Knowing how to sign is never a requirement to be able to walk into an American Sign Language Club meeting at Boise State. In fact, Evelyn Cornwell, vice president of the ASL Club, is thrilled and ready to welcome those without any sign language experience at all.
“We encourage people who know nothing to come to this club because all of our students are so excited and so passionate about the language that they just want to share what they’ve learned,” said Cornwell. “We’re trying to build a community that is curious and wants to learn about something that is so incredibly wonderful that is not really taught about in mainstream schools.”
Katelyn Holdeman, president of the ASL Club, said that the club works alongside Boise State’s ASL program by allowing students the opportunity to practice their skills outside the classroom.
Students who are enrolled in Boise State’s ASL courses are required to complete at least five hours of practice outside of regular lab times each semester. The ASL Club events can count towards those hours, providing students a place to practice while being able to interact with others.
“We’re supporting the ASL program that we have at Boise State,” Holdeman said.
That support can be offered in various ways. Holdeman mentioned that deep thought goes into curating and planning events that are suitable and appropriate for the community they are advocating for.
“We might do like an escape room entirely in ASL,” Holdeman explained. “And then we’re debriefing afterwards about, if a deaf person was doing this escape room, how is it accessible and how is it not accessible?”
Other events are less structured. The club has run events where students can play video games, decorate cookies for Valentine’s Day or even play bingo while learning a bit of ASL.
Casual events such as a bingo night provide students the chance to immerse themselves in the language and culture regardless of their skill level.
At one bingo night, a student approached Cornwell after the event and began signing with her. The student was able to tell Cornwell that she was deaf and learning sign language for the first time.
“‘This was so much fun,’” Cornwell said, recalling what the student told her. “‘I appreciate how accessible you guys are and just how open you are to everybody on all different levels.’”
The student apologized for signing slowly, but Cornwell reassured her that her effort is what mattered, and this has stuck with her until this day.
“It’s just a big support group that just encourages each other to learn and grow,” Cornwell said.
Holdeman had said the club’s impact has extended beyond campus for her.
Last December, the ASL Club participated in “Signing Santa,” a community event where deaf and hard-of-hearing children could communicate with a Santa who knew ASL.
“It was something I hadn’t thought about before taking ASL or being exposed to the Deaf community,” Holdeman said. “Some kids have never gotten the chance to talk to Santa.”
Holdeman mentioned one child in particular stuck with her.
Although the child seemed closed off and withdrawn at first so Holdeman began by asking him his favorite color. He told her it was green and from there, he began to open up with her.
“Seeing that connection of just bridging the gap between languages and really being able to communicate with people,” Holdeman said. “Just bringing a little joy to someone’s day — that just melts my heart.”
The club officers hope interactions such as these can bring visibility to Deaf community on campus.
Cornwell mentioned that she asks many students to list how many deaf celebrities they can name. Most, she said, can’t think of more than one.
“Our goal is to provide visibility to Deaf culture and the Deaf community,” Cornwell said. “Not only are we acting as kind of a voice for them, but we are acting as an educative tool for students who are already learning about it or who are just curious about it.”
Holdeman hopes the club continues to strengthen its relationship with the Boise’s larger Deaf community and make learning ASL more accessible to those that are curious about it. For the club’s officers, that begins with curating the space where people can feel comfortable walking into one of their events with curiosity and willingness to learn.
Williams emphasizes that curiosity has evolved into an appreciation for the community he has come to know deeply each semester.
“Every semester that I’ve gone through them, I’ve just started to love, over time, more and more of the Deaf culture,” Williams said. “It’s a phenomenal culture to learn.”
