Redefining Access at Trinity College

The students of Disruptive Bodies: Disability as Method (ANTH306)

Our class, “Disruptive Bodies,” has spent the last semester engaging in disability studies and anthropological conversations about structural violence, processes of disablement and the social construction of the body. We are a collective of students from diverse academic backgrounds, identities and abilities. After taking the course, we have committed ourselves to the common goal of restructuring access on Trinity’s campus. Throughout the duration of the course, we dedicated a portion of each class to investigating distinct dimensions of accessibility at Trinity and the barriers that inhibit campus well-being. Through our discussions, we have redefined access, described the barriers to access and promoted solutions for Trinity College’s campus. 

We define access at Trinity as the equitable distribution of resources that enable all community members to comfortably and unrestrictedly meet their personal goals. We believe that all community members must have their needs met, which means having abundant and individually-appropriate resources, infrastructure, environment and opportunities, without being limited by physical, cognitive, financial, cultural, mental or otherwise disruptive barriers. True accessibility requires cultivating access intimacy within an interdependent community that rejects ableist valuations. This represents a shift from legal compliance to a justice-oriented mindset that views students as complex individuals rather than as problems to be fixed. These principles of access must be applied dynamically to all aspects of life at Trinity.  

We reject the Student Accessibility Resource Center’s (SARC’s) practice of giving a limited range of approved accommodations to the limited population of students able to obtain special documentation. We reject this model of access as ableist and harmful to all students, but especially those identifying as certainly, potentially, chronically or temporarily disabled. Access in the classroom means both the ability to physically be in the space and the opportunity to participate intellectually on equal terms. It challenges narrow ideas of intelligence, often shaped by exclusionary norms, and instead emphasizes that all students should be supported in contributing meaningfully.  

Trinity prides itself on being an inclusive community, but the barriers students face tell a different story. From the classroom to the counseling center, structural inequities shape who can fully participate in campus life and who cannot. Consider academics first: standardized assessments fail to capture the full range of students’ abilities, and the course registration system compounds this by prioritizing upper-level students, leaving first-years and sophomores locked out of courses critical to their intellectual development. Students who need accommodations face another dilemma: without access to evaluations due to cost, logistics, cultural stigma or other circumstances, SARC may never recognize their needs at all, regardless of how real they are. Physical access is no better. Dorm buildings lack ramps; doorways often cannot fit wheelchairs; and bathrooms privilege binary genders and stereotypical, limited understandings of what those bodies need. Beyond buildings, Trinity’s terrain of uneven paths, mud, poorly maintained walkways and constant stairs demands disproportionate physical and mental effort from students with mobility challenges. Accessible routes, where they exist, are frequently longer, adding friction to tasks that should be routine. Social life carries its own barriers. Inaccessible venues, late-night event culture, off-campus gatherings that require a car and sensorily overwhelming environments exclude students before they can even arrive. Layered on top are sociocultural barriers: stigma around mental health and substance use, rigid social hierarchies organized by class and race and pressure to conform to a narrow set of norms. Even when students seek help and counseling the wellness center greets them with wait times, limited biweekly availability and attendance policies that penalize missed sessions. These are instances of ableist practices at Trinity, and Trinity has the power to change them. For Trinity College to achieve true accessibility across all parts of campus life, it must move beyond its current minimal infrastructure toward a framework rooted in disability justice and universal access to honor the diverse physical, cognitive and financial realities of its student body. With these principles in mind, we have some suggested changes. Our counseling center should expand: students’ needs will be better served by more appointments, diverse therapeutic modalities and year-round access. The 10-minute period between classes must be extended so that students with different mobility needs can safely travel across campus. Beyond academics, Trinity’s social and residential infrastructure requires dramatic change. For residential life, amenities must be redesigned to address the inadequate bathroom-to-resident ratio and overall accessibility issues, including the two-week HVAC rotation system (extreme temperatures disproportionately harm disabled and chronically ill people). Socially, belonging is currently offered only to those who fit narrow ability norms, as evidenced by exclusion from social groups, events and gatherings; addressing this requires broad student commitment to challenge these exclusionary patterns. Ultimately, a liberatory practice demands a cultural shift; faculty and administration must actively disrupt ableist, exclusionary academic norms, honor diverse ways of communicating and cultivate an interdependent community where access is woven into the fabric of the institution.