Written by: Matthew Orquia and Hayden Kobza
On March 26, all 21 Student Association (SA) senators unanimously approved $100,000 to add more automatic doors across Southern Adventist University and renovate a university-owned van to help accommodate students with physical disabilities, according to the March 26 Senate minutes.
The proposal was created by two senators, Amy Van Arsdell, senior history and Spanish major, and Nema Ogal, sophomore biochemistry major.
Dennis Negrón, vice president for Student Development, said $84,000 has been allocated for doors to be automatized, and the remaining $16,000 is for retrofitting a Southern van.
Negrón stated in an email that student accessibility is one of the many plans Student Development is working on to make Southern fit for all students.
“The goal is to have this campus fully accessible to the physically disabled in five years,” he stated. “In the year 2024-25, one of the goals is to install door openers on, at minimum, 10% of the buildings on campus, with completion of this project scheduled for year five, 2028-29. The money that Senate approved to retrofit a currently-owned van so that it is wheelchair accessible meets a different need, one that was added to the strategic plans this year because we now have two wheel-chair bound students at Southern.”
Crystelle Toledo, freshman liberal arts education major, uses a wheelchair. In an email to the Accent, she expressed how ecstatic she is about the work the Senate has done for her and Heidi Burke, sophomore history teaching licensure major, who also uses a wheelchair.
“Meeting Senate was lovely; they listened to what Heidi and I had to say and were very enthused on our behalf,” Toledo stated. “I am excited to experience some of the off-campus activities other students get and be able to do so more easily and with much less stress.
“I applaud Senate’s gusto in the matter and great support,” she continued. “This is something I greatly appreciate, and I see a bright and hopeful future in the next generation of church and academic leadership.”
Burke stated that she is happy Southern has started with more projects like the van and doors but believes there is more work to be done.
“Southern purchasing a wheelchair accessible vehicle would literally open up my world,” Burke stated. “It would allow me to participate in events that I desperately want to join. It would give me back the dignity of having a choice in what experiences I get to have. Southern investing in a wheelchair accessible vehicle would prove that this is a place where everyone belongs, on or off campus.”
Burke said one comment she heard regarding the proposal was that Senate should not be responsible for funding the project because of how small the disabled population at Southern is. She said others believe that administration should handle something as important as accessibility.
“To the first comment, I respond that there will never be a high number of disabled people on campus until campus is made a safe place for disabled people to be,” Burke stated.
“To the second belief – that accessibility should be a responsibility handled by administration, not by the Student Senate, I say that they are absolutely right,” she continued. “… However, this is an emergency situation. Southern does not have the funds to make campus accessible right now, and right now is when disabled students are at Southern.”
Van Arsdell said even though the proposal is about making campus more accessible, everyone can benefit from and use accessible doors.
“We’re hoping that Senate, which is comprised of students, is able to send an encouraging message to the administration that we, the students, want more accessibility on campus,” Van Arsdell said.
Alfredo Trevedan, a senior accounting major and SA executive vice president, said he did not have a definitive timeline for the project, but he’s hoping that it will be done by summer.
“I was told that the people contracted to build the doors would be more than willing to get started on them right away,” Trevedan said.
Without the contingency funds from the Student Association, Negrón stated that the project would not have been fully completed this year.
“The monies Senate approved to spend on this project factor into the plans in that they expedite the accomplishing of these two goals,” Negrón stated. “Without those funds, my end-of-year summary may have read something like “partially completed. . .”
