STORRS, Conn. — The sixth floor of Watson Hall on the UConn campus is offering a learning opportunity on another level. It’s all new this school year; For the first time there is a dorm floor dedicated to American Sign Language.
Officially it’s called “ASL Community Housing” and it was co-founded by senior and ASL major Lauren Gobler.
“We are very creative and unique for sure,” said Gobler. “This is our very first year running and we are thrilled. We have one floor running in Watson Hall and right now for our very first year we have 14 residents which is super exciting.”
Donna McNeill, the other co-founder of the ASL Community Housing graduated from UConn last year as an ASL major and is now working at the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford.
"It’s just a community to be able to sign together and share your love of ASL and just find a home with something you love," McNeill said
Vivian London is a UConn freshman and American Sign Language major who was attracted to UConn due to the new opportunity presented by the ASL dorm floor living experience.
"When I found out about it,” said London, “I was like I have to do this! the main point of this is to be an accessible community for deaf and hard of hearing students.”
A number of the 14 students in the program are ASL majors -- As of yet, no deaf or hard of hearing students are part of the ASL dorm floor, but there are designs on growing the program in the years to come.
"We want to create that space that is inclusive, that is welcoming so that people feel like they can come here and have a home here on our floor," Gobler said.
Jimmy Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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