When it snows, many students, faculty and staff members dread trudging through slush and trying to maneuver their cars on slick streets.
Harsh weather conditions can be dangerous and inconvenient for everybody, but especially for members of the University of Idaho community with disabilities.
Leah Feaster, a third-year transfer student and U.S. Army veteran, said she is worried about campus accessibility for people with disabilities.
Feaster said she noticed many paths were not cleared when she went to class Wednesday morning — even wheelchair ramps and a path leading to the art and architecture building’s outdoor elevator. These are areas Feaster said she thought would be cleared first.
Feaster, who uses a cane, said she was late to class Wednesday because she had to walk through deep snow. She said she feels bad not being able to make it to class, but her professors have been understanding, stressing that they want everyone to be safe.
“People who have disabilities don’t want to be a hinderance,” Feaster said. “We want to be treated equally.”
Rula Awwad-Rafferty | Courtesy
UI Veterans Assistance provided Feaster with traction devices for her shoes, but Feaster said many buildings around campus do not have stools in entryways for students to sit and take the devices off.
Brain Johnson, assistant vice president of facilities, said the facilities crew works all night to prepare campus for school to begin. Johnson said the crew begins plowing streets at 2 a.m., begins plowing sidewalks at 4 a.m. and begins shoveling stairs and entryways at 5 a.m.
Usually by 5 a.m., facilities and other university safety and security departments have come to a decision about whether campus will be safe by the time people start arriving, he said.
Rula Awwad-Rafferty, an interior design professor who teaches a universal design course at UI, said Wednesday morning some roads had been covered in gravel and some sidewalks were cleared, but many areas were inaccessible.
There is a limit to how much can be done, and employees’ hard work is appreciated, Awwad-Rafferty said, but there should at least be sand applied to sidewalks that cannot be cleared so people can gain traction.
Even where sidewalks are cleared, often there is not enough room for someone using a wheelchair to successfully turn, Awwad-Rafferty said.
Not maintaining sidewalks or marking areas with cones or flags makes campus difficult to navigate, she said, and it excludes people with a wide range of disabilities — both visible disabilities, such as the use of a wheelchair or crutches, and invisible disabilities.
“If you are not making the place accessible and inclusive, then you are constantly excluding people,” Awwad-Rafferty said.
Campus closed 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, and students were notified via Vandal Notice, a text message similar to a Vandal Alert. Campus also closed Thursday morning until 10 a.m. via a Vandal Notice.
Vice President of Finance and Administration Brian Foisy said in a campus-wide email Wednesday night that the Vandal notice is “used to convey non-urgent information important to the university community.” Meanwhile, he said Vandal Alerts are “sent for emergency notification where there is a potentially dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health and safety of students, faculty or staff.”
Foisy also provided insight in the email on who decides snow days, involving several parties including Finance and Administration, Facilities, Latah County officials and Washington State University.
Johnson said snow days are relatively rare, but safety is always the primary consideration when deciding whether campus should close.
“If the conditions warrant it, we’ll do whatever,” he said. “If it meant multiple days of closure because it’s not safe, that’s what UI would do.”
Jordan Willson can be reached at [email protected]