No Signs, No Access

I am visually impaired. When I attended Hunter College in the graduate program I experienced difficulty finding the class room because there was no Braille on the doors. I attended the evening program so it was really hard to find someone who could be asked to locate my class room. With this difficulty, I contacted my rehabilitation counseling program coordinator. He advised me to contact the Director of Access Center for Students with Disabilities and the Committee of Section 504 at Hunter College as well.

I contacted the Director of Access Center for Students with Disabilities. During the meeting, I said that there was no Braille on the doors and it was really hard for me to find the class room especially in a large campus like Hunter College. She replied that a small number of blind students were studying at Hunter College, so it didn’t make sense to spend a large amount of money to put Braille on the doors. During the meeting, I tried to describe the difficulty for a blind or visually disabled person. I also mentioned that I had gotten a graduate degree at Brooklyn College. Brooklyn College campus is very accessible for people who are blind and visually disabled along with other disabled groups. There are Braille and large print signs on the every single door at Brooklyn College. I also drew her attention to the fact that Brooklyn College and Hunter College both are under CUNY system and Hunter should be accessible for all people with disabilities. She said, “I will talk to the authorities when I get a chance, but I don’t think it will happen.” She also mentioned that she would put Braille signs on the Access Center door. I checked a few days later I saw that she had done that.

Since I immigrated to the United States, I have a good knowledge and experience with the CUNY system. I attended an English as a Second Language (ESL) Program at Queens College in Flushing and Baruch College in Manhattan. Not only this, I have two graduate degrees from Brooklyn College and Hunter College. I was so confused to hear the director’s response. However, I shared this issue with my friends and I had been advised it would be better not to pursue it while I was a student at Hunter College. I used to use Hunter College’s Access Center for Students with Disabilities during my study period and I believe Hunter College Access Center is a wonderful place for students with disabilities. I graduated in the Rehabilitation Counseling Program and throughout the course I studied the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and National Rehabilitation Act, along with other relevant courses. Hunter’s lack of accessible signage is clearly a violation of Section 504 and the ADA, which prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities.