When entering SciLi, Jonathan Sigworth ’10 has to maneuver his wheelchair at the perfect angle, then swing around as he opens the door. It’s a move that he has perfected over the course of the year as the only student on campus in a wheelchair.

While Sigworth still encounters small challenges on a daily basis, the main priority for administrators working with students who have physical disabilities is accessibility—both in terms of making campus physically navigable and in making themselves as available as possible to students.

“[The administrators] were very helpful,” he said. “Dean [of the Class of 2010] Phillips was a good contact because he had a family member that had a similar injury, so he understood.”

Because Sigworth applied to Wesleyan prior to the accident that left him paralyzed, he did not consider wheelchair accessibility.

“Over the summer [before freshman year], I came and evaluated the campus,” Sigworth said. “I was like, ‘Oh, Wesleyan is really hilly.’”

Despite the obvious hilliness, Physical Plant tries to ensure that all buildings are up to the standards of the American’s with Disabilities Act [ADA]. All new buildings are built in accordance with these criteria.

“All of Fayerweather and Usdan University Center will be accessible,” said Associate Vice President for Facilities Joyce Topshe.

Fauver Frosh Hall, along with Clark, Fauver Apartments, and Hewitt 9, make up the wheelchair-accessible dorms on campus. In order to ensure that students with physical disabilities are placed in dorms that can accommodate their specific needs, Assistant Director of Residential Life Melissa Powers speaks extensively with students before they the arrive on campus.

“[Powers] is great,” said Associate Dean of Student Academic Resources Sarah Lazare, who works with students with disabilities. “She takes people to the places where they can live and knows all of the right questions to ask.”

Despite these efforts to accommodate students with physical disabilities in residential spaces, many dorms on campus are completely inaccessible.

“There are ramps all around the Butts, so you can get around outside,” Sigworth said. “But there is no way to actually get into the dorms.”

In the past few years, many buildings have been renovated with increased accessibility in mind.

“The Memorial Chapel and ’92 Theater were renovated several years ago, and one of the primary goals was handicap accessibility,” Topshe said. “To meet that goal we built the Zelnick Pavilion and transformed the interiors of both buildings to make the spaces accessible to all.”

In the last couple of years, Physical Plant has added wheelchair ramps to Davidson Art Center, Russell House, 285 Court Street, and Malcolm X House, among many other buildings.

Topshe said that in her almost seven years working with Physical Plant, she has not received many complaints about handicap accessibility, and when she does receive criticism, things are taken care of.

“In every case, we have quickly made accommodations to address very specific accessibility needs for students, faculty, and staff,” she said.

Sigworth has found this to be true. Though most of the necessary accessibility changes were made before he arrived on campus, those problems that Sigworth did encounter during the school year were quickly resolved.

With lifts in MoCon and PAC, as well as his own secret entrance into Olin, Sigworth has been satisfied overall with campus accessibility for his specific needs.

“The University has been good at accommodating my needs, but I don’t think the campus overall is well adapted,” he said. “This is only because I’m the first student to necessitate such changes.”

The newly acquired medical van, which has a wheelchair lift, is available from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and during the hours that the medical van does not operate, Sigworth can call the RIDE and ask them to pick him up in the medical van.

“It works rather well,” Sigworth said. “[The van] has definitely been a great help.”

When he doesn’t want to take the van, Sigworth says that students are happy to push him around campus.

“They’re glad to get the exercise,” he said.

The University is currently working on a few handicap accessibility projects, from installing wheelchair accessible bathrooms into Exley to widening sidewalks.

“The sidewalks on the north and east sides of Center for African American Studies from the Malcolm X driveway to the Davison Health Center driveway are being replaced within the next week,” said Associate Director of Physical Plant Roseann Sillasen.

Such ongoing projects reflect an increased awareness of diverse accessibility requirements.

“[Issues of handicap accessibility] seem to be on the top of everybody’s mind, which is really refreshing to see as an administrator of disabilities services,” Lazare said.