The American Sign Language (ASL) club had its first meeting in March, creating a space for all interested students to practice sign language through educational opportunities and interactions.
The newly established club welcomed 12 members on March 20 at the club’s first meeting, in which attendees met and mingled over pizza.
One of the main focuses of the club, founded by club president Adam Vanderlaan-Brown, is to promote the understanding of the deaf community’s unique identity.
“We are here to help others become confident in their signing while building their vocabulary and grammar skills,” said Kaytlyn Whitney, club vice president. “We want to offer a safe and comfortable place for all levels of signers to come and feel comfortable improving their signing abilities with others.”
In the meeting, new club members played games, including a fingerspelling version of the telephone game.
Students said they joined because they wanted to improve upon what they learned in their classes.
“[I joined] because I love sign language and want to improve beyond what the class can teach me,” computer science major Brendan Mehaffy said. “I also want to meet with people who are just excited about learning ASL as I am.”
The club will also offer opportunities to practice what is taught in Cal State Long Beach’s beginner and intermediate ASL classes.
The club’s adviser is currently working on one of the club’s objectives, which is to raise awareness for American Sign Language as a distinct language.
ASL professor William Rennie is looking in to expanding ASL classes to include more than the two classes he already teaches on campus. Ideas include classes in finger spelling, deaf culture and ASL labs.
General meetings will be held every other Tuesday.
The next meeting is today from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the University Student Union, Room 305.