Jayson Agos, a University of New Mexico junior and architecture student, called attention to difficulties that students with disabilities can face on campus.
When Agos came to UNM, he was still able to walk but was later unexpectedly paralyzed from the waist down, he said. It was then that he began to notice the ways he said UNM was unsuccessful in accommodating students with disabilities.
“My first semester here at UNM was a dark semester for me,” Agos said. “I struggled a lot because there was so much that caused me issues just to get to class.”
The Americans with Disabilities Act protects people with disabilities from discrimination and mandates that newly constructed buildings are accessible to those with disabilities. This includes mandating that ramps must have a certain slope.
Steep ramps are difficult, or in some cases dangerous, to navigate in a wheelchair, according to Agos.
“I had a police officer two semesters ago push me up the hill. And he said to me, ‘I'm having a hard time pushing you up the hill,’” Agos said. “I told him, ‘It's hard. It would take me almost 20 minutes to get up a ramp.’ And it shouldn't be that way.”
Some ADA door openers on campus are hard to find and use, Agos said.
For example, Agos explained that in order to get into the auditoriums in George Pearl Hall, students must swipe their Lobo IDs. The card reader is on the other side of a nearby pole, making it difficult to access or see, he said.
“Even a person that can walk — it's hard to even find it,” Agos said. “So for me to swipe my card and get to the door before it locks — I can't do it. There's just not enough time.”
Heather Jaramillo, ADA coordinator and director of equal opportunity at UNM, said improving UNM’s accessibility is an important but difficult task that requires attention and resources. UNM hired a vendor from 2020-21 to identify needed improvements in UNM’s highest-traffic buildings, as well as older buildings on campus, according to Jaramillo.
“We are currently in the throes of updating Centennial Library in engineering to be more accessible, and that includes some work to elevators, but also sort of outdoor spaces to make entry into and out of the building more accessible,” Jaramillo said.
The new Center for Collaborative Arts & Technology building is being built with accessibility in mind, according to Jaramillo.
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Jaramillo said UNM’s age and a lack of funding are obstacles to creating more accessible spaces. Hodgin Hall, the oldest building on campus, predates the ADA by almost 100 years.
“The ADA did not become law until 1990. While we do have several new buildings on campus that were built post-1990, we still struggle a lot with some of the older buildings on campus,” Jaramillo said. “In more recent years, we are beginning to get a handle on campus so that we don't end up with new buildings that are not accessible, which unfortunately still happens sometimes.”
Jaramillo hopes to acquire more funding specifically for accessibility purposes from the New Mexico Legislature, she said.
“The University has made an ask for accessibility funding to approve physical accessibility, and I think there's been some missed opportunity for clear communication to the Legislature about what specifically it is we're trying to do,” Jaramillo said. “I am hopeful and more optimistic this session that we've made that ask more clear from a campus- or institution-wide standpoint.”
Agos said accessibility is important not just for disabled students' safety, but for their emotional and social well-being and their ability to feel connected to the UNM community.
“I think when I'm not in class you often find me in a corner by myself,” Agos said. “When I come home, I'm in my room. I don't go anywhere, because to go somewhere, I have to fight.”
Agos advocated for a cultural shift within the UNM student body and community.
“There's days I just want to give somebody my old wheelchair — because I still have to use it if I drive in somebody's car — just for them to try to go some places on campus, to see how bad it really is,” Agos said. “It'd be nice if they would require a class here at UNM your very first semester to go seven days in a chair. Gosh, that would be the best class in the world.”
Addison Fulton is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
