Brown has decided to discontinue offering instructional language courses in American Sign Language. Many feel that ASL is useless and unimportant because for those of us with the ability to use words, signing seems horribly inefficient. I, like many others, maintained this erroneous belief until I completed a full year of ASL here at Brown. In that year, I learned more than just a few signs: I became capable of holding simple conversations in ASL and learned about the complex (and tight-knit) social dynamic in the ASL community, the technological innovations developed to assist the hearing-impaired lifestyle, and the different means through which families deal with hearing impaired relatives. Thanks to the ASL classes offered at Brown, I was privileged to experience guest speakers who came and shared their stories with us in sign language. Furthermore, it gave me the opportunity to engage in community service projects aimed at helping the deaf community in Rhode Island. Some of my most incredible experiences at Brown stemmed directly from my ASL courses and it would be a shame to deny future students the chance to have similar ones.
I completed my sign language classes thinking that I would quickly forget all that I had learned. I was amazed and extremely grateful when I proved myself wrong. A year after completing the course, I was working in an animal hospital when a deaf owner brought in her sick cat. Nearly in tears, I watched as she was forced to communicate everything to the veterinarian in writing. When the check-up ended, I went over to her and started signing with her. Despite being out of practice, I was able to ask her more personal questions about her cat, and I could tell how impressed and grateful she was that someone was able to communicate with her in her native language.
Brown's decision to rid ASL from its curriculum is a terrible act. It reduces diversity pn our campus community, not just by eliminating a language alternative, but by eliminating the choice to learn about an entirely different community and how it faces the everyday challenges of life. This decision is something that a liberal university - and Brown University especially - should not stand for. While Brown so proudly boasts about its diverse classes and student body, this decision to discontinue the ASL program inherently contradicts its stated beliefs and must not be tolerated.
Alida Kinney '05 is a biology concentrator.
