Open Letter to Gallaudet University

Blogger's note: All who have read the open letter from Gallaudet University President Robert Davila and Provost Stephen Weiner about the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) will find this blog most helpful.

Dear the Gallaudet University community,

This letter reflects the cutting edge of new demands which will greatly assist Gallaudet University as the world's leading academy exclusively for the Deaf. MSCHE has officially placed our alma mater on probation, which shouldn't be surprising, and it calls for irreversible change in catering higher learning and teaching to the Deaf. Since MSCHE has identified the bilingual nature at Gallaudet University, we must now claim the academic status of American Sign Language (ASL).

Gallaudet University needs to reopen the School of Preparatory Studies (SPS) so that the incoming students could be prepared to maximize their skills for university education. Who knows better than the alumnus who began his higher education career as a Preparatory student? And who other than the alumnus better realizes that the absence of Preparatory Studies, coupled with the mission of communication diversity and deception, leads directly to university accreditation failure. I know that American Sign Language (ASL) is not a problem at Gallaudet University, for the lack of diagnostic and remedial techniques necessary to academically instruct both ASL and its spoken and written counterpart English to university students is virtually nonexistent.

A Deaf student is a problem learner because, for one reason or another, he or she does not hear English the way hearing people normally do. He or she should not be judged by his or her academic skills in relation to his or her university level (Freshman, Sophomore, etc.), but rather in relation to his or her bilingual potential.

In present Gallaudet University, where students often are pressured to achieve a certain year level of performance, the problem student is a source of never-ending disappointments. Whether the pressure is subtle or direct, both the student and the professor sense failure. The professor may react by giving up on the student or by feeling that he or she is indifferent, lazy, or troublesome. It is well-said and often-said in the English Department that these problem students are warm bodies (my former coordinator told me in my face many, many times!). This reaction may be followed by punishment that usually fosters a hostile attitude between not only the professor and a student, but also the English language and ASL.

The School of Preparatory Studies needs to adopt the following motto: Accept and Challenge. This motto is suggested for all who plan to work with Preparatory students. We must accept the student, because he or she is but a product of his language experience. If we reject and criticize those experiences, we are, in fact, rejecting and criticizing the student. Instead, we must accept those experiences as real and good...genuinely accept the total student, his or her language, his or her habits, his or her attitudes, and his or her skills. Perhaps the most crucial factor in Preparatory Studies School lies in the area of university's attitude toward students. It should be remembered that the professor's first and foremost responsibility at Gallaudet University is to educate all of the students as effectively as possible...in both ASL and English.

This is how I translate MSCHE's proposal of bilingualism, period, at Gallaudet University. It doesn't necessarily mean to add this "bilingualism" in the university mission statement to continue communication diversity and deception. Every graduate of Gallaudet University needs to be well-honed in both ASL and English.

Thank you for reading and making a "perfect" comment.

Carl Schroeder, the Creator of ASL Dragon