By Devon Ruddock, Staff Writer
The commonplace experience of navigating to class at Daemen relies heavily on one’s ability to utilize the stairs within Duns Scotus (DS). If someone sustains an injury or lives with a chronic disability, the process of getting to lectures changes drastically. Attempting to use an elevator only to wait for minutes, unsure of whether it has been called, sucks up time from students’ days. Walking across DS to the other elevator without knowing for sure that it will be functional takes even longer. This is the lived reality of those who rely on university accessible design every day.
“Honestly, the elevator (DS west elevator) really caught me off guard when I stepped foot in it,” freshman social work major Carlee Gorney said. “Considering Daemen is such a prestigious university, I felt embarrassed that this is what students and visitors experience on a daily basis. It is very old and rundown and definitely could use an immediate upgrade.”
Immediate upgrades were on the minds of the activists who spent decades putting pressure on the federal government to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a piece of landmark legislation passed in 1990. It was then amended in 1991 to expand protections to private entities.
The law falls under a class of federal legislation referred to as an unfunded mandate, as states were not compensated in order to implement its policies. The ADA regulates how infrastructure in places of public hospitality needs to be configured in order to allow people with disabilities fair access to community spaces.
There are many common misconceptions about what is protected by the ADA. For example, people often confuse ADA protections with those from Section 504, a law only applicable to entities that receive federal funding. Many individuals believe that the ADA exclusively covers public facilities such as town halls or libraries. In reality, any building, public or private, that is open to the general community is mandated to comply with ADA regulations.
“[The ADA is applicable for any] Private entity that offers examinations or courses related to applications, licensing, certification, or credentialing for secondary or postsecondary education, professional, or trade purposes,” the ADA states.
According to law, “Any alteration to a place of public accommodation or a commercial facility, after Jan. 26, 1992, [must ensure that] the altered portions of the facility are readily accessible,” (ADA 28 CFR 36.402(a)(1))
This means that, in practice, if no renovation of a building has been proposed after the passage of the ADA, any facility can remain inaccessible to this day.
The Duns Scotus apartment-side elevator has been updated to abide by ADA regulations. However, the ADA denotes that elevators allowing for accessible travel throughout buildings need to be kept in operable condition (ADA Advisory 407.1).
Often, one or both of the elevators in DS are down for hours. This is likely due to students not reporting the issue to maintenance. Students can fill out a maintenance ticket through MyDaemen when they face any elevator issue on campus.
Daemen implements multiple tactics to create an accessible environment with its current infrastructure. Associate vice president for student success and ADA Coordinator, Sabrina Fennell, notes that there are other reasonable accommodations that Daemen can implement to serve the best interests of students with disabilities.
“…due to our size, we are able to look into adjusting where classes are held for students with physical disabilities and limit traveling between different buildings, if possible,” Fennell said.
Tiffany Hamilton, Vice President for Institutional Equity and Belonging, also comments on what the university can do while working within the confines of current buildings. Hamilton expressed a desire to work with interested students to ensure they feel valued at Daemen.
“My hope is that students interested in the university will come to me to discuss any accessibility concerns they may have,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton notes that the current condition of Duns Scotus, though technically ADA compliant due to a renovation of the east elevator, does not go above and beyond to create the accessible culture she feels the student body deserves. It is commonly understood that the ADA provides a floor on which organizations can build the best infrastructure they have the resources for, not an exhaustive list of how to create a perfectly accessible building.
Hamilton notes that the current condition of DS, though technically ADA-compliant due to a renovation of the east elevator, does not go above and beyond to create an accessible culture.
This elevator is not the only thing that has been renovated and brought up to standard recently. Though information on the east elevator renovation is not available to the public, there was publicity focused on another impactful project focused on aligning the campus with ADA regulations.
In 2018, Curtis Hall, Daemen’s social work, physician’s assistant, and psychology department building, was renovated in order to achieve ADA compliance (Daemen News, Oishei Grant to Benefit Daemen’s Nonprofit Resource Institute). The building is bisected into two distinct halves. The social work side provides space for Daemen’s Bachelor’s and Master’s of Social Work departments, as well as the Institute for Government and Nonprofit Innovation, Training, and Evaluation (IGNITE). IGNITE is an agency that connects faculty with local non-profits.
Due to the historic nature of the building, which was originally constructed in 1918, the process of renovation was completed with great care to preserve the architectural integrity of the hall. Some elements added to the building to increase its accessibility were the addition of a ramp, elevator, flattening the first floor to allow for maximum wheelchair access and a more efficient heating and cooling system (Bammel Architects, Daemen University Curtis Hall).
Efforts towards accessibility commonly rely on community involvement, such as grants, considering that the average elevator installation can cost up to $30,000. The John R. Oishei Foundation paid for a share of the Curtis Hall renovation with a grant of $350,000. Professor Diane Bessel, DSW, Master’s of Social Work Program Director and forerunner of the Curtis renovation, expressed that this grant money was instrumental in getting the project completed.
Daemen has published plans to further improve accessibility on campus within the 2025-2030 campus facilities master plan, Building on Momentum and 2025-2030 strategic plan, Maintaining Momentum. Both documents discuss the need for a more accessible campus, with the master plan laying out a specific time-frame in which improvements should be made.
“Elevator upgrades – Gradual replacement of elevators across campus over the five-year Master Plan term to ensure safety and accessibility,” the Building on Momentum five-year master plan states.
For students who use the elevators daily, this seems like a long time to wait. Students have expressed their aggravation with feeling uncertain about whether the Duns Scotus elevators, primarily the west one, will be functional when needed. When they aren’t, students have to find other avenues to get to classes on the upper floors of the building, where most general education and many departmental classes take place.
“I was late to class because of that elevator,” freshman animation major Tabitha Fors said.
However, Fennell notes that even though 2030 seems like a long way away, each generation of new students lives the realization of prior plans similar in nature to this one.
“Keeping in mind, our current students have seen the benefits from our prior 2020-25 Master Plan, which included: technology infrastructure, enhanced instructional space, intentional partnerships, expanding our footprint and aesthetic development,” Fennell said.
University funding is allocated according to overarching goals that benefit the institution. Many faculty members don’t view diverting capital to increasing accessibility measures as the most pressing current need on campus.
“We don’t want to put so much of our financial resources in just a few areas in any one year such that it ‘crowds out’ important investments elsewhere,” vice president for business affairs and treasurer, Timothy Balkin said. “As such, we will devote resources over time to address a variety of needs, but this takes several years.”
The current students may not see the full execution of the university’s plan to increase accessibility on campus through elevator replacements or renovations, however, future generations can look forward to the improvements that the university has promised.