One of Bradley’s biggest draws for potential students is the campus’s practicality. With the furthest buildings less than a mile away from one another, the walkability of the premises is one of the most convenient aspects of the university.
But walkability doesn’t always mean accessibility.
Many of the sidewalks and pathways on campus are also too narrow or turn as sharply as a knife for those with disabilities, making the route to class a stabbing pain. These pathways are often laid out in difficult-to-navigate, inconvenient, web-like patterns.
This just shows that accessibility has rarely been a priority at Bradley.
When construction on the Williams Dining Hall began last year, the only accessible entrance was blocked. A ramp was eventually installed on the other side of the dormitory, but only after weeks of inaccessibility.
Foresight isn’t always the university’s strong suit, which can be frightening.
Inside the buildings, elevators are rickety and frequently cause delays for passengers. The worst perpetrators are residence halls, like Williams and the Student Apartment Complex, where large clusters of students attempt to get to class.
Thankfully, this is an absolutely solvable problem. Elevators should be improved, not just inspected. Paths can be widened, and new ones can be added. Take universities like Ohio State, which constructed sidewalks based on observing students’ natural pathways between buildings. Plenty of people on campus cut across grass patches to make their commute quicker; Bradley just has to follow their lead.
Accessibility isn’t just a Bradley problem; it’s an everyone problem. When we make life more convenient for others, we do so for ourselves. Halloweekend could see sharp-turning sidewalks, bumpy walkways and substandard equipment rear their monstrous heads as hundreds of unfocused students rely on these measures to safely transport them home.
Because we’re all one accident away from needing an accessible campus too.
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