Students with Disabilities and Greek life acceptance and access

[paulam]

Originally Posted by icicle22

I think the reason why some people can't live with their disabilities is simply because it makes them feel like outcasts and very ostracized.

What I meant when I said my son could live with his disability but I don't understand how cruel people can live with theirs is that a cruel nature is in itself a disability, worse than any physical or mental impairment.

Paula M.
Sigma Delta Tau
ΣΔTPatriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People

[ZTAMich]

I *think* I saw last year at Homecoming that our chapter has a member with a disability (wheelchair??) but I can't totally remember. Blame my bad memory on the festivities! ZTAmillz could tell for sure. While our campus has become more ADA compliant our house certainly is not, unless some door ways have been widened! Luckily, we mostly used student center rooms for meetings and I think they still do. My senior year a girl who was blind was living in the dorms and a lot of modifications were made to help her.

[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.

[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.

[Tom Earp]

Originally Posted by paulam

What I meant when I said my son could live with his disability but I don't understand how cruel people can live with theirs is that a cruel nature is in itself a disability, worse than any physical or mental impairment.

Paula M.
Sigma Delta Tau
ΣΔTPatriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People

Unfortunitly, people are not so nice!

There are many disabilities out there whether is be physical, mental, or color.
Oh yes color, and I am sure I will hear about this from some on GC!

While the old Houses, not the GLOs do not have ways for those in a physical problem access, they are doing it. Our new House was made that way, by law, yes, but there is also another reason!

Not every member is the Biggest and Bestest looking of the campus!

There are people who can join a GLO that become a very important part of the Chapter.

We had a young man who was not okayed by some people and I raised 10 tons of hell!

I am proud to say He is a heck of a Brother and while moved from my Chapter, he has alligned himself within the city He moved to and another Chapter!!


That is being a Brother and a Member!

[catiebug]

Are you saying that being of a different color (or race) is a disability?????

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

There are many disabilities out there whether is be physical, mental, or color.

[LegallyBrunette]

Originally Posted by catiebug

Are you saying that being of a different color (or race) is a disability?????

That's how I perceived it.

[AOII Angel]

I really never can understand a single thing you post, Tom Earp! The typos, fragments and run-on sentences kill me!! I'm going to pretend you didn't mean that race can be considered a disability.

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

Unfortunitly, people are not so nice!

There are many disabilities out there whether is be physical, mental, or color.
Oh yes color, and I am sure I will hear about this from some on GC!

While the old Houses, not the GLOs do not have ways for those in a physical problem access, they are doing it. Our new House was made that way, by law, yes, but there is also another reason!

Not every member is the Biggest and Bestest looking of the campus!

There are people who can join a GLO that become a very important part of the Chapter.

We had a young man who was not okayed by some people and I raised 10 tons of hell!

I am proud to say He is a heck of a Brother and while moved from my Chapter, he has alligned himself within the city He moved to and another Chapter!!


That is being a Brother and a Member!

This post makes my head hurt.

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by ree-Xi

This post makes my head hurt.

Earpus always makes my head hurt

[PhiGam]

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

[icicle22]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

Unfortunitly, people are not so nice!

There are many disabilities out there whether is be physical, mental, or color.
Oh yes color, and I am sure I will hear about this from some on GC!

While the old Houses, not the GLOs do not have ways for those in a physical problem access, they are doing it. Our new House was made that way, by law, yes, but there is also another reason!

Not every member is the Biggest and Bestest looking of the campus!

There are people who can join a GLO that become a very important part of the Chapter.

We had a young man who was not okayed by some people and I raised 10 tons of hell!

I am proud to say He is a heck of a Brother and while moved from my Chapter, he has alligned himself within the city He moved to and another Chapter!!


That is being a Brother and a Member!

Now that is sad.