The last Acorn article in our research is one published in the 2024 Spring semester written by Lindsay Orr (C'26) and Dee Cohen (C'26) titled "Unheard Languages: Advocating for ASL Education at Drew University." The article discusses how offering American Sign Language would prove beneficial because it is just as valid as any other spoken language, and can help hearing students connect with Deaf students and vice versa. A current Drew student who had previously taken ASL in high school stated: “I believe it’s important and should be taught here at Drew because other diverse languages are offered here, and it can be useful when it comes to being connected in a socially disadvantaged community.”

Including ASL in Drew's language offerings would improve campus accessibility and campus-wide knowledge on the Deaf community and its culture. In addition, hearing students learning ASL would have more opportunities to include the Deaf community in their work and life overall.

Click or tap the link below to read the full article:

From our research, we created several potential solutions that could make Drew more accessible and welcoming to students with disabilities. 

1. Dedicate funding to improve buildings accessibility (i.e. fixing broken automatic door buttons, installing ramps, elevators, etc.): While Drew has been going through budget cuts, that does not justify keeping a student with a disability from having a full college experience like their peers.
2. Include students with disabilities when making decisions to get their feedback:
   1. Creating a workshop with students and faculty with and without disabilities to hear what the school does right and what can be improved. Feedback from a diverse group is crucial to make sure solutions are helpful for everyone - not just one group. It is easy for abled people to assume that certain solutions will work for everyone when in reality not every solution is viable for every disability.
3. Better training for faculty on accommodations and different disabilities: Faculty understanding how certain disabilities impact learning and being able to adjust to that will improve the quality of learning and improve inclusion in the classroom.