USF students protest proposal to end ASL Interpreting program

TAMPA, Fla. - Students and members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community gathered for an on-campus demonstration at the University of South Florida Thursday.

Students say they were notified of plans to end the American Sign Language Interpreting program. Students say USF’s program is one of two in the state that provide this kind of interpreter training.

"The issue with that is it goes way beyond a school. This is so much more than a program or degree. This is about the deaf community having the rights that they deserve. They deserve to have representation," said program student Lauren Stallworth.

Members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community say they rely on the interpreters that come from this major for their daily life.

"I feel like interpreters are vital. They’re a part of our everyday life. We need them in offices. We need them in rallies like here today," said program student Yuridia Moncion.

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Students presented these concerns to Dr. Julianne Serovich, dean of USF's College of Behavioral and Community Science. She says a final decision hasn’t been made.

"They thought there was a hard deadline of the 18th and that’s not true, they thought faculty were going to lose their jobs and that’s not true, they think the program is going to go away and that’s not true," Serovich said. "It may change, and it may look different, and a major may not be here, but it doesn’t mean that we won’t have interpreter training. I’m committed to interpreter training."

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Students say the training is critical to the quality of interpreters that would be in the community.

"By taking away the degree, you’re taking away preparation and that leaves a huge risk to not have an interpreter or if they have one, they’re not qualified to the standard they deserve to be," Stallworth said.

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Dean Serovich committed to a meeting with the faculty and students and members of the deaf community before moving forward.

Currently, USF is still accepting applications for students interested in this major who wish to enroll for the summer or fall 2022 semesters.

Concerned students set up an online petition to gain support for the school.