On the ground floor of Leiden University College (LUC) at Anna van Buerenplein in The Hague, students are walking through the entrance gates – but for bachelor’s student Avalon Leiman (25), that is not an option. Her wheelchair does not fit through the turnstiles. There is a door, but it only opens if you have the key or if there is a porter to open it for you. And sometimes, there is no porter on duty.
This occasionally leads to strange situations: ‘I’ve once had to crawl under the gate and drag my wheelchair along behind me. It ultimately took two years before I was given a key for the gates’, says Leiman.
It is a telling example of the figurative and literal thresholds she repeatedly encounters during her studies. When she moved to The Hague in 2019, she was able to move into one of the LUC residences. That changed when her deteriorating health required her to use a wheelchair. This posed a problem, as none of the rooms where LUC students are required to live for the first two years were suitable for Leiman. A few were wheelchair accessible, but not fully. Leiman: ‘You can get in with a wheelchair, but the kitchen, for example, isn’t adapted. I couldn’t shower or receive home care there, and I wasn’t allowed to have a service dog in training. So I had to move out.’
She now lives elsewhere in The Hague with her service dog in training, Olive, and is still studying at LUC. And although it is easier for her to get through the gates now, attending lectures is still not without barriers.
It starts with the ‘ramp of death’, as she calls the wheelchair ramp outside the building, where her wheelchair has slipped several times in the rain. But she also faces many bureaucratic obstacles. Due to her health, Leiman may sometimes be unable to attend a lecture because she needs to undergo an unplanned medical procedure or is physically unable to come to the faculty. It is also difficult for her to hold a pen for long periods or to type a lot.
Fortunately, adjustments can be made to accommodate this. On the advice of Fenestra, the network that supports students with disabilities, the Board of Examiners has agreed that Leiman will, among other things, be given extended deadlines, that attendance requirements will be relaxed, and that she will be allowed to take an oral exam if her health prevents her from sitting a written exam.
However, the decision of the Board of Examiners states that these provisions only apply ‘where possible and reasonable’. What constitutes ‘possible and reasonable’ is determined by the course lecturer. In Leiman’s case, this has sometimes resulted in her being effectively excluded from courses, as lecturers refuse to hold oral examinations or insist on strict attendance.
‘I’ve had lecturers who said: “I won't have you in my class because those extra adjustments are too much of a hassle.” I now only take courses where the lecturers accept my adjustments. I’ve asked several times if I could follow hybrid teaching, so I could join online when I can’t come to the faculty, but that’s not possible either. A shame, because during the pandemic, that wasn’t a problem.’
Because she is unable to take certain courses, she is having difficulty completing her minor in journalism. That is why she is currently looking at other universities for replacement courses that she would be able to take.
Other provisions within the LUC building also fail to meet Leiman’s needs. For example, she has to administer food and medication to herself every day via a tube in her abdominal wall and a catheter to her heart. This requires her to partially undress, and because of the risk of infection, it must be done in a clean room.
Leiman: ‘There is no first aid room here where I can do that in a clean and somewhat private manner. The nursing room is not wheelchair accessible and the toilets aren’t hygienic enough. So if I want to mix my tube feeds or inject medication, I have to do so in the open kitchen for staff, where everyone can see me. People find that disturbing or gross, and for me it’s humiliating to have to do that half-undressed in public. Sometimes there’s a spill and I have to undress even more. But I have to do it because I can’t starve myself or go without medication.’
The building’s inaccessibility also leads to exclusion. One of the LUC’s social hubs is the roof terrace on the fourth floor, where drinks parties and other events are often held. The only ways to access the roof terrace are via a staircase or a narrow corridor with high thresholds.
‘People sometimes offer to carry me over those thresholds, but that’s humiliating. I’ve repeatedly asked whether events could be held indoors, but my requests are ignored. There was also a Model United Nations event organised by Leiden MUN that I was supposed to chair, but I ended up not being able to attend because part of the event was held in places with lots of stairs and no accessible toilet. In the end, they said I was being difficult and kicked me out of the group chat without further explanation.’ Screenshots seen by Mare confirm this.
