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109th
24 YEAR
Monday, March 11, 2019
administration
community
UMD has enacted 30 recs from FB reports They offered guidance after Jordan McNair’s death A co m m i t tee ta s ke d with implementing recommendations from two investigations into the University of Maryland’s football program said it’s almost reached that goal. After offensive lineman Jordan McNair suffered fatal heatstroke at a May team workout, one investigation looked into the circumstances surrounding his death, while the other scrutinized the school’s football culture. At its first meeting Wednesday, the committee said it has accomplished 18 of 20 pieces of guidance from the first report and 12 of 21 from the latter. In the coming months, the six-member committee of higher education and athletics professionals — chaired by former system Chancellor William “Brit” Kirwan — will examine the rest of the recommendations: establishing an athletic medical review board and a model for supervising athletic trainers and therapists in line with best practices. But it’s not just about putting the recommendations into place. “We’re looking to learn further and make sure nothing like this ever happens again,” said athletic director Damon Evans. The two separate reports found university athletic trainers failed to recognize and properly treat McNair’s symptoms in time, and the football program had fostered an abusive culture, largely due to a lack of organizational structure and oversight. Among the steps the university has taken are making cold water immersion tubs available at every practice, updating emergency action plans and having “trauma bags” — medical kits packed with thermometers, oxygen masks, tanks and other supplies — immediately on hand, said David Klossner, the university’s director of sports performance. Evans said members of an athletic medical review board — consisting of surgeons, psychiatrists and doctors from other disciplines — would be announced in the coming weeks. That board, which will convene in the next few months, will aim to examine student health from a medical perspective. Rod Walters, the sports medicine consultant who led the first investigation into the by
Arya Hodjat @arya_kidding_me Staff writer
Many CAMPUS BATHROOMS have been made accessible for community members with disabilities, but nearly 100 buildings still need restroom renovations. jillian atelsek/for the diamondback
‘A basic necessity’ Some of UMD’s bathrooms are not accessible enough for students and faculty with disabilities By Victoria Ebner | @victoria_ebner | Staff writer
W
herever Marieh Arnett goes on the University of Maryland’s campus, she knows that a trip to the bathroom will take as much as 20 minutes. “If I have class, I’m like, ‘I’m gonna be 20 minutes late,’” Arnett laughed. “I was once even late for an exam.” The senior psychology and statistics major, who has spinal muscular atrophy and uses a wheelchair, said there are a variety of problems that make her trips to the bathroom inconvenient. Among the issues Arnett encounters are soap dispensers that are out of reach, heavy doors that are nearly impossible for her to open without a button and “handicapped” stalls that don’t fit her wheelchair. Arnett, and other university community members with physical disabilities, said they’ve faced problems with the current levels of accessibility that make everyday tasks, like taking a trip to the bathroom, a struggle. Numerous bathrooms at this university aren’t fully accessible, and some of the ones that meet the university’s accessibility standard still present obstacles for students with disabilities. “Going to the bathroom is a basic neces-
sity,” Arnett said. “You really shouldn’t have to put this much thought in it.” The university first formally tackled accessibility issues in its 2000 Accessibility and Disability Transition Plan, a document dedicated to outlining a plan for ongoing accessibility projects. The plan was updated in 2010 and 2013, and since the latter year, the university has completed $1.92 million in restroom reconstruction, according to its 2016 report. “We work to maintain, upgrade, and plan facility spaces that accommodate the various needs of our community,” a
still need some sort of renovation, such as door replacements, widened doorways and automatic door buttons. Some of the buildings on the list of those awaiting bathroom upgrades are prominent locations such as the Health Center, the Main Administration Building and McKeldin Library. The Americans with Disabilities Act does not require all of these buildings to be accessible. The university’s transition plan cites Title II, Section 35.150 of the ADA, which stipulates that a public entity “when viewed in its entirety” must be “readily accessible to and usable by” those with disabilities — but the entity doesn’t need to “make each of its existing facilities accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.”
“Going to the bathroom is a basic necessity. You really shouldn’t have to put this much thought in it.” - SENIOR PSYCHOLOGY AND STATISTICS STUDENT MARIEH ARNETT
university spokesperson wrote on Facilities Management’s behalf. But the 2016 report also listed nearly 100 buildings — including residence and dining halls as well as fraternity houses — with restrooms that aren’t accessible and
See recommendations, p. 2
Rather, the ADA mandates that the university have a transition plan to ensure that it’s on track to remove physical barriers to accessibility. In a statement, a spokesperson said the university has “corrected many physical
See BATHROOMs, p. 3
DIVERSITY
Final VPDI candidates make their case for the position Georgina Dodge is currently the chief diversity officer at Bucknell by
Georgina
“What happens to the
Angela Roberts Dodge told least of us, happens to all @24_angier members of of us,” Dodge told a crowd Senior staff writer the Univer- of about 50 people in McKsity of Maryland community Tuesday that she’s a “firm believer in the concept of linked fates.” To illustrate this concept, Dodge, one of four finalists for the newly created diversity and inclusion vice president position, brought up the practice of using a canary in a coal mine to signal impending danger.
eldin Library. “We need to be cognizant of that metaphor without sacrificing the canary.” The forum, which had mostly faculty attendees, served as a chance for participants to learn about Dodge’s background and plans for encouraging diversity and inclusion at this university if she is hired to fill the position.
Dodge, who now serves as chief diversity officer at Bucknell University, welcomed the opportunity to visit this university and address the faculty and staff — but she emphasized that she didn’t come to the campus “begging and seeking for a job.” Through conversations with the committee, Dodge said she learned that there are challenges at this university that need to be confronted. “I think it’s important that this is a good match for both of us,” she said. “There
calendar 2 OPINION 4 FEATURES 5 city 6 diversions 8 SPORTS 12
See dodge, p. 8
Cynthia Edmunds took over as UMD’s interim CDO last year As an undergraduate student struggling to find her niche at Notre Dame of Maryland University, Cynthia Edmunds immersed herself in her surroundings, eventually landing a job in the school’s president’s office. Now, as the interim chief diversity officer and one of the candidates for the University of Maryland’s newly created diversity and incluby
Sarah D’Souza @thedbk Staff writer
sion vice president, Edmunds said she’s “come full circle.” Edmunds, the fourth finalist for the position to present to the campus community over the past two weeks, told a group of about 45 people in McKeldin Library on Thursday that she’d be the best person for the role because of her ability to lead with vulnerability, make bold decisions and take control in crisis situations. “What got me here is daring greatly and taking the
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road less traveled, and learning to be really comfortable with my own sense of difference,” she said. Edmunds told the audience, which consisted mostly of faculty, that she wants to launch a new framework for the future of diversity and inclusion at the university. She stressed a need to re-examine and amend the Office of Diversity and Inclusion’s structure. “This is not just a problem that ODI has to fix,” said Edmunds, who was hired as the university’s interim See edmunds, p. 8
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