Written by Kenzie James // Photo by Edgar Cardiel
Harding’s American Sign Language Club started meeting again after spring break with a new focus on engaging with members at all levels of experience.
The ASL Club has been on Harding’s campus since 1949 when Sam Roach, a student who was hard of hearing, taught his friends sign language. As more students became involved, the club was formed.
The club officers decided to restructure the format of their meetings before celebrating the club’s 75th anniversary in the fall. ASL Club President Shannon Keyser said the new structure will have more of a broad reach to include all levels of students, from beginners to more experienced students.
The club did not meet the first half of this semester while working on restructuring meetings, but they resumed activities after returning from spring break.
One activity Vice President Rachel Emlaw found beneficial was weekly silent dinners in the Student Center. Emlaw said they haven’t held the dinners much recently but that she hopes to bring them back.
“We won’t talk; we just sign and have paper and pencil so you can write stuff if you don’t know the sign,” Emlaw said.
Senior Joseph Nance said the club is trying to make meetings more interactive and incorporate more of the conversational aspect of the silent dinners into their meetings.
“That gives more experience with signing as you would in real life. You wouldn’t, in real life, just learn a list of words and sign them,” Nance said.
Another new portion of meetings is translation, where members will work together to translate a familiar passage or song into signs. Keyser said she is hoping the changes, including these new elements, will be good for both experienced and beginner members.
The club meeting time also changed to Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in Swaid 214 so more students could attend meetings.
Two events ASL Club members regularly attend are visiting a deaf church service in Little Rock every semester and ASL Christmas caroling in Searcy. Past events include signing during chapel services and during Downtown Singing at Downtown Church of Christ. Both are events the club might bring back, as the officers want to raise more awareness about the club around Harding and in Searcy.
“ASL has been very enriching for me,” Keyser said. “Any time you learn a language, your way of thinking has to change to fit the structure of the language, but with ASL, especially so.”
