Students with Disabilities and Greek life acceptance and access

[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.