By: Emily Nixon
On Feb. 26, the Brooklyn College (BC) administration sent out an email to students warning that the sidewalks between the Library, Ingersoll Hall, and Boylan Hall would be closed until further notice for the next phase of the East Quad Renovation Project. Alternate entrances to campus have been provided via a map on the fencing surrounding the quad.
“The temporary partial closure of the walkway will help accelerate construction, reducing overall disruption and allowing the campus community to enjoy the renewed East Quad sooner,” stated Alan Gilbert, senior vice president for finance and administration, in the email.
“We appreciate your patience and cooperation as we invest in the safety, beauty, and long-term future of Brooklyn College.”
In the email, Gilbert acknowledged the impact this closure would have on students.
“We recognize that these changes will be inconvenient, particularly during class transitions. Please allow extra travel time when moving between buildings on the east side of campus,” stated Gilbert.
An advocacy club for disabled students, Student Organization for Every Disability United for Progress (SOFEDUP), feels that this closure has a larger impact on students who use mobility aids.
“The recent choice to entirely cut off the library from the Bedford Avenue entrance is much more significant of an issue,” Jett McHugh, president of the SOFEDUP, told The Vanguard. “For an able-bodied student, travel time from Boylan or Ingersoll to Whitehead, for example, has been tripled, but for a disabled student— students such as those with canes or wheelchairs that need to use accessible entrances — travel time has quadrupled, perhaps even quintupled.”
The lack of clarity in the BC administration’s communication about the renovation project’s consequences has been a point of frustration for McHugh and SOFEDUP members.
“One of our own eboard members is in a wheelchair and severely impacted by the further restricting of East Quad,” said McHugh. “And given that it came with so little warning, and is meant to last for as long as it is, I personally find it rather unacceptable.”
The transition between classes has become a point of aggravation for BC Students.
“I have most of my classes in Boylan, so that whole curvature – I mean, just walking in the quad just to get to [Boylan], or just going to the art gallery. It’s kind of been difficult to say the least to navigate, like damn, there’s these sharp twists you got to do. It’s like, man, I don’t want to have to do that, bro,” said BC junior Zach Walker.
Some students, like Carolina Crosby, a junior majoring in American Studies, have found a workaround to the closures.
“Since I know about Ingersoll, it doesn’t take me as long, but if I didn’t know how Ingersoll worked, I feel like it would take me twice as long,” said Crosby. “You already kind of have to know how the campus works to kind of get your way around.”
Despite having a workaround, Crosby remains displeased with the project as a whole.
“I just think it’s terrible. I understand why they’re doing it because the roots, there was some issue with the roots of the trees, but to just do it during the school year and having people graduating this year not even being able to enjoy the quad is just really frustrating,” said Crosby.
Crosby felt disappointed when marketing banners lined the fence in the middle of the East Quad.
“I’m in the Student Advisory Board for the School of Humanities, and we were talking about what we could do with the boards, and someone said that we could, like, draw on them or have students create art for that,” said Crosby.
“Then [the BC Administration] just put pictures of students, it’s just like branding. So, it’s just, I don’t understand, it’s like, we’re already in the campus. We don’t need to see that. […] The students could be involved in contributing to the board.”
The timeline for the project remains a point of suspicion for BC students.
“Why couldn’t we do this later in summer? When it’s during the summer classes, when most people are not in summer or summer classes,” said Walker. “I kind of feel like doing it now in spring is kind of an awkward time, considering students anticipate the weather getting warmer and just hanging out with their friends on the quad. I feel like it’s an inopportune time.”
There is one question commonly found buzzing around the student body at BC.
Asked by Crosby, “When is it going to end?”