Deaf Studies Supporters Protest Over Projected Cuts

Students protest the cancellation of the Deaf Studies minor in front the Darland Champ statue on Monday, April 7.

Over 150 UMD Deaf Studies supporters demonstrated on Monday, April 7, against CEHSP’s decision to cut the program. Students began the rally in Ordean Court, then walked into Kirby Student Center, eventually ending the demonstration outside of the Darland Administration Building, shouting toward the offices of senior UMD officials. 

“We're out here protesting because [the] administration has not answered a lot of our questions, and they are still taking away our minor, which all of us want to keep, and we didn't get a voice in the decision of them cutting our minor,” said Brynn Pachan, a protestor.

The College of Education and Human Service Professions sent out an email on March 31, stating that the program would be shut down effective immediately. That email has since been described by University officials as “a miscommunication.” 

A second email was sent out four days later, instead stating that the program would not be accepting new entrants and any students who are currently enrolled in the program “will be provided a pathway to complete their program at UMD within a reasonable amount of time.” 

That phrase has drawn the ire of protestors and advocates, who say that the specifics of that “pathway” have not been communicated to them. Lily, a sophomore deaf studies minor, says that that uncertainty can affect many different aspects of student life. 

“As an athlete, my registration opened today, and I have no idea what my path to finishing this minor is going to look like, if even possible,” Lily said. “It could affect my eligibility to compete with my team. It could affect the timeline that I have for my [undergraduate] in addition to graduate school, like it affects so many students. It affects the whole community.”  

CEHSP Associate Dean Scott Carlson stated that all of the ASL courses will be offered next year, as well as the core Deaf Studies classes (ASL 4110 - Deaf Culture and ASL 4298 - ASL Skill Building Workshop). The two elective courses – ASL 4100 and ASL 4105 – may alternate year by year. Students may also be able to work with college administrators to find a substitute for a class or, in some cases, drop the credit requirement entirely. 

Pachan, a third-year Deaf Studies minor, is one of several students who came to UMD specifically for the Deaf Studies program. 

“It's a great education opportunity,” Pachan said. “It's great for a lot of people to come and to learn. And it's just a shame because UMD holds one of two Deaf Studies minors in [Minnesota]. So it's just unbelievably sad that they're getting rid of a rare educational resource, not to mention all the harm it does to the deaf community.”

Protestors hold signs calling for the reinstatement of the Deaf Studies minor at a protest on Monday, April 7.

That sentiment was shared by other protesters, several of whom went further, stating that the decision was an act of discrimination against the deaf community. One student, who asked to go by Kait, believes that teaching either ASL or Deaf Studies is impossible without the other. 

“They're inseparable,” Kait said. “They are ingrained within each other.”

The students are also worried about the future of the staff in the program: only one member of the Deaf Studies faculty so far has been guaranteed a position for next year, possibly indicating that all other faculty members will be fired. 

In separate interviews with The Bark, neither UMD Chief Marketing and Public Relations Officer Lynne Williams nor CEHSP Associate Dean Scott Carlson could confirm that faculty cuts were coming. However, they could not rule it out either. Williams stated that it is impossible to know staffing decisions until the final budget presentations have been made to the system.

The protestors were also angry about a transfer guide sent out to Deaf Studies minors in that March 31 email, which detailed which schools students could transfer to to finish the program. They would then be able to transfer those credits back to UMD to graduate in Duluth. 

ASL 4100 - Linguistics of American Sign Language was of particular note to students. Most of the UMD courses have equivalents at other Minnesota institutions. However, ASL 4100 only has two listed equivalents at two community colleges in the state of Virginia. 

One of the colleges, Northern Virginia Community College, offered a virtual version of their class in both Fall 2024 and Spring 2025. The other, New River Community College, confirmed in a phone call that they do not offer the course listed in the UMD transfer guide. They offer only one class, through Northern Virginia, called “Beginning American Sign Language II”. Besides that, they have no dedicated ASL or Linguistics subject classes.  

While virtual classes might work for spoken language classes such as Spanish or French, it is significantly harder for American Sign Language. 

“ASL is a very ‘in-person’ language, " said Erin Schommer, a sophomore deaf studies minor, in an interview last week. “It's really hard to learn ASL through online classes and things like that… because signs in ASL can differ depending on if your mouth is open or not. You could be doing the same gestures with your hands, and your eyebrows being raised, or your mouth being open, or your tongue moving in a specific way can make it mean something completely different.”