Stop the Defunding of American Sign Language Coursework and Instructors at UW-Madison
The Issue
Historically, the Deaf community has been horribly discriminated against in educational systems. Their history and language are considered disposable to Hearing policy makers, even at universities like UW-Madison who claim to support belongingness for all students, staff, and communities.
Students and staff have long fought for the expansion of ASL studies and Deaf studies at UW-Madison. The need and interest for an ASL program at UW has been palpable from accessibility and linguistic advocates for decades. After more than 25 years of fighting to include Deaf and ASL studies in the UW-Madison system, they were only recently made available in the summer and fall of 2023.
Students that have taken ASL classes have fallen in love with Deaf culture and language, and they have collaborated with their ASL instructors to push for an expansion in offered ASL coursework from policy makers at UW-Madison. In light of these efforts, 4 levels of ASL have since been confirmed, with the fourth opening this spring, but with incredibly limited class space and only one instructor, Taylor Koss.
Students were optimistic that an attainable ASL certificate would be implemented in the near future. However, UW-Madison has decided to backstep and is now actively defunding ASL coursework right after its overdue implementation and despite the ever-growing interest from the student body in taking ASL.
The slashing of ASL coursework and removal of Professor Justin Vollmar as an ASL instructor will continue to perpetuate the suppression of Deaf voices and the inaccessibility of a predominantly Hearing world. Additionally, ASL is as complex as any oral language, and it deserves to be treated as such, not cut out of programming and allocated less funding than the spoken languages being offered.
Coursework options for the upcoming semester are released THIS WEEK. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to ACT NOW to ensure that ASL 4 is implemented fully in the 2026 spring semester and continued in the future.
We are calling for:
- The continued and proper funding of ASL coursework and programming
- A continued contract with Professor Justin Vollmar as an ASL instructor for any ASL level
- The implementation of an ASL studies certificate
- Expansion of offered coursework to include classes on Deaf history and culture
Petition Closed
The Issue
Historically, the Deaf community has been horribly discriminated against in educational systems. Their history and language are considered disposable to Hearing policy makers, even at universities like UW-Madison who claim to support belongingness for all students, staff, and communities.
Students and staff have long fought for the expansion of ASL studies and Deaf studies at UW-Madison. The need and interest for an ASL program at UW has been palpable from accessibility and linguistic advocates for decades. After more than 25 years of fighting to include Deaf and ASL studies in the UW-Madison system, they were only recently made available in the summer and fall of 2023.
Students that have taken ASL classes have fallen in love with Deaf culture and language, and they have collaborated with their ASL instructors to push for an expansion in offered ASL coursework from policy makers at UW-Madison. In light of these efforts, 4 levels of ASL have since been confirmed, with the fourth opening this spring, but with incredibly limited class space and only one instructor, Taylor Koss.
Students were optimistic that an attainable ASL certificate would be implemented in the near future. However, UW-Madison has decided to backstep and is now actively defunding ASL coursework right after its overdue implementation and despite the ever-growing interest from the student body in taking ASL.
The slashing of ASL coursework and removal of Professor Justin Vollmar as an ASL instructor will continue to perpetuate the suppression of Deaf voices and the inaccessibility of a predominantly Hearing world. Additionally, ASL is as complex as any oral language, and it deserves to be treated as such, not cut out of programming and allocated less funding than the spoken languages being offered.
Coursework options for the upcoming semester are released THIS WEEK. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to ACT NOW to ensure that ASL 4 is implemented fully in the 2026 spring semester and continued in the future.
We are calling for:
- The continued and proper funding of ASL coursework and programming
- A continued contract with Professor Justin Vollmar as an ASL instructor for any ASL level
- The implementation of an ASL studies certificate
- Expansion of offered coursework to include classes on Deaf history and culture
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Petition created on October 14, 2025