by Samson Tamijani
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The beginning of the semester creates inconveniences for many around campus. Congestion, construction, and confusion in classes are just a few. But sophomore Kati McFarland had had enough.
Looking for the fastest way to raise awareness, McFarland, who prefers they/them pronouns, tweeted pictures of their encounters with barriers unfriendly to wheelchair users accompanied by the hashtag “#UARKinaccessible.” The tweets were shared up to more than 100 times.
“I have something called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome,” McFarland said. “It essentially makes my bones double-jointed, and makes them lose function.”
Things like stairs and high shelves are impossible to access for wheelchair users like McFarland, but tables and office tools in places like Mullins Library are supposed to be accessible.
“I just think whenever I run into something like that, it’s hard for me,” McFarland said. “But how much harder is it for someone who doesn’t have experience advocating for themselves, and who doesn’t have experience moving through this really inaccessible world?”
The tweets caught the attention of UA Facilities Management, and its director of Planning and Design Jay Huneycutt admits the concerns are legitimate.
“I think it’s just a matter of the students to get the word out (about inaccessibilities) and in this case it was tweeted out,” Huneycutt said. “And we had already known we needed it corrected, and communicated with the folks to get the problems we could control fixed as soon as possible.”
But despite the complaints, McFarland doesn’t want other disabled students from Arkansas to think they wouldn’t belong at U of A.
“If you can figure out a way to live with the ways in which people haven’t caught up to you yet anywhere else, you can learn to persevere and prosper here too,” McFarland said. “It just might take a little more frustration and a little more perseverance.”
The university asks that anyone having Americans with Disabilities Act concerns contact Facilities Management or the Center for Educational Access.
This article was updated to correct pronoun usage.