By: Candace Johnson

The University of Oregon strives to promote student and faculty diversity on campus yet there are currently no Deaf students attending the UO.

One of the central reasons why Deaf people are reluctant to attend the UO has to do with a lack of community and inaccessibility. In fact, Deaf students that have attended the UO in the past transferred to alternate colleges upon realizing that adequate aid is not made accessible for Deaf individuals on campus. Making accommodations for a Deaf or Hard of Hearing student may vary depending on how an individual has chosen to go about handling his/her differences. For instance, Deaf students who use American Sign Language (ASL) as a form of communication must have an interpreter that is capable of comprehending class material and interpreting it in ASL accordingly. Therefore, Deaf students and faculty who use ASL must have interpreters available in order to successfully attend his/her classes along with campus events. Yet, the University of Oregon does not have any full time ASL interpreters on staff; they are only available by special request.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 enforces that it is against the law to discriminate against a person on the basis of one’s disability. It is considered a form of discrimination for an educational facility to not provide adequate services and make accommodations for Deaf people.

It is crucial that the University of Oregon make its campus easily accessible for Deaf people in an effort to better serve a minority, successfully recruit Deaf students along with faculty members, and increase diversity by building a stronger Deaf community on campus.