In praise of the CSD, making the Heights on the Hill accessible

I’m Chief of Staff of the Council for Students with Disabilities, a new group on campus. Established last January by our Chair Phoebe Fico, we fight for disability advocacy on campus.

I’m supposed to make some statement or opinion on our little council, but I’m not quite sure what it’d be. It’s small. It’s new.

But I’m going to spend the next three or so paragraphs telling you why it’s one of the best things in life right now.

Bryson

Although I’m not all that vocal, my PTSD was partly what inspired me to join the council. Past traumas kept popping up in the background of my sophomore year, which made me realize I really did have something affecting my everyday life. But even that was new for me.

Everything about disability advocacy was new. And even though I did have experience interacting in the deaf community, my experience interacting with the disabled community at large was limited. Terms like “ableism” and “trigger warnings” all came so fast when I began to read more.

And so I joined the council. It was cool. Nice folks. Then I learned about all this stuff at BC. I learned syllabi were often inaccessible to students who are vision-impaired because of document formatting problems. I learned Eagle Escort vans, whose duty in the winter is to pick up disabled students if it’s too snowy outside, are often late — if they show up at all. I learned there were other students on campus, who seem to be having a swell time, laughing and mingling with people in Lower are often not OK.

But I also learned it’s OK to not be OK.

Wheelchair accessible?

The council is a part of BC’s student government and within that, part of the Diversity and Inclusion branch. Working with the GLBTQ Leadership Council the AHANA Leadership Council, CSD is learning how to build a successful brand on campus. The mission of the council will likely never be “completed,” in that there will always be issues facing disabled students’ lives on campus, so the other two councils give us faith and instruction to build something that’s going to last.

BC’s terrain is difficult to handle in the winter, but the administrative terrain is worse.

The council not only focuses on programming aimed towards disabled students and educating able-bodied students who interested in learning about disability advocacy, but also heads efforts in changing policy actions on campus. Boston College is not a stranger to saying no to their students, but luckily the students aren’t good at being complacent either.

Through its first semester, and now into its first full year, the council is making strides to make sure the campus is more accessible during snowy months. Coming from a grounds point of view—I also work for the Grounds department—there are roadblocks in making the “The Heights on a Hill” accessible with 83 inches of snow. We’re working on that.

Ultimately, I love what our council stands for.

I see my job as a council member and as a disabled person to provide information to students at Boston College, my peers. I will work to strengthen the disabled-students’ voice on campus because I’d love to see it grow louder. I will even stand in the quad from time to time and be that annoying person handing out flyers.

Our meetings are on Thursdays at 7:15 pm on the first floor of Stayer Lounge. Email me for more info at [email protected]. Please. Pretty please. Come.