Pioneer in Purdue campus’s accessibility leaves strong legacy

Publication Date: 11/18/2009

Betty M. Nelson

Guest Columnist

People come and go. The campus changes. Yesterday’s issues are resolved, and we assume that the world has always been as good as it is today. We identify new problems to address and work on them with gusto. And life goes on.

On Oct. 26 Sharon Arvin Byrkett, 63, died at St. Francis Hospital in Indianapolis. It is likely that few at Purdue noticed the obituary and, if they did, they had no idea about the huge impact Sharon had on this campus specifically and on the Purdue system in general. Even though her name is not inscribed anywhere on campus, Sharon was a determined change agent who left a deep and permanent mark on the institution.

Both Sharon and her younger sister Janie were born with muscular dystrophy and were wheelchair users. They grew up on a farm near Mulberry, east of Lafayette. In addition to their home chores, they were engaged in the usual assortment of youth activities through their church, school and the larger community. The chairs slowed them but didn’t keep them from being thoroughly involved.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was passed by Congress, and Section 504 of the legislation was specific in delineating that “no otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States � shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance or under any program or activity conducted by any Executive agency ... For the purposes of this section, the term ‘program or activity’ means all of the operations of � a college, university or other postsecondary institution, or a public system of higher education.”

For Sharon Arvin, The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was as significant as a major earthquake along the Madrid Fault! Sharon wanted an opportunity for a college degree but knew that she needed the support of her family initially to be able to attend classes – she was not yet ready for an independent-living arrangement. Sharon and Janie and a group of friends who also used wheelchairs wanted to enroll in Purdue classes – some had waited years to attend athletic events and began purchasing football and basketball tickets. Others were eager to attend events in the Hall of Music and wanted to remain seated in their wheelchairs. Some wanted to participate in student organization activities. All needed to purchase a student parking permit from the PUPD.

What a challenge for everyone! At that time there was no way for a person with a significant mobility disability to access the campus: no curb cuts, few elevators, no accessible seating in athletic facilities, few accessible restrooms, no ramp into the PUPD, no adapted and designated parking pads for wheelchairs in the Hall of Music, no ramped entrance into Stewart Center, and few handicapped parking places throughout the campus. At every turn there was an impediment to campus access.

In her civil, persistent, positive manner, Sharon led a movement that changed the face of the Purdue campus and the attitudes of many administrators, faculty members, service providers and students. Sharon spearheaded a few specific changes.

She helped organize and lead the first three or four annual Handicapped Awareness Days on campus – she persuaded administrators, faculty, student leaders and Physical Plant workers to “accept” an assigned disability and live a day coping with blindness, a hearing impairment, using crutches or a wheelchair. A student with a disability accompanied each faux disabled person as he/she tried to accomplish the given assignments. The group gathered again late afternoon to process the experience they had had – what a powerful learning opportunity!

As designs were drawn for various building modifications, Sharon and some of her group met with the planners to talk through the modifications; when projects were in process, the group was again consulted about the changes. When a project was finished, Sharon and her cadre of students were invited to visit and critique its effectiveness.

Always on the lookout for the next set of impediments, Sharon was not shy presenting new issues to be resolved.

Sharon easily won the hearts of Purdue staff in Physical Facilities, PUPD, Space Management, the Hall of Music, her academic adviser, the Office of the Dean of Students – her success was our success.

Much of the physical access one sees today on our campus began with the momentum Sharon Arvin developed when she was an undergraduate student at Purdue. Before she transferred to IUPUI for her degree in Social Work, Sharon was able to attend a Christmas Show, use the women’s restroom in FWA-4, access Hovde Hall via the new lift on the Ground Floor, enter Stewart Center to attend meetings, and park reasonably close to her classes. Because of these changes for students and employees with mobility limitations, the grounds crew can move the mowers across curbs, parents can push their strollers from one sidewalk to the next, the left-handed student can find a desk with a left arm, the student with the temporary cast can get a schedule adjustment, and I can push a blue wall pad with my elbow when I have a heavy load and get help with a door. What the University did for Sharon and her peers benefits everyone on campus sooner or later.

Sharon made her years count – she used her short lifetime for advocacy work for people with disabilities. In addition to her employment at the Resource Center for Independent Living and Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana, Sharon served on the Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities where she chaired the Community Living Committee; she was a delegate to the National Council for People with Disabilities. She served several terms as chair for IndyGo’s Mobility Advisory Committee, was a support group facilitator for MDA, participated in the Komen’s Race for the Cure, and was on the board for the Indiana Association for People in Supported Employment and for Easter Seals. Sharon was recognized with the Outstanding Achievement Award for MDA and more recently the James Pauley Lifetime Service Award.

Sharon Arvin Byrkett, Purdue pioneer, surely would understand and appreciate the words from one of the poems by Amelia Earhart, another Purdue pioneer: “Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.”

Betty M. Nelson is Dean of Students Emerita and may be reached through the opinions desk at opinions@purdueexponent.org.