Deaf Culture Club is a new organization this year at the University that will start in the first few weeks of September.
Deaf culture consists of anyone who is deaf, hard of hearing or who considers himself or herself to have any type of hearing loss.
Founder and sophomore student Chelsey Miller said all deaf people have their own way of life or have different values and morals than hearing people.
“I really want to share deaf culture with other students on campus starting with history, some of the customs, beliefs, values, everything about deaf culture I’m probably going to share in the group,” Miller said. “I just want to inform people about it and people who are interested can come and learn about it.”
Miller said two priorities she has for the club are for people who are interested in the culture to come, interact and go to events, and for those who want to learn sign language to come and practice it.
“The first reason why I was going to start the club was because I wanted a group where you could either practice sign language or start to learn it,” Miller said. “I just wanted to broaden it and include more of the deaf culture aspects and maybe just teach some basic signs to new members who haven’t had any sign.”
Even though the new organization is in the first stages of development, treasurer Ryan Shukis said he hopes to help the club build its foundation at the University.
“The biggest thing that I have thought about is that it’s a new organization and I know how to manage finances and I figured I could help them start up,” Shukis, a senior at the University, said. “I really hope to build a groundwork for the organization and even learn some sign language as well.”
Sophomore Megan Roberts said she is interested in becoming involved with the club.
Roberts, who said she hopes to be a child life specialist and work with children who have disabilities, said she thinks being involved with this club will help her become familiar with it.
“We just want to make people aware and to let people know about the culture because I don’t think a lot of people know that there is an actual deaf culture that is different from our culture,” Roberts said. “We also hope to travel to bigger cities such as Toledo and Columbus to do some fundraising for the club as well.”
Those interested in the Deaf Culture Club can join for free.
For more information about joining the organization, contact Chelsey Miller at
chelmil@falcon.bgsu.edu.
