UCU Life Changers Text

Life changing
experience
Cheryl Alexander
Tracey Bessant
Patrick Bryden
Debbie
Hollingsworth
Joanne Rosa
Kenny
Cheryl Alexander
University of York
When Cheryl Alexander arrived at York University as a
Chemistry undergraduate in 1999, she was used to
encountering barriers.
’I had grown up as a disabled person finding that
people would often take the attitude that if you don’t
like it, there’s the
door. In a way, I
expected there
to be problems.’
She wasn’t
wrong. She came
across a number
of problems as a
wheelchair user
within her
department: the
width of some
laboratory doors
was too narrow for a wheelchair; other doors were too
heavy to open; the fume cupboards were inaccessible
to a wheelchair user.
Cheryl invited her course supervisor, Paul Walton, to
go on a tour of the department. She pointed out the
problems. ’It became palpably clear that there were
issues to deal with,’ he says.
Paul was impressed by Cheryl’s
desire to avoid confrontation.
’Rather than taking an antagonistic
attitude towards us, she was
extremely positive in working with
us to make adjustments.’
’I don’t think confrontation really
gets you anywhere,’ says Cheryl. ’I
wanted to help, really.’
Cheryl got elected as the Students’ Union’s Access
Officer and conducted an audit of the entire campus,
which unearthed significant access problems. ’Some
classrooms had some steps down into them and very
steep, death-defying ramps. There were quite a few
places that didn’t have lifts.’ The university responded,
installing more lifts and making new buildings
compliant with new disability laws.
For many years Cheryl had never expected to go to
university. ’Until I was about 15 I didn’t even know what
university was. It was quite a low educational
achievement background. There weren’t books in my
house. My whole life’s ambition had
been to join the Royal Navy. That’s
what you do in my family, you turn
16 and you join the Forces.’
But aged 12, Cheryl was struck
down by a virus. Her naval dream
was dead. Having been on crutches
since 15, cheryl began to use a
wheelchair at 18. At 14, she had left
home due to difficult family circumstances,
and moved in with one of
her friends.
’They had books and had been to
university, so that’s where I got the idea. And my
teachers at school, one in particular, told me I could go
to university. It sounded like a good idea.’ When her
younger brother also left home, Cheryl put him through
college and university.
Cheryl is now training to become a teacher herself. ’It
took me a while,
’It doesn’t matter where you
come from, it doesn’t matter
what start you’ve been given in
life; education can really
change things for you.’
but once I’d seen
that education
was my way out
of the rough life,
I felt it would be
great if I could
make someone
else see that it
doesn’t matter
where you come from, it doesn’t matter what start
you’ve been given in life; education can really change
things for you.’
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