All NIU residence halls should be accessible to students with disabilities, according to two coordinators from Services for Students With Disabilities.

Coordinators Sue Reinhardt and Linn Sorge said although much work has been done concerning accessibility around campus for physically impaired students, accessibility for them in the residence halls should be looked at further.

“Disabled people have friends too and should be able to visit them in the towers,” Sorge said.

In addition, the disabilities office has been located for a year and a half on the first floor of Neptune Hall East, an area which is not accessible to the disabled students.

Reinhardt said there is an elevator outside of the Neptune residence hall, but it only goes up to the first and second floors. She said if the elevator went up to all four floors, it would open up two more accessible floors.

“It is very distressing,” Sorge said, “We want to make people feel welcome and that (lack of accessibility) doesn’t (make them feel welcome).”

Reinhardt and Sorge also said there were no special interest floors, such as an over-21 floor or an all-men’s floor, in any of the residence halls which were accessible to students with disabilities.

GTN and Neptune West currently have wheelchair ramps and special dorm rooms which allow easy accessibility to physically impaired students. These dorms are equipped with washrooms wide enough for wheelchairs, sit-down showers with grab bars, lower clothes rods in the closets and combination locks on the doors.

These dorms also have special cafeteria services, which help students get their trays of food and anything else they might need.

Reinhardt and Sorge said the cafeteria and food service workers “have always been great with helping the students out with anything they might need.”