At every table in the crowded room in Stamp Student Union, people were striking up conversations, trading jokes and getting to know each other over games and macaroni and cheese—all without uttering a word.
At the University of Maryland’s signing dinner last week, students were required to turn their voices off at the door, communicating with each other solely in American Sign Language (ASL). The evening was part of a celebration of the College of Education’s minor in ASL, which launched in the fall.
“A lot of people envision Deaf people as quiet,” said Michael Dunham, a lecturer in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education, who co-created the ASL minor with Clinical Associate Professor Dawn Jacobs Martin and who is Deaf himself. “Let me tell you, they are not. They are quite loud. The language is there.”
Supported by a Do Good Campus Fund grant, the ASL minor consists of four required courses and one elective. Students also take part in outside-the-classroom experiences, including a visit to the Starbucks Signing Store in Washington, D.C., which is staffed by Deaf employees, a tour of Gallaudet University and a trip to New York City to see a Deaf play.
Having a Deaf faculty member as one of the minor’s leaders has been key to its successful development, said both Dunham and Martin. “I bring my Deaf identity here with authenticity,” said Dunham, who spoke through an ASL interpreter. “If a hearing person were to develop this program, it would be kind of awkward and clumsy.” Martin pointed to the program’s logo as an example: Students had come up with an image of the ASL sign for turtle, but when the logo was sent to Dunham for approval, he noted that they’d used the sign for “sea turtle” instead of the sign for “terrapin.”
“It’s a visual language, and there are so many ways to mess it up horribly if you’re not connected,” said Martin.
At the signing dinner, students learned from Deaf artist Brittany Castle about her experiences animating ASL signs before digging into dinner and playing ASL card games.
Peyton Whyte ’28 was inspired to study ASL by her mother, who is an ASL interpreter. Growing up in Frederick, Md., home to the Maryland School for the Deaf, Whyte had been surrounded by Deaf people growing up and knew some ASL, but wanted to get more “immersed in the Deaf community,” she said. In her classes at UMD, she said, she’s been learning the intricacies of ASL structure and grammar.
Aviva Orange ’27 didn’t know any ASL before signing up for her first class at UMD. “I thought it looked cool and fun to learn,” she said. She quickly fell in love with the language and decided to pursue the minor; she soon realized she had an affinity for the language. “I’m a yapper in general, but I was yapping even in sign language.”
The classes have helped Orange connect with people outside the classroom. “I work as a bartender and I have a Deaf regular,” she said. “Now I yap to him all the time.”
Photos by Stephanie S. Cordle
This article is adapted from a story that first appeared in Maryland Today.
