University Should Do the Right Thing

Oakland Press

Voices of Disability

By Jerry Wolffe
November 18, 2007

The Maize and Blue could end up with yellow egg on its face. The Department of Education, in a lengthy report, found the University of Michigan discriminates against people with disabilities. As a result, the state threatens to withhold millions in financial aid to needy students if the U-M doesn’t put more wheelchair seats in the 107,501-seat “Big House” as it completes a $226 million construction project in the football stadium.

The 80-year-old stadium has 88 wheelchair seats and, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990, should have 1 percent of capacity — 1,075 accessible seats. U-M recently said it would add 14 wheelchair seats, hardly a dent in the legal requirement.

The Justice Department’s entry into the case is “imminent” because of the DOE finding, after 614 faculty members last month voted that the university should stop further construction until it builds more wheelchair seats and improves overall accessibility.

The government began investigation the U-M in the early 1990s to see if it complied with the ADA’s accessibility guidelines after wheelchair users complained.

The issue reached a head last spring with the filing of a lawsuit by the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Michigan chapter, under the leadership of executive director Michael Harris.

The veterans group, based in Novi, alleged the college discriminates against disabled people by not having adequate space for wheelchair users as required under the federal law.

In his lawsuit, Harris argued a $226 million project at the U-M Stadium is not a repair, as the college alleges, but is an alteration. If a federal judge agrees, then the ADA requirements for 1,075 wheelchair seats kicks in.

The university also would have to make bathrooms accessible to people with mobility impairments, create unobstructed paths to seating and concessions and add disabled parking spots near the stadium.

It’s not like the U-M can’t afford to do what’s right. The college reportedly has a $7 billion endowment fund. Perhaps the U-M doesn’t like to be told what it must do, even if it is the Department of Education, Justice Department and federal civil rights laws giving the orders.

“The faculty is saying the university needs to make the stadium ADA compliant,” said attorney Richard Bernstein, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the veterans.

“The proposal is saying (faculty) will no longer tolerate the intellectual and academic dishonesty of (U-M President Mary Sue) Coleman’s argument that work being done on the stadium is a repair and not an alteration.”

More work on the stadium is expected to continue after football season.

So far, walkways at the stadium have been resurfaced and other work has been nailed down, including building a new scoreboard, concessions and lowering the field. However, the 83 planned luxury suites have not yet been built.

On Oct. 28, the DOE chastised the prestigious university for failing to provide adequate access to wheelchair users at its Michigan Stadium football games. If the university doesn’t see the light, many of the nearly 40,000 students are going to have to pay, literally.

The Department of Education said it will end some $160 million in aid through federal loans, work-study and grants to low-income students if the stadium does not comply with the ADA.

University spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham called the DOE report surprising, saying the college doesn’t discriminate against a minority group such as disabled people. Coleman has been unavailable for comment since the lawsuit was filed.

Eight years ago, the department found the stadium inaccessible and blasted U-M for not fixing the problem during many stadium construction projects.

Cunningham has argued every ticket holder who has required an accessible seat has been accommodated.

However, the college doesn’t see the obvious.

If restrooms cannot accommodate a wheelchair user because stalls are too narrow and concessions are out of reach, then how many disabled ticket holders would request a football ticket? Disabled people aren’t stupid — they try to avoid embarrassing situations.

In fact, it was an embarrassing situation eight years ago that started the fight.

A fan complained about problems with seating and facilities after his father, who used a wheelchair, was unable to find an accessible toilet and soiled himself.

It’s time for Coleman and the U-M to do what’s morally right and make it possible for fans who use wheelchairs to watch the Wolverines by admitting its policy was biased.

Otherwise, the case goes to trial next year and U-M will have even more egg on its face and also a soiled reputation.