American Sign Language Classes and Club Come to Pacific

The room is silent, but all the students are deeply engaged in conversation. This is typical at the Wednesday evening meetings of the Pacific University American Sign Language Club (ASL) on the Forest Grove Campus. The club is a fairly recent addition to Pacific, formed by a group of students who also headed up a successful campaign to implement ASL classes on campus.

According to the National Association of the Deaf, ASL is the cornerstone of deaf culture in America. In the United States alone, more than 28 million Americans are considered deaf or hard-of-hearing, two of the preferable terms, according to the association.

Public health major Zack Hewson ’18 was one of several students involved in starting the ASL club and classes. Hewson, vice president of the Pacific ASL Club, is a hearing individual who considers himself an ally to the deaf community. His mom taught him and his sister ASL as part of their homeschooling curriculum, and during high school, he took classes and started to immerse himself more in deaf culture.

“Once I started taking classes I just fell in love with it,” Hewson said. “I started to really get into it from there.”

During Hewson’s freshman year at Pacific, he and several others worked together to get ASL classes implemented at Pacific as part of their civic engagement project. They garnered nearly 1,000 petition signatures, including students, alumni, faculty, staff, donors and even some prospective students. And they created a promotional video for the effort.

They also were the founding members of an early, unofficial ASL club.

“When I was initially thinking about starting an ASL club, I didn’t know a single deaf or hard-of-hearing person at Pacific,” he said.

Part of his motivation for starting the ASL club and classes were to provide accommodations and a welcoming environment for any deaf or hard-of-hearing prospective students. Additionally, he wanted to teach hearing people about deaf culture.

In Fall 2016, Professor Frederick Stamps began teaching ASL on the Forest Grove Campus.

“While some students may be interested in learning ASL for opening career opportunities, perhaps much more important is the opportunity for students to learn greater understanding and tolerance for those who are Deaf or otherwise disabled,” Stamps said.

“Weather students study ASL or one of the other beautiful languages offered at Pacific, learning appreciation for other cultures and tolerance of people who are different from us is especially important at this time in our society.”

Hewson’s hope is to have a deaf or hard-of-hearing student enroll at Pacific in the future, and he encourages current students to expand their knowledge of ASL.

“The biggest thing that we want people to do is learn sign language. If you’re learning sign language, you’re helping the Pacific mission statement become a reality,” he said.

For those interested in learning ASL, classes are offered in a series that begins again in Fall 2017. Additionally, all those interested are welcome to join the Pacific University ASL Club, which meets Wednesday evenings from 6 to 7 p.m. in Scott 217.