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MAKING CAMPUS ACCESSIBLE FOR DISABLED STUDENTS 435
Making Campus Accessible for Disabled Students
1 I’d like to ask you to use your imaginations and think how it would feel if you’d spent an
evening studying for an exam. You get up in the morning all set to go to classes, you go down,
you get to your door, and it won’t open. You think, “Oh, I can just use my back door.” But you
go to your back door, and that won’t open either.
2 It would be pretty frustrating, wouldn’t it? That’s the kind of frustration handicapped stu-
dents feel when they can’t get to class because of the snow. And that’s the same kind of frustra-
tion I found when I tried to get my scooter through the snow and it short-circuited because it got
so wet from the snow.
3 Now there are many reasons that campuses could be inaccessible, but what I would like
6 A fellow handicapped student shared his story with me. He is a quadriplegic; he has no
use of his arms or his legs. He directs his scooter with a wand by his chin. He tried to get through
the snow this winter, and he tipped over and was hurt. This is unfair, and it’s dangerous. Why
should he have to jeopardize his life just to try to get to class? And why is it fair for him to be
kept out of class when he has paid for classes out of his pocket just like you and just like me? I’ve
heard the same kinds of horror stories from several handicapped students. The fact remains that
the snow creates a barrier that we just cannot pass through, and that barrier really creates a signif-
icant problem for us.
7 The second component of this problem is that the Americans with Disabilities Act, a civil
rights act that was passed by Congress and signed by President Bush in 1990, prohibits discrimi-
nation and requires that barrier-free access to any public accommodation be given to the handi-
capped students. The university is in violation of this act. Let me read part of it for you: “People
with disabilities have the right to full and equal access to any facility or accommodation of any
436 PERSUASIVE SPEECHES FOR ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
MAKING CAMPUS ACCESSIBLE FOR DISABLED STUDENTS 437
438 PERSUASIVE SPEECHES FOR ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
