CSU East Bay, like many other college campuses, has a number of accommodations for physically disabled students, but these services are lacking overall.
The university must take better care of students with physical disabilities in order to ensure they may have the same opportunities to have an enjoyable college experience as everyone else.
Many disabled students have a tough time making it around on campus. The campus wasn’t originally built to be wheelchair accessible, especially in older buildings like Meiklejohn Hall, where the building relies heavily on staircases.
This makes it very difficult for those with physical disabilities to be able to make it to class, especially those who have classes on the upper levels of buildings on campus.
Buildings like these need to be updated and renovated on campus to make them more wheelchair accessible for those who cannot freely just walk up the steps to class.
The existing amenities for students with disabilities have contributed to this problem with many of the elevators on campus out of order on just about any given occasion or operating at extremely slow rates.
It is unacceptable that students who pay the same fees as the rest of us should not have sufficient facilities made available to them, because the school would rather invest in  other projects like the Recreation and Wellness Center (RAW) as opposed to renovating old buildings to make them more accessible for students with handicaps.
The issue with the elevators is so major that even the current Associated Students Inc. (ASI) Vice President and Chief of Staff Chris Caldwell sees this as an issue that should be addressed.
“We need to make sure that we are maintaining and properly servicing the elevators, like you can look at some of the elevators and see that the licenses haven’t even been renewed in years,” said Caldwell.
The campus does make some effort to help students with physical disabilities. The Accessibility Services Center (ASC) does have wheelchairs that students, faculty, staff and guests may use.
According to ASC front desk receptionist Nicholas Vigil, the school has cut some of the services for students with physical disabilities.
“They took away our campus shuttle that used to take around students on campus and they took away our van that we had to take people around,” said Vigil.
This program never should have been cut and has stranded a number of students who often have very little time to go to their next class.
Armand Johnson, a CSUEB student who recently sustained an injury, has been using crutches to get around campus and commented, “I literally have no help getting to each class, and it’s difficult since everything is so far apart.”
Students with physical disabilities are students just like us and that they deserve the exact same opportunities we do.
The university must not allow budget cuts to affect students with physical disabilities. Instead, the administration should help these students by making the campus more accessible for everyone.