Students walk past Upham Hall everyday recognizing the building as one of Miami's trademarks. It could be argued as the most romantic area on campus due to the superstitions that surround the arch and the record number of couples who renewed their wedding vows beneath it last June. However, its picturesque image and romantic appeal quickly evaporate once inside the building. With halls that are difficult to navigate, randomly situated steps and recent construction, finding a classroom in Upham can be a difficult task. What most students do not realize, however, is that navigating these halls with a disability that affects mobility is far more difficult.
This is often referred to as "able bodied privilege," meaning that those who are without a mobility disability do not recognize the boundaries faced by those with them. For example, if you are late to class and take a short cut down a path with stairs, you do not stop to think that someone with a mobility disability would be unable to take this shortcut. The same goes for Upham Hall. When walking to class, one does not even consider the three random steps that block the middle of the hall. These steps come in awkward places and are only occasionally located next to a ramp. Where the mini stairways are not accompanied by a ramp, as in places on the third floor, a person with a mobility disability is forced to backtrack, take an elevator to the second floor, cross the hallways on the second floor and then take another elevator back to the third floor.
However, one would need to locate an accessible entrance into the building in order to know this in the first place. As one such entrance is currently located near construction, it is difficult to find. A second entrance near the greenhouse outside Upham claims to be an accessible entrance. However, there is no button to push to automatically open the doors and therefore, despite an available ramp, it is difficult to get into the building.
Fortunately, another accessible entrance will be revealed once the current construction on Upham is completed, according to the February 19, 2010 Miami Student article "Upham Hall transforms to changing academic needs." Until then, however, students should be mindful of the inaccessible maze that is Upham Hall.
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