About the Author
CODE BESCHLER (HE/THEY)
Code Beschler is an undergraduate fellow in the Global Arts and Humanities 2024-25 Society of Fellows cohort. He is currently majoring in anthropology and minoring in philosophy, continuing to the MA in comparative studies upon graduation. A disabled student himself, his research explores how disabled philosophy can inform cultural values, social infrastructure and care ethics. Outside of his fellowship work, Beschler also contributes to projects on museum accessibility and the intersections of disability and HIV.
Project Overview
This project explores the history of disability activism and access at The Ohio State University — from its revolutionary roots to its current decline. While emphasizing the value of self-made access, resistance and mutual aid by and for disabled Buckeyes, this project explores how and why institutions change their approach to accessibility. This work presents the progression of disability movements at Ohio State and argues for moving beyond compliance towards embracing collective care, liberatory access and disability justice.
Introduction
There is a long and varied history of disability advocacy on Ohio State’s Columbus campus, from the 1960s through today. For the past 65+ years, students, faculty, staff and community members have worked to increase access for disabled Buckeyes. Some access issues recur over time — such as snow-covered sidewalks or blocked access ramps — while other inaccessibility concerns emerged with new technology. While people tend to think only of physical accessibility or legal compliance, access extends beyond this.
Access should be approached as an ongoing practice, philosophy and negotiation between people, space and time. Different people have different access needs, meaning that we must continuously attend to the world around us to create access in the moment. This raises an ethical question: who is responsible for access? Traditionally, this responsibility has fallen upon the disabled individual to call ahead, request accommodations or simply manage their own support needs as they arise. Legislation requires certain institutions to meet minimal accessibility standards, but many of these standards still rely on the self-advocacy of the individual with access needs. In my experience, however, creating access is a community effort that requires more than structural support from institutions and individual support from the disabled person.
The following page provides an abridged disability history at The Ohio State University, highlighting key themes of each decade. Activism and leadership by disabled students, faculty and staff has led to increased visibility, recognition and access for all. Many histories are told through the perspective of institutional policy. This history, instead, focuses on the interpersonal care that recognized, illuminated and fought institutional neglect. This is a story by Disabled Buckeyes, for Disabled Buckeyes, and it is not yet complete.
A note on language (content warning): Ableist language and/or slurs appear in the titles of various committees, programs and offices. These terms are only included to reflect the titles used at the time and are no longer widely used or considered acceptable by the disability community. To learn more about proper language for referring to disability, please visit the Disability Language Style Guide.
A Timeline of Disability History at The Ohio State University
Self-Made Access and Student Solidarity
While disabled Ohio State students received some institutional support through Affirmative Action policies, most early access was created by individual students and faculty members. At the time, there were few physically-accessible buildings, no official disability services and only a handful of professors teaching on the subject. However, disabled students did exist on campus, and they depended on the support of others. This support was typically found in faculty and staff, personal care attendants or simply other students who recognized this need. For example, Julie Cochran Rogers, Richard “Dick” Maxwell and Jean A. Williams were all wheelchair users carried up and down the steps of Ohio State buildings by fraternities or family members. Rogers and Maxwell went on to become long-term disability advocates at Ohio State.
This support extended beyond physical disability, with blind students like Jim Sayre and Jim Tobin receiving support from fraternities, sororities and professors. Tobin received study support from the Delta Gamma sorority, while Sayre and other students with disabilities benefited from the adapted sports program, originally developed to assist disabled World War II veterans. Dr. Walter F. Ersing ran the program in the 1960s, creating individual approaches for each student. These early advocates for access brought awareness to the needs of the disability community, eventually leading to the establishment of some institutional support for community members.
The Beginnings of Access
While disabled students existed on campus for decades, official support from the university did not appear until Dr. Viola Cassidy, Dr. Walter F. Ersing and Dr. George Wooster submitted a proposal for a “Program to Coordinate the Activities for Disabled Students at The Ohio State University” in 1970. This report laid out a number of recommendations, including the development of an office dedicated to disability services and broader awareness efforts by the university. This same year, Campus Planning, with the help of the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity, began assessing the physical accessibility of the Columbus campus, noting a severe lack of curb cuts and elevators. The senior classes of 1972, 1973 and 1974 raised money to fund the removal of these barriers, amounting to over $125,000.
