How "Healthy" are our "Health" Schools?

Last week I attended a graduation at Temple university. My daughter received her M.A. in speech pathology. The graduation took place at McGonigle Hall, the basketball field house of Temple before the more spacious Liacouras Center was built. Seven hundred students graduated from the School of Allied Health, which includes speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, nursing, kinesiology, and public health. The speaker, whose name I won't mention because I forgot it, was terrible (be thankful, Barrack, for choosing the faculty to speak to you at graduation, at least we know you). Then, we had to sit while all 700 students were called up to the podium for their diplomas. As bad as that was, it was not the worst.

My 93 year old mother attended the graduation with us. Though she is not physically handicapped, it is hard for her to walk distances, so we brought her in a wheel chair. Towards the end of the ceremony, she had to go to the bathroom. There was a place for the handicapped on the upper level. To get to the bathroom, she had to walk down two flights of stairs. There was no way she could walk back up the stairs. We spent a half hour trying to find someone who knew the building well enough to tell us if there was an elevator. We finally discovered one in the basement and we were able to bring her up in her wheel chair. It was an extremely frustrating time (not that I resented missing some of the ceremony).

There must have been over 3,000 people in the gym for the graduation. How could a school that is training our health care professionals be so inconsiderate to the families of the graduates? There were no restrooms on the floor where they made space for handicapped people. There were no signs pointing to the elevators. In fact, we had to go behind the podium to get to the elevator. Not only was this a major inconvenience, I think it may have been illegal. I understand that the Liacouras Center is a newer building and is probably handicapped accessible. The main graduation ceremony took place in that building. I don't understand how the authorities at Temple could have permitted a ceremony to take place in a building that is not handicapped accessible.

I am sure that the majority of the people attending the graduation were totally unaware of any such problems. For a school that is training health technicians to be so inconsiderate of the concerns for those attending to me is outrageous. My wife is threatening to write a letter to the President of Temple. I hope she does.