In recent months, the University of South Florida has closed their American Sign Language Interpreting Program without warning, leaving hundreds of students without academic options to pursue interpreting. Because of this, an ASL Interpreting Program is in high demand for current and future students in Florida. While FIU does currently teach ASL, knowing ASL and interpreting ASL are two different things. The ITP is a major that supports millions of people who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing across our state, allowing proper access to communication. Other higher education institutions have either closed their American Sign Language Interpreting Programs, only offer the program online, or never possessed one to begin with. This leaves hundreds to thousands of Undergraduate students without any educational opportunity options in Florida to properly learn the necessary skills to become an ASL Interpreter at a higher institute in person. These students are struggling looking for Universities/Colleges to complete their career path programs close to home.

For the past two semesters, the ASL program here at FIU has had a steady increase in the number of enrollments. This, coupled with the high demand for ASL Interpreters in Florida, leads us to believe an official ASL Interpreting program would be beyond successful. We, the students of ASL 2, and many other students that are interested in Deaf Culture would like to see an official American Sign Language Interpreting Program implemented at Florida International University. 

This is not only for hearing students in Miami, but for everyone, providing opportunities to those who are Hard of Hearing, Deaf, and even those who are native speakers of other Sign Languages to study Deaf culture and broaden the range of the community within Miami. With this petition, it is our hope that Florida International University, as a minority-serving institution, grants the students who have an interest/passion for Deaf Culture, American Sign Language, and interpreting the chance to advance and continue their educational journey.