To the Program Discontinuance Review Committee (PRDC) and the Council on Undergraduate Education (CUE) regarding the potential discontinuation of Gallaudet University's Philosophy and Religion Department:

Myself, as the student representative of this committee, along with other co-signatories, hereby express our deepest concern about the recent recommendation to discontinue the Philosophy and Religion Program, thereby threatening the future of Gallaudet University and the intellectual integrity of the Deaf community. 

At the beginning of this semester on September 28th, the Dean of Faculty, Dr. Khadijat K. Rashid, shared the recommendation for program closure with the Philosophy and Religion Faculty. The Philosophy and Religion Program is now in the process of developing a counterproposal to save the program from total dissolution. We hope you will join our efforts to preserve our program.

We are concerned about the ramifications of shutting down the Philosophy and Religion Program at the only liberal arts university for the signing Deaf in the world. We are concerned that this will contribute to the audist perception that Deaf people are incapable of thinking or doing philosophy.

Philosophy has been part of Gallaudet's curriculum ever since the school was chartered in 1857 (known then as the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind). Edward Miner Gallaudet was the first teacher of philosophy at this school. He concerned himself with these two big questions: "What is a flourishing Deaf life?" and "How should a Deaf child be educated?" These questions are still being discussed today. The necessity of teaching and learning philosophy at Gallaudet University is paramount.

The Philosophy and Religion Program has much it can offer Gallaudet University. As a foundation to critical thinking and problem solving skills, the program integrates with Interpreting Ethics, Business Ethics, collaboration with Deaf Studies, lectures, panels, workshops, and countless others. The possibilities are endless. The potential value of a robust Philosophy and Religion program for Gallaudet University, the Deaf community, and the world, is immeasurable. 

We hereby demand that you:

(1) Do not discontinue the Philosophy and Religion Program at Gallaudet University.

(2) Support the program. Recognize the importance of philosophy in a liberal arts education. Sharpen the minds of Deaf students to counterbalance years of linguistic and cultural oppression.