The early 1970s saw a rapid expansion of disability support services, including the introduction of a braille output machine and the establishment of the Library for the Blind. Disability services was formally established in October 1970, and adapted transit (now Paratransit) services were established in 1973, allowing students with disabilities to travel across campus. Two students, Charles Schwartzmann and Thomas Rickett, developed braille maps of campus in November of 1973.
In 1974, President Harold L. Enarson appointed the University Task Force on the Physically Impaired to review campus accessibility and university programs for people with disabilities. The Task Force was comprised of disabled students, disabled faculty, and long-term disability advocates in the campus community. Their recommendations included the appointment of a part-time staff member focused on disability awareness and the establishment of the Office for the Physically Impaired (OPI), now called Student Life Disability Services (SLDS). The first acting director of OPI was Nancy J. Brower, the part-time staffer hired at the beginning of 1974.
While these structural adjustments increased physical access significantly, the Task Force Report noted two prominent gaps in access: a lack of educational accessibility and discriminatory social attitudes. The Office for the Physically Impaired was established, in part, to remedy these gaps, with one main goal “to render the university operationally, instructionally, socially, and architecturally accessible.”
Increased Visibility
Brower ushered in a new era of access as the Director of the Office for the Physically Impaired, building upon the advocacy of the early 70s. Disability Services was absorbed into OPI in 1976, combining the efforts made by both departments. In 1977, a Self-Evaluation Task Force was developed to evaluate Ohio State's compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. This Task Force had 12 members, including three disabled students, and was comprised of three subcommittees: structural access, programmatic access, and employment practices. This scoping review of access was unheard of at the time, demonstrating Ohio State’s leading role in educational access. The 504 Report provided a list of recommendations beyond the 1974 Task Force Report, including adaptive athletic programs, attendant care, and wheelchair repair, among others. Several of these recommendations were implemented, but many have since been revoked or remain untouched.
The Affirmative Action Committee sought to formally include disability in their recruitment strategies and students with learning disabilities were eligible for disability services starting in 1977. By 1980, the Physically Impaired and Handicapped Advisory Committee had five subcommittees with over 25 members. OPI provided recognition awards to roughly 100 student volunteers annually beginning in 1977, and a rider representative program for adapted transit began in 1978. Graduate student Susan von Gruenigen developed updated braille and tactile maps for use by blind students in 1980. OPI also published an access guide outlining accessible buildings and pathways starting in 1978, and published the Handycap Newsletter, a newsletter created by and for students with disabilities, from 1975 to 1981.
As visibility grew, students were more vocal about the lack of institutional support. In a 1979 interview, Raymond Byrd, a blind social work student, stated, “First you are disabled, and then the university further handicaps you by making you depend on its inadequate service.” Byrd served on several Ohio State access committees in the 1980s, using his perspective to assist future disabled students.
Service Expansion
The Office for the Physically Impaired was renamed the Office of Disability Services (ODS), and Warren King, also a wheelchair user, became Director in 1981. The number of disabled students more than doubled between 1981 and 1983, with 447 permanently disabled students, 350 temporarily disabled students and 110 disabled faculty and staff. King created a Consumer Advisory Council for ODS with student representatives in 1983 and disability services expanded to regional campuses in 1984.
Communication between disabled and nondisabled students continued to impede community support and complete access. Disabled Lantern writer Tom Havener noted, “The real problems with being handicapped are the attitudinal barriers put in place by a society which feels uncomfortable with anything or anyone out of the ordinary.” He noted that access is not an act of charity, but an investment in the future. Opinions about accessibility at Ohio State varied. In the October 7, 1986 edition of the Lantern, campus planner Jean Hansford claimed the campus was in the top three most accessible campuses in the nation. Right below this article is a piece about George Lindsey, an electric wheelchair user who was arrested for riding down I-71 due to a lack of accessible transit in Columbus. He claimed that Ohio State's accessibility has “come a long way” but also “has a long way to go.”
In 1986, ODS moved from Baker Systems Engineering to Pomerene Hall. There were 995 students registered with disability services, and the adapted transit service made over 25,000 trips. Registered students had access to accessibility guides and maps, adaptive transportation, testing accommodations, priority scheduling and disability parking. Students could receive interpretation services but reportedly had difficulty finding and keeping interpreters. The office had many volunteers, but not enough to provide one-on-one services like textbook reading and test-taking. In 1988, President Jennings announced that all departments must cut costs — including the Office of Disability Services.
