Drury is usually thought of as a progressive and open campus, especially for the generally conservative area in which it is located. Despite this widely held belief, the university falls short of being accessible to all students. There is more that needs to be done to make Drury more inclusive.

There are many places on campus that are not accessible to some students. The Drury Master Plan is attempting to alleviate this issue, but for now, certain classrooms and residence halls are not a reality for some students. The accessibility of campus may not have far-reaching effects, but it deserves attention as it can impact some students’ Drury experience.

Ed Derr, Drury’s director of Counseling and Disability Support Services, shared his expertise in this field. Derr explained which residences on campus may be less accessible.

“Smith is the only residence hall without an elevator, but there is an accessible ground level door to Smith to access ground level rooms. Wallace and Sunderland have pretty nice accessible suites. Apartments in College Park, Manly, Jefferson and Summit Park have ground level apartments, but are a distance from campus – not ideal. However, the super nice accessible apartments are in University Suites,” explained Derr.

Though residence halls and apartments on campus are inclusive to differing accessibility needs, certain classrooms on campus are not up to code. Burnham Hall, for example, does not have an elevator and most classes are held on the third floor. If a student were to enroll in classes held in this location, the teacher must relocate the class meeting space to a more accessible classroom on campus. Derr confided that accessible classrooms are in short supply.

“We are certainly short on accessible classrooms. We ran into some challenges this year finding enough accessible classrooms for which to move classes due to an increase of students who use wheelchairs. As Director of Counseling and Disability Support Services and one on campus with mobility limitations myself, it is frustrating that not all of our campus buildings and resources are accessible to all students and visitors to campus. The irony is that Drury hosts one of the most successful architectural schools in the region, yet we struggle at times with campus accessibility,” Derr said.

Even as Drury still struggles to make all buildings fully accessible, some improvements have been made to make campus more accessible. For example, there has been construction of new accessible bathrooms. Central Avenue and Drury Lane intersections are safer with the addition of sidewalk slope cuts and new crosswalks. There have been more sidewalk repairs and additions of more accessible parking on Drury Lane. In the future, Drury plans to further this initiative with the Master Plan.

“The Master Plan calls for new buildings and remodeling. With those types of construction plans anticipated, new construction and remodeling calls for buildings to be done up to code and to follow strict accessibility guidelines. That means all buildings must have elevators, accessible bathrooms, accessible seating, etc.,” Derr explained.

Drury is moving forward to make life on campus easier for all students. Students can look forward to the completion of the Master Plan to better the Drury experience. Until then, classes can be moved and residences can accommodate students with accessibility needs.

Written by Ciera Duban.