The Gatepost Editorial: Accessibility isn’t optional

By The Gatepost Editorial Board If you ask any student on campus, they will be able to tell you about the slew of emails that have been sent out in the past week about elevator malfunctions in the Henry Whittemore Library and May Hall. The May Hall elevator has been permanently out of service since February 14 - with three prior outages earlier that week. It will continue to be out of service for the rest of the semester. The Whittemore Library elevator, on the other hand, is still in service, but has experienced a number of outages over the last few weeks - each lasting several hours. This elevator, the only one in the building that serves students, was closed Feb. 12 at 3:10 p.m. and didn’t reopen until 8:43 a.m. on Feb. 14. It was closed Feb. 26 from 1:33 p.m. to 4:07 p.m. It was closed on March 5 from 12:05 p.m. to 1:29 p.m. It was also closed on March 5 from 8:30 p.m. to March 6 at 2:48 p.m. The Gatepost Editorial Board appreciates the prompt notifications about the operational status of the elevators on campus. These breakdowns, unfortunately, should have been anticipated. The University had planned to update the May Hall elevator in the summer of 2026, according to Environmental Health and Safety Coordinator Maureen Fowler. May Hall’s elevator was installed in 1981. Several members of our editorial board have parents who rode the same elevator when they attended Framingham State. It’s not a stretch to say that an elevator installed in 1981 might be overdue for an update. While The Gatepost Editorial Board recognizes the administration did not expect a complete failure of the elevator, these repairs should have been set in motion long before the elevator became unreliable, which has been the case in recent years. In response to the elevator closure, some classes on the upper floors of May Hall have been moved to the library in order for students with disabilities to still be able to access their classrooms. This temporary solution isn’t entirely helpful if the library elevator also continues to fail every single week. This is not a solution for people who have mobility issues. Furthermore, there are more people on campus with disabilities than you may realize. Not everyone’s disabilities are visible, but that doesn’t mean they don’t require accommodations as well. Someone with asthma, for example, might not need assistance with mobility, but without an elevator, climbing up flights of stairs in May Hall or the library may be extremely difficult. Worse, it can negatively affect their health, impact their ability to arrive to class on time, or take their focus away from their lectures. Moving class locations is the right choice, and a good solution given the circumstances. But moving classes to a building that is also experiencing elevator issues is just perpetuating the problem for affected students. Especially for students enrolled in art courses, who have specialized tools, supplies, and workspaces that cannot be easily moved to another classroom - or even at all. Health and safety equipment is available on the fourth floor of May Hall, which allows students to safely use paints, inks, and other materials that could be harmful, such as fume hoods, which safely ventilate the space. Since no other building has proper art studios, students are effectively barred from using these materials, as they cannot be used anywhere without May Hall’s safety features. By not taking action to upgrade the May Hall elevator, the University is taking educational access away from students who have paid thousands of dollars to attend their classes. Framingham State students’ ability to attend class should not hinge on one 44-year-old elevator. Access to these classrooms is extremely important, and it is the University’s duty to provide it to all members of the community. Accessibility should not be a privilege. But it is starting to feel like one at FSU.