SDSU does a great disservice to the Deaf community and to its own student population by restricting this language and culture to one specific major. The more people who know ASL, the more people who are Deaf can be independent in society. More opportunities for Deaf to interact, socialize, make appointments, have parent-teacher conferences, order food at a restaurant. Every part of how we communicate with the world is affected by the lack of understanding about Deaf culture and language. We are part of every economic, socioeconomic, gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, but students at SDSU, are not given the option/choice/ability to learn how to communicate with us.

What if Latino studies was reduced to a "club" – or Asian studies. LGBT studies. This reinforces the concept that Deaf are not accepted or whole in society.

ASL is not a medical problem. It should NOT be in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences.  ASL is a LANGUAGE. It has a rich history, syntax, form and physical space which encompases thought and emotion. We do need our audiologists and speech therapists, just as much as any of us interact with a multitude of fields on a daily basis, but ASL does not belong in SLHS any more than LGBT culture deserves to be placed in "psychology" or a medical field. The people who live with Deafness are more than that.

SDSU's Deaf Studies program was supposed to be reinstated in 2013. It has not. Only ASL 1 is taught here and restricted to SLHS majors. ASL Club teaches basic ASL classes for free because we believe this language should be open to ANY student on campus, regardless of major.