For the past several months, student leaders Brittany Lerman '14 and Jaclyn Kellner '16 from the American Sign Language Club have been spearheading an initiative to integrate ASL courses into the University's curriculum. As would be seen in the implementation of any initiative, the students have been running into issues of funding and staffing that would be necessary to get the program off the ground. We encourage the University and the students to continue working together to institute an ASL program given the academic benefits and opportunities that would be made available to the student body.

According to the latest survey by the Modern Language Association from 2009, ASL is among the most popular language classes offered at universities, ranking fourth just behind Spanish, French and German, respectively. Brandeis University could join other schools that have already invested in an ASL program, including Boston University, Brown University and Northeastern University. 

These universities have already recognized the potential benefits of ASL classes, including the cognitive benefits of learning a language visually, according to Dr. Evie Malaia, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. Aside from becoming fluent in both a spoken and sign language, ASL courses also create new career paths for students.
After students were able to successfully obtain a grant last year, Korean language classes were made available for this academic year. The push for the initiative was the largely due to the substantial interest students expressed for the courses. The ASL club already helps around 20 students take ASL classes at Harvard University every Sunday, paying for the class partly by themselves with help from the Student Union. Moreover, according to an ongoing survey conducted by the ASL club, 87 out of 122 students also said they would be interested in enrolling in the classes if they counted toward the foreign language requirement. 

As the interest level appears substantial enough to have a class, we urge the University to do what it can to to help students secure the funding for the courses. While the student leaders can fundraise themselves given the encouragement they have been receiving from the community, the University should be able to afford the $6,000 salary of one adjunct professor that would be needed. 

Moreover, we are proud to see that the Language and Linguistics department has agreed to sponsor the ASL classes, if the funding can successfully be secured. Including the program in another department will reduce the amount of funds and administrative clout necessary to instate the courses. 

Successfully establishing ASL courses within the next few years will need substantial coordination from both the community and the administration. We commend the students for their proactivity, and hope the administration fully cooperates to ensure the classes are available in the future.