The Resurgence of Student Activism
In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was being debated in Washington DC. The bill is and was a monumental piece of legislation for individuals with disabilities, extending civil rights protections like accommodations and public access. Ohio State’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) and disabled student Gayle Fox organized a two-day letter campaign called “Operation Equality” to send letters in support of the ADA. After the bill’s passing, Fox sent a letter of thanks to the Ohio State community, stating “it is refreshing to know that the people in our democracy have the capacity to make a difference and experience change for the betterment of society” [emphasis in original].
In 1993, Students for Disability Awareness (SDA) was formed. This was the first student organization focused specifically on the disability community and still exists today as Buckeyes for Accessibility. When the Multicultural Center (renamed the Center for Belonging and Social Change in 2022) was proposed, SDA argued that disabled students should be included in the center’s programming. This sparked much debate across campus, with some arguing the Multicultural Center should be an “umbrella of diversity” and others arguing there should be two different centers, one for ethnicity and another for lifestyle. Michael Scarce, a women’s studies major, stated, “It is important to not force individuals to prioritize different aspects of their lives or choose one identity over another,” promoting one center for all groups. Disabled students were initially named in the center’s programming, but this inclusion disappeared by the early 2000s.
In 1994, President Gee met with Students for Disability Awareness to discuss concerns about accessibility, which led to the administration suggesting a required course on disability awareness for all students, which unfortunately was never enacted. This same year, Gee appointed a Students with Disabilities Task Force, leading to a 200-page report of Ohio State's accessibility completed in 1995. This report was never made public, and the only known remaining copy now sits in the ADA Coordinator’s office. SDA began lobbying for the university to hire an ADA Coordinator in 1998, and the university finally began their search in 1999.
A New Coordinator, Conference, and Compliance
In 2000, ten years after the passing of the ADA, Ohio State became the last of the Big Ten to hire an ADA Coordinator, L. Scott Lissner. He remains the ADA Coordinator 25 years later, serving Ohio State's campuses and the Wexner Medical Center. He joined Ohio State with 11 years of accessibility experience and immediately began assessing Ohio State’s 800+ buildings to make recommendations for remodel. His office hosted the first Multiple Perspectives Conference in 2001, and it will be hosting its 25thconference this year. New digital options, such as e-textbooks and audiobooks expanded some disability services. Ohio State had a website by the early 2000s, but digital accessibility was not yet a priority. The Web Accessibility Center was established in 2000, but it did not have a full-time director until 2005.
There were many movements toward greater visibility for disabled students on campus, including the addition of American Sign Language and Disability Studies minors in 2003. In 2004, the Lantern published a three-part series analyzing the accessibility of campus. For example, they conducted a small accessibility audit of 25 buildings on campus, finding that many of the automatic doors did not work, the restrooms were not actually accessible even when marked as such and furniture was blocking entries and hallways. A separate article outlined the frustrations with ongoing construction on campus impeding access for disabled students. The Disability Votes Coalition was founded in 2006, helping disabled students register to vote and learn their voting rights.
Access as Compliance
In 2012, The Ohio State University was listed as an ADA-plus college, meaning it exceeded ADA standards, a title given to only 177 out of the roughly 2,500 universities in the United States. However, ADA compliance does not equal full access. Disabled student Paul Valasquez said that Ohio State still has room for improvement, such as more communication with faculty and better processes for student note-takers. “What we have is nice, but Ohio State prides itself on being great,” he stated in an interview in 2012. “We could be better with disability access and awareness.” Assistive technology expanded with a $7.5K grant in 2012, increasing the number of accessible computers from 16 to over 1,000.
The Office for Disability Services was renamed to Student Life Disability Services in 2014 and moved to Baker Hall in 2016. The university and the Disability Studies Graduate Student Association held a yearlong exploration of access in 2015 to mark the 25-year anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The event focused on awareness and equity for students with disabilities. Disabled program coordinator, Katherine Betts, noted, “One of the areas where I believe OSU struggles is continuing to define our commitment to disability through a framework of compliance when as a university we need to move toward full inclusion.”
