The Student Association is working with several other organizations at Syracuse University to make the Carrier Dome more accessible for students with disabilities during men’s basketball games.

SA Vice President Jane Hong is leading the initiative for SA and is currently in conversation with organizations such as the Disability Student Union, the Beyond Compliance Coordinating Committee, the Office of Disability Services and the Disability Law Society. SU’s Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator Aaron Hodukavich and several professors specializing in disability studies are also involved.

There is not an area in the Carrier Dome’s men’s basketball student section for people in wheelchairs, Hong said. She was first made aware of this issue when she read a Jerk Magazine article titled “Wheels of Progress” in the magazine’s May 2015 issue.

“My red flags just kind of went up,” Hong said.

When Hong returned to SU for the fall semester, she met with Diane Wiener, director of the Disability Cultural Center, who said students had previously talked to her about issues with the Dome’s accessibility.

As part of SU’s Campus Master Plan, which is part of Fast Forward Syracuse, the university has appointed the ISES Corporation to evaluate the accessibility of all campus facilities, including the Dome. However, that audit won’t begin until January and the results won’t be available until the fall 2016 semester, Hong said.

“It’s great that they’re analyzing all of the buildings, but that doesn’t do anything for students right now,” she added.

Hong said she wants to make the student section accessible for students in wheelchairs as soon as next semester, since the men’s basketball season is already underway. She added that she hopes to work with SU Athletics to create a ramp or platform reserved for students in wheelchairs.

“Even if it’s just a temporary solution, I want all students to have the ability to participate in the student section,” Hong said.

SA President Aysha Seedat has also proposed moving the student section from behind the basket to behind the sideline, which could also potentially eliminate the problem.

That initiative is still in its early stages, but Seedat said it’s important something is done soon to make the student section accessible.

“These aren’t things we think about when we go to the Carrier Dome unless you’re a student with a disability, and we need to,” Seedat said.

Though she hasn’t been able to yet, Hong said she plans to soon meet with Pete Sala, SU’s vice president and chief campus facilities officer, to discuss the issue.

In an email through SU’s Office of News Services, Sala said SU is taking steps to make the school “more accessible to the campus and surrounding communities.”

Published on December 6, 2015 at 7:33 pm

Contact Michael: mdburk01@syr.edu