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Student dean Marcel Melchers is part of Fenestra, a network of student deans that supports students with disabilities.
‘About 12 per cent of students have a disability that hinders their studies. If a student asks for help, it goes through us. Our advice goes to the Board of Examiners, which then makes a decision.
‘The law stipulates that institutions must make adjustments provided that this does not require a disproportionate effort on the part of the institution.
‘But there can be no arbitrariness either. It shouldn’t be the case that one lecturer says that something is possible while another says it’s not. That only causes stress for students with disabilities.
‘Much has been improved, but it’s not yet ideal. For example, we used to have a lot more old buildings than we do now. New buildings and new technology can help remove obstacles. Steps are being taken, but unfortunately, there are also steps backwards sometimes.
'I would really like to see a dedicated exam building. Currently, all adjustments have to be arranged at the faculty level, which requires a lot of effort and causes a lot of hassle. In an exam building, everything could be prepared in advance for students with disabilities. That requires an investment, but it will pay off in the long run.
‘It would also be great if lectures were recorded. That way, you could watch the lectures from home and then rejoin in person when you’re feeling well enough to do so. Currently, if you have a period during which you’re housebound for a few weeks, you can quickly end up with six months of study delay.’
‘It’s an awful feeling to be permanently excluded. I don’t feel welcome or accepted. I’m reluctant to use the word discrimination, but that’s essentially what it is.’
And she is not the only one who has experienced this. A friend of mine who also studied in The Hague and used an electric wheelchair encountered a great many problems in Wijnhaven. We set up a sounding board group for people with different disabilities: visual impairments, autism, spinal cord injuries. We took a tour of all the FGGA buildings to see where improvements were needed.
‘These are often very simple things, such as installing a support rail in a toilet. We were promised that this would be done, but it was only partly followed through. We also made recommendations for the new Spuistraat building, but I don’t know what came of them. Such adjustments would be to everyone’s benefit. Anyone can become disabled, even just temporarily.’
The university’s sluggishness makes studying a real challenge.
‘I would very much like to stay here for my master’s: my friends and my home care network are all here. But I’m also looking at other universities. And looking back, if I had to choose again, I might have chosen somewhere other than Leiden.’
Mare asked the university to comment. ‘DUWO is responsible for LUC’s student housing’, says spokesperson Caroline van Overbeeke. ‘Several student rooms have been modified with automatic push buttons to open the doors to the room and to the lift hall. Two of these rooms are currently occupied. Home care and a service dog are in fact possible, and there is an accessible nursing room on the fourth floor.
Unfortunately, the roof terrace is not wheelchair accessible. Although no official university events are organised at this location, the terrace is an important social space for students, which is why there was a wish to make it accessible. Unfortunately, this turned out to be very expensive.
‘Our lecturers are responsible for assessing students against the objectives of a course. A pass mark can only be awarded if, at the end of the course, the student has demonstrated meeting those objectives, regardless of adjustments. Therefore, lecturers have some freedom to determine whether the adjustments can be implemented. At LUC, lecturers are instructed to take adjustments very seriously and, when implementation is not possible, to seek a solution in consultation with the student.’
In 2018, the university signed the UN Declaration of Intent for more inclusive education. When asked what has come of this intention since, Van Overbeeke replies: ‘Regular consultations take place at various levels to ensure that every student has equal access to education. If a staff member receives signals that a student feels they are not being treated inclusively, this is taken seriously and addressed. Of course, this happens in consultation with the students in question.
‘Real Estate has appointed an accessibility officer to provide input and advise the design team throughout the building design process. The recommendations from the sounding board group have been incorporated into the design of the Spui building. Once the building is completed, another review will take place. The recommendations for Wijnhaven and Anna van Bueren have led to adjustments in these buildings, such as support rails in the toilets and priority access to lifts.’
When asked, Leiden MUN responds that the conference was held in the Kamerlingh Onnes Building and that, according to the university, this building is accessible. Other locations where the event took place were also said to have been accessible. In addition, the organisation denies having told Leiman that she could no longer chair the event.