One of the things I miss most about home is my grandmother. This August, she braved swollen feet, chronic pain and a 6-hour plane flight just to see Duke’s campus. I was most excited to show her around, giving her a glimpse of my life for the next four years.
However, as I tried to maneuver her wheelchair through mazes of stairs, sidewalks that close in and a ride on a golf cart just to get her to Marketplace, I quickly realized that she would never experience this space the same way I did.
In that sense, Duke’s campus remains inaccessible not only to my grandmother but to so many others — people with disabilities or mobility differences, older visitors, injured individuals or even families with strollers. For a school that prides itself on who it includes, Duke’s vision of the “best and brightest” is restricted to only those who are physically able to cross its barriers…