A group of dedicated University students has embarked on a campaign to promote its cause without saying a single word.
Yesterday through this Saturday marks the annual Deaf Awareness Week, sponsored by Deafness Awareness For All Students, a University organization that seeks to inform the community about what it's like to live in a college setting without being able to hear.
Deaf Awareness Week began at the University after D.E.A.F.S. established itself as a Contracted Independent Organization in 1996.
The group also promotes an understanding of American Sign Language, which is also taught as a University course each semester as its own department.
Deaf Awareness Week began with a silent dinner yesterday evening and will end with a lecture on Saturday night featuring Harlan Lane, a prominent researcher and author on ASL and deaf culture.
Speak softly but carry a big stick
D.E.A.F.S. was founded in December 1998 by third-year College student Becca Smith, fourth-year College student Caitlin Ryan and several other students interested in deaf awareness who have since graduated from the University.
These students were inspired to start the program to save a potentially dying form of language at the University.
"At that time, the administration was considering cutting the American Sign Language program due to a 'lack of funds,' despite the huge popularity of the classes," said Smith, the only deaf undergraduate at the University. "In response we circulated a petition, wrote many letters and painted Beta Bridge blue and white."
D.E.A.F.S. convinced University administrators in the College to fund the program, but the funding will end in 2002.
"Next year is the last year of the grant, so D.E.A.F.S. and the ASL program will have to work again to keep the program and hopefully make it a permanent program here at the University," Smith said.
Though there were hundreds of CIOs on Grounds when she started the group, Smith said none of them catered to the minority population of deaf students, which numbered about 10 at that time.
"During my first year, we felt that founding D.E.A.F.S. was important," she said.
"Though the University had a small number of deaf students, there was no cultural organization to promote and support deaf culture and the study of American Sign Language."
More than words
As the only deaf undergraduate University student, Smith reads lips better than anyone else on Grounds.
She admits that although getting accustomed to the University has been challenging she has not had any real problems.
"The students and faculty have been really supportive," Smith says.
Smith seeks support not only from D.E.A.F.S., but also from her many deaf friends within the Charlottesville community.
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Seated at one of the wooden tables on the floor of Pavilion IX, Smith appears like any other college student, her blond hair still damp from an unexpected rainstorm that barrelled through the Academical Village.
Fingering her sandwich wrapper, Smith reflects on her own involvement with D.E.A.F.S. Her condition is made apparent only through her muted, slightly slurred words.
She seems to enunciate with great effort. Though Smith uses ASL as her main form of communication, she relies on lip reading as well. When speaking to a person, Smith often stares intently at their lips.
"Through my participation in D.E.A.F.S. I have gained a lot of confidence in myself, as both an individual and a deaf person," she says.
"I have also gained personal satisfaction in knowing that I have done my part in making U.Va. more 'deaf-friendly' and in encouraging students who are interested in learning ASL or learning about deaf culture."
Smith says her most rewarding experience has been seeing the reactions of audience members attending the ASL/Deaf Culture Lectures. Organized by Lisa Berke, assistant director of the University's ASL program, these lectures provide an opportunity for people to meet some well-known local figures in the deaf community.
Unlike Smith, Ryan, D.E.A.F.S.'s co-founder, is not deaf. She learned ASL and was involved with deaf culture before coming to the University.
"I love ASL and deaf culture and was very interested to continue my involvement while at school," Ryan said. "I had made friends with some deaf students, both graduate and undergraduate."
Signing off
A professor stands in front of the chalkboard during the hour-long class. During this time, he gives an entire lecture but says nothing. Instead, his hands speak for him.
The professor is Christopher Krentz, who is now director of the ASL program and who also teaches several sign language courses each semester.
The ASL program is another way for students to learn more about deaf culture.
Krentz was a member of a group of students, faculty and local deaf residents who helped found the ASL program, which officially began in 1996.
"I'm involved because ASL and the deaf community are very important to me," Krentz said. "I think they are worthwhile topics to teach and study."
Though hearing impaired, he turns his hearing aid off while teaching his ASL classes.
Krentz instead signs in order to convey messages to the class while students busily scribble down the written English translations.
"Seeing students begin to really learn ASL and appreciate deaf culture is very rewarding," he said.
A rainy Wednesday afternoon visit to one of Krentz's ASL 102 classes revealed a group of diverse students actively learning in a silent Cabell Hall classroom.
First-year College student Emily Swafford said her interest in the subject motivated her to take the course. The only difficult thing about the class is the no talking rule, Swafford said.
"We never talk in class, it's all in sign and can be frustrating at times," she said. Yet she has benefited from these lessons as well.
The atmosphere of silence doesn't bother third-year College student Todd Estrin, who signed up for the class for a different reason.
"I'm in the Learning Center [a University resource for learning disabled students] and since I'm not very good at the spoken language, I went for the visual class," Estrin said. "It's a little tough, but it's better than the spoken language."
For first-year College student Mike Trimble, the contrast between the spoken and written language revealed through this class is the most striking aspect of the ASL program.
"ASL is so different from spoken language because you're forced to participate and get more involved," Trimble said. "Since the language is through movement, you have to practice a lot."
Smith revels in the widespread student interest in sign language that is blossoming at the University as enrollment for ASL increases each semester.
"I really enjoy seeing people become as fascinated with ASL and the deaf community as I have become," she said.
Through events and education, organizations such as D.E.A.F.S. and the ASL program prove that spoken language does not have the last word.
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