Miranda Pederson/Daily News Kentucky State Police Trooper Todd Holder reads to Dajah Cottrell, 6, during Tuesday’s Young Readers program at the Housing Authority of Bowling Green’s Learning Center. Free books were given to the children from United Way of Southern Kentucky.

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At about 12:35 p.m., Crystal Hudson started up the hill with a message in her hand.

“Extra charges may not be imposed on individuals with disabilities to cover the cost of measures necessary to ensure non-discriminatory treatment such as removing barriers or providing qualified interpreters,” the message read.

The Western Kentucky University sophomore from Orlando, Fla., was hand-delivering the reminder of federal law to President Gary Ransdell.

She was promised a 15-minute interview to discuss her difficulty accessing university buildings in her wheelchair through manual doors and the school’s refusal to provide the hearing-impaired student a translator for events outside the classroom following numerous meetings with school officials. But officials stand firm on the school’s compliance to mandated provisions and accommodations.

Huda Melky, director of equal opportunity and ADA compliance, said all the doors at Western meet accessibility requirements, though a recent review did indicate that some had tension issues caused by changes in weather. Melky said all the doors have been adjusted as the university continues to inspect the remaining 20 percent of entrances to ensure they can be opened easily. She said the university does not have to replace entrances with automatic door openers to be compliant.

“My responsibility is to have policies and procedures to comply with the law,” Melky said. “Crystal is wanting us to go above and beyond the law ... but with the budget, you cannot do above and beyond the main programs that serve to ensure accessibility to Crystal and all.”

Hudson doesn’t see it that way.

Cruising at about 5 mph in her motorized wheelchair, Hudson weaved from the south end of campus to Wetherby Hall as she twisted through the long and jagged ramps set to the side of the main route up the hill.

As she approached her long-awaited meeting, Hudson said this isn’t the first time she’s had difficulty with a school accommodating her needs.

In Minnesota, she pulled up a campus’ blueprint and showed officials it couldn’t be accessed by wheelchair, but said she was told the school was private and didn’t have to change.

At 12:45 p.m., Hudson said she was nervous and anxious about her meeting with Ransdell as past discussions with university officials had failed.

“I’m nervous but anxious to know if (Ransdell’s) willing to change,” she said. “Or if he will have an explanation why this is not happening … or if he’ll say ‘let’s do something about it.’ ”

Hudson explained that while the doorways to the school’s buildings are wide enough for her wheelchair, she has difficulty accessing many of them because they do not have a push-button access and some are too heavy.

Before Monday, she said officials kept telling her there wasn’t enough money in the budget to change the doors but that it will be considered when the new buildings and renovations are done in the future.

“You can’t tell me they don’t have the money for it,” she said. “I’m looking out the door and there’s a brand new football stadium.”

It’s nearly 1:05 p.m. by the time Hudson’s wheels make their way into Ransdell’s office. She’s greeted by nearly 20 students from the campus group Americans For Informed Democracy, who hold up signs that say “Make Us Able.” The door closes behind Hudson at 1:07 p.m., and everyone begins looking at their watches.

Greg Capillo, a Lexington junior, held onto his cardboard sign. “Yes We Can Have Access,” its painted letters read.

Capillo said the organization wanted to support Hudson on her endeavor because while it’s easy to campaign for global hunger, this issue needs attention closer to home.

“We’ve handed a letter to Ransdell explaining why we’re here,” he said. “Hopefully she will have a lot more strength going in.”

Kevin Smiley, a Danville junior and member of the Student Government Association, said there have been talks of having an audit done of Western’s ADA compliance.

“We want to make sure the university does what it can and is able to do to accommodate disabled students,” he said.

Around 1:45 p.m., the door of the president’s office opened and Hudson was met by cameras and reporters.

She rolled straight to her friends in the lobby to recount the conversation that she said indicated there were not enough disabled students on campus to make the changes, and that interpreters would not be provided.

While Hudson was denied an interpreter to take part in activities, such as Western’s Relay for Life, she said Ransdell did offer an interpreter if she joined SGA.

“At the end he asked me if I would be interested in SGA … he said, ‘I want you go be a voice for this campus,’ ” she recalled. “I’m a voice for myself now and it’s hard to be listened to and you want me to be a voice for campus?”

Hudson said it was indicated that any organization she participated in needed to provide an interpreter for her.

“I just sat there thinking, ‘are you serious,’ ” she said.

Hudson said she broke into tears when she was told she could not receive assistance communicating with other cancer survivors at the annual walk for Relay for Life.

David Coffey, director of student disability services, said the school is required to provide translators and accommodations only for academic settings. All accommodations must be reasonable, he said.

For instance, he noted that in January, the elevator in Cherry Hall will be down and a class was moved to the main floor so students can access it without using steps. While the school could always do more, he said, with the budget being tight and automatic door entrances costing $3,500, the school is providing what it should.

“There’s always more you could do if you have more money,” he said. “I’m proud of what we’ve been doing.”

Hudson said she plans to contact ADA officials with the results of the meeting.