A brand new and very expensive van designed to transport students in wheelchairs sat unused for more than a year in the Southwestern College auto yard due to a disabling misunderstanding about who could drive it.
Rob Unger to the rescue. Unger, a professor of reading and a lawyer, said the California Department of Motor Vehicles trumped any decisions by campus personnel about what kind of license was required to drive the van. DMV personnel said anyone with a valid driver’s license was street legal, a great relief to Dr. Malia Flood, director of Disability Support Services.
“This past summer we drove the van to the DMV and had them inspect it,” said Flood. “They determined that it was not a bus and that it did not need a Class B driver’s license. They said people with a Class C driver’s license could drive the van.” It took the work of the campus Americans with Disabilities Act Committee, two journalism students in wheelchairs, and Professor of Journalism Dr. Max Branscomb to get the van on the road. “The ADA Committee made the recommendation to the college that we need to take the van to the DMV because they are the ones who decide that,” said Flood.
“The students that came with Max talked about how important it was that they attend journalism conferences and competitions, and that they feel included. They don’t like to feel like they will be a burden in any way. And that’s what needed to happen, because once we got to the DMV they made the decision that the van could be driven with a regular Class C license.”
Southwestern College had gone without a van capable of transporting students in wheelchairs for many years, said Flood. Students from the SWC ABLE Club and Helen Elias, the former DSS Director, raised most of the money for the van. A capstone grant from the San Diego Host Lions Club sealed the deal. Flood said the idle van was a frustration. “It was an ongoing problem since the van arrived more than a year ago,” she said.
“Thanks to the hard work of the ADA committee…we got the approval from the DMV that anyone can use the van.” Elias said she was thrilled by the news. “On behalf of the students and faculty at SWC, I am delighted and proud to have led the charge to acquire the accessible van for Southwestern College,” she said. “The greatest satisfaction was the collaboration and support of SWC, the ABLE Club, student leaders, Disability Support Services, the Southwestern College Sun, faculty in the Health Exercise Science and Athletics department, the head of the debate team, administrators and staff, and members of the governing board. It really took a village!”