Across campus, you may have seen American Sign Language interpreters at chapel and convocation or noticed students having conversations in sign language in crowded rooms. 

To aid in the journey of learning ASL,  Goshen College has had an ASL club for students to participate in for the last 10 years. 

Hailey Horner, a junior ASL interpreting major, and the current president of the ASL club, said, “The main goal of ASL club is getting students more comfortable with using sign language in casual conversation and daily circumstances, as well as for those who need ASL hours for their classes,” Horner said. 

Students in ASL classes need to reach a certain number of hours at deaf events or at the ASL club, so the club has weekly meetings to help students reach their quota.

However, the club is not just for interpreting majors, or even only for people who know ASL. Horner said, “I would love for us to get more people — people who are not at all involved, who just want to start learning sign language. I really want to get a lot of other majors who just want to learn sign because it’s a really, really good skill to have.” 

She mentioned many benefits of knowing ASL, such as being able to speak across rooms, in loud environments or as a helpful tool for those with  social anxiety to be able to communicate without needing to speak. 

Coming to ASL club without knowing any ASL may seem daunting, but Horner is ready to welcome new members. 

“Hopefully, we’re going to start getting some more people who don’t know any sign. When people say, ‘Oh, I think ASL is cool!’ I’m always like, ‘Even if you don’t know sign, you can come join us! We’ll help you learn, we have teachers there and deaf people who can teach you, just join us!’”  

She also shared from her own experience with the club. “There was always going to be an instance or two of me signing something wrong or being embarrassed because I signed something weirdly, but that’s just part of the growth process,” Horner said.

In the fall, the events are more tailored toward beginners due to the influx of new students starting to take ASL classes. “Usually, we’ll have more easy-to-understand stuff. Playing games, watching movies, doing games that involve practicing signs and finger spelling, stuff like that,” Horner said. The club usually hosts Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas parties as well. This semester, they’ve hosted a St. Patrick’s Day party and are working on planning more.

Currently, the club is busy scheduling events and trying out new ones. Horner said, “This spring semester has actually been really exciting because we’ve got a whole lot of new stuff that we haven’t really tried before. We planned more movie nights, and we’re doing a murder mystery — we haven’t tried that one before, so it’ll be an experiment.” 

Allison Badali, a sophomore ASL major, is the secretary of the ASL club. Along with the movie nights, Badali mentioned that there will potentially be another party coming up. She said, “Some of my favorite experiences are at the parties. For example, at the St. Patrick’s Day party, we hid ducks around the building and whoever got the most ducks won a prize.” However, Badali said her favorite part of being in ASL club was just seeing people use ASL to communicate and have fun with each other.

While meetings are currently on Tuesday nights from 7-8 p.m., Badali said they are always open to feedback and may be looking at changing the time to allow more students to make it, especially those outside of the ASL interpreting and deaf studies majors.

She also echoed Horner’s sentiments on the club. “It’s just a way to celebrate deaf culture and to use some sign language,” Badali said. “I think ASL club is a great way to just be involved, and you don’t have to know sign language to come. We have whiteboards and papers and amazing students and staff that can help you communicate, so even if you just want to come to show up [and] enjoy some food, it’d be fun too.”