A UNC first-year student wheelchair user recently found herself stuck on the top floor of her building after the only elevator broke. She’s using her experience to call on UNC for better accessibility for all students.

Laura Saavedra Forero is a UNC first-year Morehead-Cain scholar from Charlotte. She’s a neuroscience major and lived on the fourth floor of Koury Residence Hall.

The weekend of February 26, Saavedra Forero planned to go to Campus Health after feeling sick. She found herself trapped on the fourth floor when the only elevator in the building was broken and there wasn’t a clear time when it would be fixed.

“Initially it started with 30 minutes to an hour,” Saavedra Forero said. “Then it was the end of the day. Then, I got a call from the community director saying that it was most likely going to be Tuesday.”

Saavedra Forero is a wheelchair user. The Morehead-Cain scholar said her mom drove from Charlotte to campus to be with her while the elevator was out of service. She said the university gave her three options during that time.

“Just stick it out and rely on others for everything I would need,” Saavedra Forero said. “They could get me out of the building to go to Campus Health and come back and then be stuck again. Or to move to Horton which was an isolation dorm and is now currently empty.”

Saavedra Forero ultimately decided to move across the street into Horton Residence Hall until the elevator was fixed. She said the time from her call to housing to leave the building until EMS was able to evacuate her with a specialized stair chair took about four hours.

EMS helps Laura Saavedra Forero into a stair chair to leave her fourth-floor residence hall room. (Photo courtesy of Laura Saavedra Forero)

EMS aids Laura Saavedra Forero down the stairs of her Koury Residence Hall. (Photo courtesy of Laura Saavedra Forero)

Once the first-year had temporarily moved into Horton, she was presented with two options: moving down two floors to the second floor of Koury or find off campus housing.

“I have already paid for Carolina Housing so I decided to move to the second floor to be somewhat closer,” Saavedra Forero said. “In case of an emergency one flight of stairs in the stair chair would be better than three. It’s clearly still not an accessible room and not one that I particularly feel safe in.”

Carolina Housing declined an interview with 97.9 The Hill. A statement from UNC Media Relations reads, “A safe and accessible campus is our priority, and we are committed to working through any accommodation requests or concerns that may arise.”

Saavedra Forero said it feels like the safety of herself and her fellow wheelchair users on campus is an afterthought.

“Being a disabled student at UNC is like another full-time job of self-advocacy,” Saavedra Forero said.

This isn’t the first time Saavedra Forero has questioned her safety at UNC. She described having to wait in the lobby of the fourth floor during multiple fire alarms before being told there was not a fire and her life was not in danger. The first-year said she’s also missed classes for weeks at a time because elevators in the building were broken. And when she was able to attend class sometimes there were no ADA desks.

“I am one of the biggest Carolina sports fans,” Saavedra Forero added. “[I] have rarely gotten to be part of the student section because obviously accessible seating is not often where the students are. I definitely think it’s made my Carolina experience something I didn’t necessarily expect.”

Saavedra Forero is currently assigned to the second floor of her residence hall for Fall 2022. Moving off campus is not really an option, she said, as living on campus is most accessible to her needs.

“I can’t compromise my safety,” Saavedra Forero said. “I don’t think its too much to ask for safe housing.”

She said she hopes that her and the seven other wheelchair users at UNC can see tangible change to make the campus truly accessible and equitable for everyone.

 

Photo via Carolina Housing

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