College is often a time of reinvention, but, for many students, faith remains a steady anchor amid that change. At USC, the University Religious Center, where interfaith chapels and services are located, provides a space where that continuity takes shape in community. The space is especially significant because the University is situated in one of the most religiously diverse and pluralistic cities in the world. 

For many students far from home, it serves as both sanctuary and social space — where spiritual practice and friendship intertwine. However, for students with mobility issues or physical disabilities, accessing the center’s second floor — which includes the Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist prayer spaces and lounges — requires navigating a staircase with no elevator alternative. 

In an interview with the Daily Trojan, Aziz Mir, a sophomore majoring in biological sciences, recalled nearly slipping while climbing the stairs on crutches while trying to access the Muslim prayer space after knee surgery during his first year. 

“People are going to put themselves in those situations,” Mir said. “Which they shouldn’t have to [do].”

What should be a sanctuary instead becomes an obstacle. 

Under the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, the URC now serves around 90 student religious organizations — the highest number at any university in the nation. While the building has evolved spiritually, its physical accessibility has not kept pace. 

ORSL has been working with the University for years to see if adding an elevator would be feasible, according to Dean Varun Soni, though multiple factors have stalled the project.

“It’s been a challenge due to the historic nature of the building, the architecture of the space, and budgetary constraints,” Soni wrote in a statement to the Daily Trojan. “I’m hopeful that at some point we will have an elevator in the building.”

If plans for an elevator have truly been underway for years, it’s difficult to reconcile that timeline with the statement that we may have one “at some point” while students continue to encounter the same staircase with no alternative means of access.

Designed by architect Edward Killingsworth, the URC was built in 1965 and is now recognized by the Los Angeles City Council as a historical landmark. Historic preservation is unarguably significant, and serves as a way to retain historical integrity and cultural values of spaces through maintenance and conservation. However, it cannot serve as a blanket excuse to deny students equitable access. 

While this landmark designation can complicate renovations, it does not automatically free a building from the Americans with Disabilities Act’s requirements to accommodate people with disabilities.

CASp Inspectors say that the ADA allows for some flexibility if modifications would threaten a building’s historic character — but that allowance is meant to balance preservation with inclusion, not to justify inaction. In other words, students should not be left navigating stairs at the expense of their ability to fully participate in the community the URC is meant to foster.

Adjunct lecturer in law Christopher Knauf, who has practiced disability rights law for nearly 30 years and teaches both disability rights and mental health law at the Gould School of Law, said private universities like USC are subject to federal and state laws ensuring physical and programmatic accessibility for students with disabilities. 

Knauf noted the legal obligations of the University are determined by both campus and outside counsel, though it could enforce stricter regulations on itself to improve accessibility. 

“Whether or not there’s a legal requirement, that’s really up to campus counsel,” Knauf said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “But beyond that, I would hope that the University would go beyond the law and do whatever is necessary to maximize accessibility for everybody.”

USC’s Office of Institutional Accessibility and ADA Compliance website says the University is “committed to ensuring an inclusive and equitable environment for all … regardless of ability.” The continued inaccessibility of key spaces at the URC, however, reflects a gap between this language and lived experience. 

With average undergraduate cost of attendance surpassing $99,000 annually, students can reasonably expect equitable access to all campus facilities, and yet some are met with barriers that prevent full participation. This kind of inaccessibility is not a matter of feasibility — it’s a matter of prioritization. 

The responsibility facing USC is not simply the bare minimum that the law requires, but what its values demand. Inclusion should already be built into the spaces meant to foster community. And when it is not, USC has an immediate obligation to remedy falling short of its promises of equal access for all students. 

True multifaith inclusion is not achieved only by expanding the number of religious organizations; it is achieved when every student can access those spaces independently and safely. Until that standard is met, the URC’s mission remains unfinished.