ASL club offers space for students after Chapman removes ASL courses

Members of the American Sign Language club on campus discuss the importance of the new club as well as their connections to the language. Photo collage by ANGELINA HICKS, editor-in-chief

Toby Shapiro, a sophomore strategic and corporate communication and psychology double major, has always been a visual learner. 

She grew up as a dancer, and for as long as she can remember, the gears in her brain have been wired to use her eyes to learn rather than writing down words or reading textbooks. This appeared to be a problem at first when learning a new language, until she discovered American Sign Language, also known as ASL. 

“Going into Chapman, I was excited to take ASL (as a class), and then I saw that it was no longer a course offering,” Shapiro said. “I decided to take ASL online, and I saw that (Chapman) was forming an ASL club. I thought it was super cool because I don't really know what I'm doing (in my online course). It's nice to be able to meet other people who are interested in the same thing.”

Last year, Chapman University made the decision to remove ASL classes from the course catalog. The spring 2022 semester was the last time the courses were offered.

Although the reasoning is unclear — perhaps possible staff shortage or lack of student interest — senior screenwriting major Haylee Grund told The Panther she felt the absence weighed heavily on the Chapman community. 

Rather than wait for someone else to do it, she decided to start an ASL club on campus.

“I don't know too much about why (the classes are no longer offered),” Grund said. “We tried to petition last year to have them bring it back, and they basically told us to not even petition because it was a done deal. I'm sure that they have their reasons. I think somebody may have retired and it caused a problem, but it's unfortunate.”

Although Grund is hearing, she has a passion for ASL and Deaf culture. She has taken two years of ASL courses at a local community college in recent years, but her exposure to learning ASL began when she was in elementary school.

“I actually went to an elementary school that had Deaf, hard of hearing and hearing students,” Grund said. “They had what they called a DHH Program, which stands for ‘Deaf and Hard of Hearing.’ So I was around ASL from a very young age, and I learned the basics like the alphabet and basic introductory signs. I just always loved it.”

Due to scheduling difficulties, the club has only met once so far. But Grund said that the first meeting was a success.

“In our last meeting, we introduced ourselves and talked about how we found ASL (and) why we found ASL,” Grund said. “We'll play games involving ASL and hopefully share videos made by Deaf content creators. I always want to make sure that any content we’re watching is coming from Deaf individuals because I'm not deaf. I'm not a spokesperson for the Deaf community. And I don't have any qualifications to teach ASL. So my focus is to really make sure all learning that is done is being done through actual Deaf individuals.”

Louisa Youngerman, a sophomore integrated educational studies major, has been taking ASL classes online and said she is excited to finally get involved in learning ASL face-to-face with peers.

“It’s really tough (to learn a new language online), especially with ASL,” Youngerman said. “So when I found out that there was an opportunity to do a club last semester … I was thrilled because that meant I could practice in real life with people instead of taking recordings and submitting them.”

Youngerman began learning Spanish as her chosen language at Chapman before quickly learning it wasn’t something she could stick with. Learning ASL is important to Youngerman due to where she grew up and how she feels about making sure everyone can be understood.

“I'm from Arizona, southern Arizona, and every room I go into, there's always someone who knows Spanish, and there's not usually someone who knows ASL,” Youngerman said. “So I wanted to be the person who, when you walk into a room, I'm the person who knows."

With the release of the 2021 Oscar-winning film “CODA” and the five-season-long show, “Switched at Birth,” deaf representation in the media has had its ups and downs. Although a movie like “CODA” was seemingly well received by the Deaf community, Youngerman said there is still room for improvement. 

In Youngerman’s online ASL class, she is learning about deaf representation in the media and feels strongly about a change being made to provide more opportunities for Deaf actors.

“I think (Deaf culture) is really beautiful and severely overlooked,” Youngerman said. “But the problem is that (screenwriters) write the roles for actors like Marlee Matlin who is a well-known, deaf white woman that everyone loves. What about everybody else? There's not a lot of opportunities for people who are deaf (who) don’t already have a following to break into the industry.”

Youngerman emphasized it’s important to remain respectful toward the Deaf community in all their meetings and activities.

“At our first meeting, we did not have anybody who was deaf or hard of hearing,” Youngerman said. “Which is okay, no big deal, but it’s not our culture to teach. I don’t think anybody should be trying to teach something that's not theirs to teach, however, people want to learn. We (need to figure out) how to do it respectfully and to practice admiration, not appropriation.” 

For the future of the club, Grund looks forward to potentially reaching out to local Deaf speakers to appear at a club meeting or to even have club members take a field trip to go listen to a Deaf speaker.

“I would love to attend some deaf events in the Orange County area, and I think it would be really fun to get club members involved and all go together,” Grund said. “Just (getting) out there a little bit more and (interacting) with the Deaf community I think is the best way to learn and be authentically involved in a culture.”

Although there is not currently a set weekly meeting time, interested individuals can email chapmanaslclub@gmail.com or visit their Instagram page to find out more about the club.

“I just want people to know that you don’t have to know ASL to come (to the meetings),” Youngerman said. “I think it goes a long way to be able to say, ‘Hi, what's your name, or how are you’ to somebody, just to maybe make someone feel seen, like they’re not just swept under the rug. It’s valuable, and I hope that people understand that.”