The election is over, but SignVote’s work to promote civic engagement continues

Nearly 500 people packed into JSAC on election night for SignVote’s watch party — and another 12,000 joined in online via the livestream on Facebook and YouTube. Any pundit would have to agree that qualifies as a landslide victory for the non-partisan initiative, organized by Gallaudet’s Center for Democracy in Deaf America (CDDA). 

“It was a full house of community members. I won’t forget that night, and the attendees won’t either,” says Dr. Brendan Stern, ‘05, CDDA’s Executive Director. The gathering, hosted by Stern and SignVote Ambassador Diego Ozuna-Clark, welcomed a series of expert guests to break down key election issues, such as polling and demographics, all in American Sign Language.

The lineup included faculty members Dr. Teresa Blankmeyer Burke, Director of the School of Arts and Humanities; Todd Bonheyo, ’16, and Dr. Stacy Nowak, ’01, G-’04, & PhD ’23, and Deaf Studies Professor Dr. Joseph Murray, who is also president of the World Federation of the Deaf. They were joined by Student Body Government president Trent Mora, Deaf Main Street Inc.’s Bill Millios, ’90, influencers Rachel Burton, ’09; Melissa Yingst, ’00; and Leila Hanaumi, ’12, as well as Neil McDevitt, ’96, the mayor of North Wales, PA.

The evening concluded with remarks from President Roberta “Bobbi” Cordano. “It was so nice for the first time in my life to see all of these Deaf leaders up there communicating in their native language and modeling for us how to be a great leader and community member,” she said. “That is what this is all about.”

SignVote’s party was the culmination of months of work, both on campus and across the country, to make information about politics more accessible to Deaf people. When he took the stage, Stern thanked the sponsors and supporters who have helped with these efforts, including a mock election that gave 745 middle and high school students at Deaf schools the chance to cast a ballot. Through voter registration booths, panel discussions, and other events, the SignVote team made sure that people had the resources necessary to make informed decisions and encouraged them to share their views.

Stern explains that a key element of their mission was to increase access to incidental learning among Deaf people. “They got to talk to fellow citizens about issues of the day, get their perspectives, and better understand their experiences,” he says. So for him, the most meaningful moments of the election season were when he saw students on Kendall Green get more engaged and involved.

Gallaudet student voting statistics were disappointingly low in 2018 — only 73 percent of eligible students were registered to vote and just 26 percent of those students voted. Those numbers jumped in 2020 as 80 percent of students were registered and 71 percent cast a ballot. Stern is waiting on final numbers for this election, but anticipates that participation was even higher. 

Students were inspired by SignVote Faculty Champions, who emphasized the importance of elections in their courses. They also hung out with SignVote’s student ambassadors, who made entertaining videos for social media and brought energy to campus. A feature article in the publication Inside Higher Ed about the election night party highlighted how ambassadors were coming up with ways to make these events fun and help students “stay open-minded and continue to engage, even in the face of disappointment.” 

Of course, there are students — and other community members — who have been disappointed by this year’s election results. “It’s not a surprise that our community is a microcosm of our country. Some of them are grieving, some are celebrating,” Stern says.

But there is more to our political process than just one night. The next step for the SignVote team is to recover and gather feedback. It won’t be long until the midterms roll around, and there will be plenty to do in the meantime. “We vote every day with our choices, and what we’re doing,” Stern says. “By that definition, SignVote is continuing every day.”