ASL Club Profile
Last Friday, the Quest spoke with Owen Fidler ‘27, co-runner of the ASL Club, about the club’s history, mission, and future.
Fidler founded the club, which meets at 6:00pm on Thursdays, as “a way to keep in touch with my signing and inform other people about Deaf culture” after seeing a Missed Connection by Annabelle Hopkins ‘27 about wanting to practice ASL with other people. Fidler was later joined by club co-runner Carys John ‘25.
The club divides its time between teaching and practicing the language, and exploring the culture and history — topics Fidler described as fundamentally intertwined.
Fidler said, “As someone who is hearing at a campus where there is a vast majority of hearing people, you can’t really teach ASL without giving context about Deaf culture, understanding who Deaf people are, what their history is, what challenges they face, and how to speak up against audism in a way that is also intersectional, learning about issues pertaining to the Black Deaf community and the Queer Deaf community.”
At ASL Club meetings, you might encounter a broad diversity of skill levels, from people who are brand new to ASL to people who have known the language their whole lives. The club is also open to the broader Reed community; Fidler described a Commons employee who is learning ASL to communicate with their deaf granddaughter. Fidler emphasized the ways the club focuses on ASL as a way to foster community, saying “We learn conversational signs and signs that would be helpful if you wanted or needed to communicate with a deaf person or signs that kind of just allow you to talk with other students on campus about our life.” They initially learned ASL to communicate with their deaf grandparents and talked about how the language had brought them closer together.
Fidler said the club hopes to eventually offer a Paideia class, sponsor Deaf-informed performances, and lead trips off-campus to the larger Woodstock area, including to the reopened Woodstock Cafe, an American Sign language cafe opening near Reed. Fidler explained, “I really strongly hold the belief that student engagement at Reed shouldn’t just be within the confines of our campus, that interacting with the community is really important.”