to par. We'll never know why it didn't work out for her.

My chapter house is very classic looking from the outside, and I think it is pretty ADA friendly, though I don't know the exact specifications. Our house has a lift on the exterior of the house to transfer people in wheelchairs from the main floor to the basement. You would go out the side door on the main floor and the lift would take you down to a ramp to the basement door. We also have a full bathroom on the main floor and a room next to it called the "date room". It has a closet that can be converted to a bedroom if we have a physically disabled sister wishing to live in the house. Right now, we just use the date room for studying.

[skylark]

Maybe it is just me, but I would have a hard time asking a member to join a sorority with the understanding that the sorority is not willing to have her live in the house -- especially if many of the benefits of the sorority that her dues are used for are related to the house facilities. While it may be possible for the situation to occur and for everything to work out fine, it would be an awkward bid to extend, for sure.

[fantASTic]

Originally Posted by skylark

Maybe it is just me, but I would have a hard time asking a member to join a sorority with the understanding that the sorority is not willing to have her live in the house -- especially if many of the benefits of the sorority that her dues are used for are related to the house facilities. While it may be possible for the situation to occur and for everything to work out fine, it would be an awkward bid to extend, for sure.

As with many situations...it really depends on the campus. If her campus is one in which sorority life is not very prominent, or they don't have big, expensive houses, then I would not even consider that an issue. Even if the sorority DOES have a house, as long as the main facilities [not bedrooms, I mean like the meeting room and main areas] are accessible to her, she should not complain about the dues towards the house. Although it is not her fault that she is disabled, it is also not the fault of the sorority - and neither should be punished, either by not being able to extend a bid or not being able to accept one.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by fantASTic

As with many situations...it really depends on the campus. If her campus is one in which sorority life is not very prominent, or they don't have big, expensive houses, then I would not even consider that an issue. Even if the sorority DOES have a house, as long as the main facilities [not bedrooms, I mean like the meeting room and main areas] are accessible to her, she should not complain about the dues towards the house. Although it is not her fault that she is disabled, it is also not the fault of the sorority - and neither should be punished, either by not being able to extend a bid or not being able to accept one.

And generally speaking if someone doesn't live in the house their dues are less anyway.

[Fleur de Lis]

We had a girl in a wheelchair come through one year, and she was a friend of mine. We moved the entire recruitment into the fraternity houses, which were ADA compliant. We also never included any physical description of PNMs in MS other than "she had brown hair and wore a red scarf" or whatever. It's possible that certain sororities wouldn't extend a bid to a person with a disability, but for us it was just never a factor. I would hope that as educated women are progressive enough to understand that people with disabilities have as much to add to a community as someone without a disability.

[PhiGam]

I hate people whining over not getting bids. Its a complicated process that people are clueless about.