All Robert Hemenway wanted to do was check out books from Kansas University’s Watson Library.

His challenge: to do it in a wheelchair.

Reading material wasn’t the only thing the chancellor got from his library experience on Thursday. He also got an upper-body workout as he struggled to snake his way up the long ramp that leads to the entrance. And he got frustrated by leaves on the ramp, which made traction difficult.

“You’d have to be built like an ox or you’re going to gasp halfway up,” the chancellor said.

Hemenway was getting a firsthand look at life for students who maneuver through campus in a wheelchair as he swapped places with Jason Schrage, a senior from Iowa City, Iowa. Hemenway attended Schrage’s classes and checked out books. Schrage, who has been in a wheelchair since a 1996 diving accident, was meeting with leaders from KU and the Kansas Board of Regents to learn about university administration.

The exchange was the idea of Mary Ann Rasnak, director of Services for Students with Disabilities at KU.

Improvements needed

Hemenway wasn’t entirely pleased with what he saw from the wheelchair.

For starters, the automatic door-opener at Wescoe Hall didn’t work, so he had to rely on someone to open the door.

Kansas University Chancellor Robert Hemenway makes his way in front of KU's Watson Library with a little help from Mary Ann Rasnak, director of Services for Students with Disabilities. Hemenway traded places with a KU student who uses a wheelchair and attended the student's classes and checked out books from the library. The student, Jason Schrage, a senior from Iowa City, Iowa, spent the day learning about university administration.

The threshold under the door at Watson Library was difficult to roll over, the stacks were tough to negotiate. And the sidewalk and cutouts in the curbs made for a bumpy ride.

“You don’t realize until you’re in a chair that a bump that’s easy to step over, in a chair you have to maneuver around it,” Hemenway said. “We’ve got some places that are not as smooth as they ought to be.”

The chancellor said he also was surprised by how much time it took to get around campus, waiting for elevators and finding accessible entrances.

“I came away from this experience with a greater respect for people like Jason to be able to negotiate campus,” he said.

Schrage, meanwhile, wasn’t surprised to hear Hemenway ran into a few problems. Although Schrage uses a motorized wheelchair, he’s dealt with such issues since he became a KU student in 1998.

“He touched on the points I figured he’d bump into, literally and figurative,” Schrage said.

He said his greatest frustration was automatic doors that don’t open when he pushes the button.

“It is a struggle sometimes,” Schrage said. “Today wasn’t exactly pleasant weather, but imagine being in a downpour and waiting for somebody to open the door. You have to be pretty assertive.”

KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway chats with KU student Emelie Dillman, an Overland Park senior, before a history class in Wescoe Hall. Hemenway spent the day in a wheelchair to get a better view of disability issues on campus.

And some doors — including the one leading to the chancellor’s office — don’t have automatic openers at all. Hemenway said he expected to add one to his office door.

Equal access

Disability advocates on campus say students have to learn to be assertive when it comes to their rights.

Zach Coble, a sophomore from Winfield and president of AbleHawks, an organization for students with disabilities, said the federal government had more oversight to make sure high schools are following accessibility laws than for colleges.

“Those laws make you take more responsibility for yourself,” Coble said. “You have to initiate contact with the (disabilities services) office and initiate contact with your professor. It puts the onus on the student more than it did in your previous educational experiences.”

Rasnak said the Services for Students with Disabilities office frequently fielded complaints and suggestions from students about accessibility.

Her wish list for campus improvements sounded similar to Hemenway’s thoughts from Thursday, including better curb cuts, lower thresholds on doors and more automatic door-openers.

“Our campus is good, but there are always things to work on,” she said.

6News video: Chancellor tours KU in wheelchair to see access issues (11-11-04) Services For Students With Disabilities

Dot Nary, a graduate student and training director at the Research and Training Center on Independent Living, said she listed improved handicapped-accessible bus services as one of her top priorities. Currently, students in wheelchairs can get rides to and from class but not to extracurricular activities.

“We all know classes are an important part of the university education,” she said. “But there are other things that are important, too.”

Nary said she wouldn’t stop looking out for accessibility problems until they were all eliminated.

“I expected to be able to do everything everybody else can,” she said, “even though I’m in a wheelchair.”