by Barley Lewis-Mccabe
Telonicher House, the building the Department of Communications has resided for over 40 years, is to be demolished or removed in the near future. Facilities management confirmed via email that open green space will take its place, and that the controversy around its inaccessibility did not contribute to the decision to remove it.
Due to its lack of ramps or elevators, the stair-reliant Telonicher House has been ground zero for a push for more adequate accessibility on campus. Communications Lecturer Aaron Donaldson spoke about his experience of having to work in the inaccessible Telonicher House and the culture of inaccessibility at the university.
“I study ableist rhetoric, and when I came here I hit a headwind,” Donaldson said. “I’ve worked at Telonicher House, and there was no elevator and no ramp. I had to climb 14 stairs every time I wanted to print.”
There’s currently no timeline on the destruction of Telonicher House, but faculty of the department of communications are expecting to be relocated to Harry Griffith Hall, once the engineering department is moved to the new engineering and technology building next year.
The development of the aforementioned engineering building, as well as general campus construction, has also brought an unexpected headwind of inaccessibility. Geospatial Science Professor Jim Graham spoke on the importance of continuing campus development while not sweeping accessibility under the bus.
“We want to encourage construction, particularly when it’s removing barriers,” Graham said. “But it needs to be done in a way that there’s other accessible paths — and those are identified and that’s not happening.”
Graham soon after identified a series of obstructions of accessible areas created by the construction projects: the large mound of dirt in front of the library, the trailers blocking two accessible parking spaces next to the wildlife building, the parking lot behind forestry and natural resources now being official use only. This cuts off access to the handicapped parking, and the accessible parking spaces in front of Harry Griffith Hall end up behind a cyclone fence amongst other obstacles.
He then discussed the issue of islands of accessibility, which is where new buildings are built with accessibility in mind without a pathway to access them.
Jenkins hall is an example of this: the interior is relatively accessible, equipped with elevators and ramps. But, the only way to get inside is to go up a small flight of stairs, or take a shuttle around campus to enter from the north side.
Graham also described how the new Hinarr Hu Moulik dorms also function as an island of accessibility.
“It looks like it’s got some accessibility things and not some, but the buses were only running until 7 p.m. when it opened, and so people who had classes till 8 p.m. couldn’t get to it,” Graham said. “The shuttles are absolutely critical for our campus until we get those pathways accessible.”
Mike Fischer, acting Vice President of Administration and Finance, responded to these issues.
“While construction projects are sometimes disruptive by nature, we fully understand how critical accessibility is for every member of our campus community,” Fischer said. “We are aware of the issue of the dirt piles caused at the library and have informed our teams about the importance of maintaining accessible paths. We only close accessible parking spaces as a last resort, and only when there are no other options available.”
Aaron Donaldson talked about his issue with administration finding band-aid solutions instead of addressing the root cause of the issue,
“They have a thing where, if you bring them a fire, they put out that fire,” Donaldson said. “They don’t see that the campus is soaked in gasoline. They need to go get rid of all the gasoline. They need to find all the things that could burst into flames.”
Barley is the photo editor and an untraditional reporter who focuses on social change and stories with a real human impact. If you’d like to reach him for whatever reason email bl258@humboldt.edu
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