Syracuse Turns Its Back On The Disabled

by Stephen Kuusisto

    (Nationally-known poet and disability advocate Stephen Kuusisto writes the “Planet of the Blind” blog on WordPress. The following is from his posts of  Nov. 28 and Dec. 2.)

   When Helen Keller attended Radcliffe she observed that the experience was a “largely lonely triumph” and described how she was ignored by faculty, students, and staff. I’m in mind of this because I’m a blind professor who’s been campaigning for accessibility at Syracuse University for over a decade and I’ve been pretty thoroughly ignored.

   I’ve been talking about Syracuse U’s  inaccessible websites, academic digital spaces, unreadable documents, HR inaccessibility, as well as our fickle adherence to the Americans with Disabilities act for twelve full years. After all this time I still can’t get readable documents or visit ADA compliant websites at SU. Let me be clear: I’ve spoken to every conceivable administrator from the very top to the mid-level compliance folks. I’ve called meetings with Deans and faculty. I’ve gotten nowhere. The Office of Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Access says they have a plan but no one knows what it is. They have a committee on diversity and access but it’s not public.

   There’s a mindset at Syracuse which works like this: “we’ll get to this inconvenient disability stuff in the future.” You should see the number of emails I have that say this when I complain for the umpteenth time about dealing with something I can’t read.

   This “tomorrow-ism” doesn’t just affect digital environments. SU recently renovated the JMA Wireless Dome and re-opened the building to paying customers without putting in the required accessible seating. Recently a disabled undergraduate tried to attend a football game and discovered he couldn’t sit with his friends—a matter that’s required by law. When I’ve raised this issue I’ve been told, “we’re working on it”—which means we’ll get to it sometime but not today even though the law says it should be today.

   Back to Helen Keller. I often feel as if I’m entirely alone in this advocacy role..I sense what Keller felt. Meanwhile I’ve talked until I’m blue in the face. There’s something at Syracuse, a state of mind, a baked in thing—it says the disabled are welcome to come here but don’t ask for accessibility and certainly don’t expect dignity.

   Ableism is everywhere but it gets a special pass in higher ed. This is because many believe the apparently broken body has nothing to do with multiculturalism. The disabled are just medical problems.

   In fact, when you “talk back” about this you’ll often be labeled as a malcontent. That’s how ableism works. I’ve experienced it multiple times.

   Aren’t those cripples supposed to be in iron lungs somewhere out of sight?

   Auditoriums everywhere have steps for the visiting reader. No ramps. Bring this up and once again you’re the malcontent.

   Most universities like to talk about disability but without the disabled in the room.

   One of the interesting things about ableism is that whatever form it takes it occupies the future perfect. There will be time enough to make things right for the disabled but not today. One may fair say “not today” is the motto of the thing. “Non hodie” in Latin. Picture a flag bearing the image of an indolent house cat. Not today will we question our assumptions about discrimination. BTW: the ableists also avoid saying “maybe tomorrow.”

   If you’re disabled and require reasonable accommodations you likely know all about this. At Syracuse U where I work I’ve been agitating, pleading, begging for accessible documents and websites for over a decade. “Non hodie” is the prevailing reply. What’s so demoralizing is that those who ought to be in the fight for disability inclusion are not interested.

   How can this be? Well, actually, the matter is simple: “there will be time enough to make things right, but not today.” That this “non hodie” includes administrators charged with accessibility and inclusion and also the faculty who teach disability related subjects tells you how big a muscle ableism really is. But there’s another issue…

   Fighting disability discrimination makes you unpopular. One may say that fighting for the full inclusion of all historically marginalized folks does so too. But with disability there’s one more turn of the wrench: very few people want to serve as serious allies. There’s almost no upside to being a real disability activist. If you want to be liked, stay away.

   “Non hodie” harms disabled human beings. It’s not merely that it puts accommodations and full inclusion into a murky future—the disabled who need these accommodations are left hanging, and in order to make this palatable, the ableists employ gaslighting. “You’re asking for accommodations in the wrong tone of voice.” “This isn’t the venue for this.” (As if there was a venue.) It’s the old, “you’re a malcontent, you cripple you” defense. Never do such people say, “wow, we’re violating the law and injuring real human beings.”

   Another aspect of the gaslighting business is to have a gaslighting committee—usually it has a name like “Inclusion and Access for One and All” and it meets privately because it’s all about “non hodie” and self-congratulation. These committees never propose to fix the problems. They have cookies. They talk about inclusion. There’s just one thing. The folks on the committee don’t suffer from a lack of accommodations. In general they feel pretty good.

   If you’re like me and you need accessible digital materials to teach and participate in the community and no one wants to fix this in real time—so that you’re “non hodied” half to death—you’re not included in the inclusion and access for one and all club. But you betcha they’ll gaslight you. You’re not fun to be around. And that’s the kicker. In the Neo-liberal university feeling good is the game.