Opinion: Wheelchair team is fairness issue for KU

The other day the University Daily Kansan ran an article that has not attracted a great deal of attention in the media, but it should. The UDK reported that the Kansas University Student Senate’s request that the university establish and fund a wheelchair basketball team had been turned down by the KU administration because of concerns over the budget in the next few years.

According to the UDK, Joe Monaco, of the KU Office of Strategic Affairs stated, “We have many competing priorities for funding, several of which have been proposed for legislative funding for at least two years. Our concern is that the timing is not right to add another large funding item to that list, despite the merits of such a team.” With all due respect to Mr. Monaco and the KU central administration, I believe that this decision is wrong in every way.

If KU truly embraces diversity, then it must include within this concept those students who have physical disabilities. Students who must use wheelchairs have overcome substantial impediments in order to get to KU. It is not easy to excel in school when confined to a wheelchair. And, yet, the students at KU who would most benefit from having a wheelchair basketball team are those who have managed to excel academically in order to come here to study. Shouldn’t every student have a chance to have the fullest educational experience possible at KU?

For years, I believed that college level athletics did not serve most students. I have come to have a different view in recent years. Intercollegiate and intramural sports at a university provide students with learning experiences that they cannot get in the classroom. Intercollegiate teams build pride and institutional loyalty both in team members and fans. To think that we are unwilling to provide these opportunities for all students who are capable of engaging in these sports is something I find truly troubling.

Another factor that I think needs to be considered in connection with whether to establish a wheelchair basketball team at KU is the fact that KU has made a vigorous effort to attract military veterans to study here during the past decade. Unfortunately, a number of veterans who are now students have physical disabilities that are a result of their service.

Should these veterans be denied the opportunity to compete in intercollegiate sports because they served their countries and suffered permanent physical harm as a result? One need only look at the studies on rehabilitation techniques for disabled veterans to see how important sports can be to the process. As a university dedicated to recruiting and educating veterans, do we not have a moral obligation to ensure that they have every opportunity non-disabled students have to engage in sports as both fans and players?

With all due respect to the central administration, the point made by Mr. Monaco that there are “competing priorities” for the university and its budget does not mean that we should not have a wheelchair basketball team. The real question is where do the university’s priorities lie. I believe that providing equal opportunities for all KU students must be the university’s highest priority. If students are truly the university’s highest priority and we truly believe in diversity and equal educational opportunity, then I hope students, faculty and alumni will speak out and convince the KU administration to reverse its decision on wheelchair sports.

— Mike Hoeflich, a distinguished professor in the Kansas University School of Law, writes a regular column for the Journal-World.