We, the undersigned, being students of Blackburn College are interesting in bringing American Sign Language classes back to Blackburn. We believe that ASL classes have the potential to benefit Blackburn in several ways, not the least of which being that having students fluent in ASL would make Blackburn more deaf-friendly and would only serve to add to Blackburn’s ever-increasing efforts to engage students in diversity efforts and would offer students an opportunity to experience another culture. Specifically, ASL classes could make Blackburn more deaf-friendly by allowing gifted students to volunteer and/or receive work hours for acting as interpreters for deaf students and work, classes, and college events. We believe that American Sign Language should be offered along-side Spanish as an option to fulfill students’ foreign language requirement. With over half a million deaf individuals living in the United States, and estimates state around six million hard of hearing individuals, it is undeniable that ASL is a language which is foreign to most Americans and yet, similarly to Spanish, is spoken widely in the United States. In conclusion, we request that American Sign Language classes be offered at Blackburn to offer an additional foreign language option, as well as to increase diversity on campus and the opportunity to experience and be enriched by deaf culture. Thank you for your time and consideration, The undersigned students of Blackburn College.