In a resolution passed on April 6 concerning student accessibility on campus, the GUSA Senate asked the University to set up a funding system to bring sign language interpreters to campus without using Student Activities funding—a reform that would lessen the burden for Georgetown’s deaf community.
Presently, there is no centralized system to pay for sign language interpreters at extracurricular events, and the responsibility often falls on individual students to arrange for their own interpreters. Due to the high demand for interpreters in D.C., in order to guarantee an interpreter for an event, students must submit requests four weeks in advance. This process severely limits the ability of students with hearing impairments to participate in many events their peers enjoy, which are often announced at short notice.
In addition to the logistical limitations to accessibility under the current system, the question of funding is also ambiguous. “If I ask for interpreters, it’s through the Academic Resource Center, and it’s a battle, not necessarily with the ARC, but with the departments here because it is all about money,” Heather Artinian (COL’15) previously told the Voice.
The University cannot continue to rely on SAC funds to pay for interpreters because, as the GUSA resolution points out, some SAC groups receive as little as $96 per semester and the hourly rate for an ASL interpreter is approximately $70 per hour. This cost places a heavy burden on student groups and puts an accessible campus culture out of reach.
While a centralized funding system for providing interpreters without using SAC funds would be a tremendous step forward for creating a culture of accessibility at Georgetown, it is only the beginning. Of all the aspects that relate to diversity, culturally and institutionally, Georgetown has paid the least attention to disability culture, and it lags behind peer institutions in addressing issues of accessibility.
Student activists on campus have voiced the idea of creating a Disability Cultural Center, which would serve as a much-needed hub of activity and a source of advocacy that would finally give disabled students a recognized place in the Georgetown community. With its proposed funding resolution, GUSA and student leaders have shown initiative in making campus more accessible, but they must not lay the issue to rest. Although it is small, the disability community needs to become a visible and active participant in Georgetown’s conversations about diversity.