In 2017, the Web Accessibility Center was renamed to the Digital Accessibility Center. They created the Digital Accessibility Coordinator role, of which there are over 150 today. In 2019, the Wexner Center for the Arts officially developed an Accessibility Manager position for Helyn Marshall after nearly 15 years of access work at the center. The Multiple Perspectives Conference established an award in Marshall’s name after her passing in 2023.
Access as Justice
In 2020, Student Life Disability Services was tasked with accommodations during the COVID-19 pandemic, assisting with the transfer to remote-only instruction and other COVID-related policy. Nationwide, Disability Justice stepped into the spotlight due to increased visibility from the pandemic, and community everywhere moved online. Buckeyes for Accessibility (previously Students for Disability Awareness, Unity, and Abilities) aimed to bring the disability community together and create a much-needed resource by auditing the Columbus campus and making an access map. The process took over three years, eventually stagnating when the university refused to endorse the project. Ohio State utilized some of the available mapping information to add accessible entrances to the Ohio State App in 2022.
Undergraduate Student Government passed a resolution in 2021 and again in 2023 to establish a Disability Emissary Seat with full support of the representatives in attendance. Deputy director of USG’s Sustainability Committee and resolution sponsor Alex Poling noted, “I think I’ve really learned a lot in the past year about what disabled students actually deserve and how different that is from what we’re getting.” The Center for Belonging and Social Change promoted a Disability Connections group in 2023, but, due to funding concerns, CBSC combined all community connections groups in 2024, before being closed in February 2025.
The Lantern continues to cover stories related to accessibility on Ohio State's campus. Several topics arise every year or two, including difficulty finding accessible housing, struggles with snow and ice every winter and frustrations over electric scooters blocking sidewalks and ramps. However, disability visibility in general is on the rise. As of March 2025, there are over 25 disability-focused student organizations at Ohio State. The Council of Graduate Students held the first Accessibility Stakeholder’s Symposium in the fall of 2024, with plans to continue this annually. Over 7,000 disabled students are served by 13 Access Specialists at SLDS and the Exam Testing Center has expanded to better serve those with testing accommodations.
The Future of Access at Ohio State
There are many parallels between the concerns of the past and the present. Instead of bikes blocking access ramps, there are now electric scooters. Construction still impedes access for many students, whether it is closing sidewalks or shutting down elevators. A lack of funding, resources and awareness is ever present. Yet, time and time again, students fight through the inaccessibility of campus and make their own resources, community and access. Disabled students, faculty and staff were behind nearly every access improvement at The Ohio State University.
Ohio State has now had over 50 years to attend to access issues, and many remain unresolved. In fact, some of the early accessibility features of campus are now gone; no longer are there campus access guides, braille maps or Paratransit rider representatives. Programs appear and then swiftly disappear, like CBSC’s Disability Connections or USG’s Operation Equality. What remains, who remains, are students. Students developed a braille map, then a tactile map, then an access map. While these projects are impressive and have helped countless disabled Buckeyes, it points out a glaring discrepancy. If these resources appear again and again, clearly there is a need for them. Students continue to create forums for discussion, call for committees, develop awareness campaigns and make maps. Hundreds of students over a 50-year time frame have asked for the same things again and again.
Ohio State used to be a beacon of progress for disabled students across the United States, but recent polls place it below other large universities. Ohio State was not mentioned in New Mobility’s Top 20 Most Wheelchair-Friendly Colleges, and Johns Hopkins University gave Ohio State in “D” in Disability Inclusion, only receiving a 5/20 in accessibility. While early accessibility work surpassed expectations, this work decreased as the university began to view access as a legal requirement rather than an ethical responsibility. However, disabled students, faculty and staff continue to fight for equal access at Ohio State and beyond. To truly embrace access, we must follow the lead of disabled Buckeyes and focus on how to ensure inaccessibility never happens again.
“I want us to think beyond just knowing the “right things to say” and be able to truly engage. I want us to not only make sure things are accessible but also work to transform the conditions that created that inaccessibility in the first place. To not only meet the immediate needs of access—whether that is access to spaces, or access to education and resources, or access to dignity and agency—but also work to make sure that the inaccessibility doesn’t happen again.”
From “Disability Justice is Simply Another Term for Love,” by Mia Mingus
