The story of Carolyn Brick: teacher, artist, mother, and one of Gallaudet's first-ever deaf graduate students

In 1960, Carolyn Brick, ’60 & G-’63, graduated with her bachelor’s in psychology. She wanted to be a teacher. At the time, however, Gallaudet didn’t allow deaf students to enroll in its graduate programs.

“I was rejected because I was deaf,” Brick remembers. “I thought it was silly. The point of the program was to teach deaf kids!”

A change was on the horizon. In 1962, almost one hundred years after the school’s founding, Gallaudet opened its graduate programs to deaf students for the first time. One year later, Brick walked across the Commencement stage to receive her master’s in education. She was part of the first group of deaf students to ever receive their graduate degrees from Gallaudet.

65 years after graduating, Brick returned to the Gallaudet campus for Homecoming 2025. Her remarkable journey showcases the power of an accessible education.

Gallaudet bound

Brick was born Carolyn Jean Bateman in Davenport, Iowa. As a child, she spent most of her days immersed in books. Her hard of hearing brother, Guy Bateman, ’64, would interrupt her reading binges and drag her outside to play.

When she was eight, Brick’s father moved the family south to Tuscon, Arizona so that she could attend the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (ASDB). She had never seen sign language before.

“I arrived in Arizona, and people were signing,” Brick says. “I thought, ‘What’s that? They’re waving their hands!’ It seemed so weird. It took me five years to catch up with my signing.”

There wasn’t much of a question where Brick would go after graduating from ASDB. “Back then, the only place to find people who signed was Gallaudet. Hearing or deaf.”

Brick spent her first two years at Gallaudet taking general liberal arts classes. When the time came to choose a major, she picked psychology. “I was always interested in what people thought and felt,” Brick says.

She blossomed academically and socially. As a member of the Delta Epsilon sorority, she helped to plan their yearly balls. She was also a member of the Inter-Sorority Council, Young Women’s Christian Association, and Chapel Choir. 

During Brick’s sophomore year, she met a freshman who had just arrived from Wales named Dorothy Miles, ’61. The two women became best friends, bonding over their shared interests in acting and writing. Brick was an editor for the Buff and Blue student newspaper, and Miles became editor-in-chief. Years later, Miles became renowned for her pioneering work in sign language performing arts. 

Guy Bateman joined Brick at Gallaudet during her junior year. “It was lovely having my brother there,” she says. “We were in different parts of the school most of the time, but when we saw each other, we became excited kids again.”

Both brother and sister were part of the first ever swimming teams fielded by Gallaudet. Bateman set multiple records for the team during his time as an athlete.

In addition to competing, Brick was a member of the Women’s Athletic Association. She helped to organize women’s sports at Gallaudet and plan events. She was also a member of the Pep Squad, rooting on athletes as a cheerleader during games.

Star performer

Despite Brick’s busy social schedule, she may have been best known as a performer. She joined Gallaudet Dance Company in its second year of operation under founder Dr. Peter Wisher. The group performed for audiences around the east coast, including recitals in New Jersey and New York City. In 1959, Brick and classmate Colette Foley, ’60, performed “The Lord’s Prayer” for local news channel WCR-TV.

Brick was even more renowned for her acting. She joined the Gallaudet Dramatics Club in 1957, performing as a background cast member. In 1958, she starred as Ophelia in a production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The show broke attendance records at Gallaudet.

She received a rave review in the Buff and Blue: “Carolyn Bateman was very vivid as Ophelia, Hamlet’s demented sweetheart. Her acting had just the right shade of pathos and wonder, and she showed a surprising gift for comedy…” The role earned her Best Actress in Gallaudet’s annual year-end awards.

Anticipation was high for the following year’s Shakespeare adaptation. Brick again played a leading role as Desdemona in Othello. She won a second Best Actress award for her performance.

Determined to teach

After graduating in 1960, Brick wasn’t allowed to attend graduate school at Gallaudet. She was frustrated, but determined. 

“Most places, they didn’t allow children to sign. It motivated me to become a teacher for deaf children.”

At the recommendation of a professor, she applied to a graduate program in counseling psychology at The Catholic University of America, three miles north of Gallaudet. During classes, she had no sign language interpreters. Instead, she had to rely on lipreading and asking her classmates if she could copy their notes.

Soon after she arrived, Brick learned that there was another deaf student named Lawrence in the same program. She was so excited that she couldn’t wait to meet him. She went to Lawrence’s apartment and knocked on the door. He introduced himself as Larry Brick.

“I told him I wanted to meet him because we were in the same program. We talked and enjoyed each other’s company. Later, I would see him around campus. We were always bumping into each other in elevators. We spent a lot of time chatting in those elevators. And smooching.”

Two years later, Carolyn Bateman became Carolyn Brick.

Back to Gallaudet

After her second year at Catholic University, Brick learned of an amazing change at Gallaudet. The Graduate Department of Education was opening its program to deaf students for the first time ever.

“It’s about time,” Brick remembers feeling. “It was wrong for them to deny us because we’re deaf. Gallaudet is a deaf college!”

She was happy to be back where she belonged. “It was so much easier because everybody was deaf. I could communicate again.”

Brick lived in a small apartment off-campus with her now-husband Larry. At the time, the nearby Brentwood area was called “Deafwood” because of all the Gallaudet students and staff living there. She biked to campus every day.

Brick remembers around eight deaf classmates in her graduate school class. Among them was Gerilee Gustason, G-’63, a legendary figure in the field of deaf education and training deaf teachers. As a group, the class went on to educate countless young deaf people. Their work helped make American Sign Language a bedrock of Deaf culture.

Teacher for the deaf

While Carolyn transferred to Gallaudet, Larry Brick had stayed at Catholic University to finish his own master’s degree in education. After both graduated, they moved to Illinois to start their careers, with Larry as Dean of Students at the Illinois School for the Deaf (ISD). Carolyn worked at ISD as a counselor for two years before becoming a full-time teacher. It marked the beginning of a long and fruitful career as a teacher of deaf children.

After a stop at the Florida School for the Deaf & Blind (FSDB), the Bricks eventually settled in Philadelphia to work at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (PSD). Both Carolyn and Larry stayed at PSD until their respective retirements.

“I enjoyed teaching very much,” Brick says. “I loved interacting with the students. It’s so exciting to watch a small child learn to sign and learn the names of things.”

Brick taught deaf children for over 40 years, most of them at PSD. Even after she retired at age 65, she was reminded of her time in the classroom. “I would often go to deaf events and run into my former students. They’d be so excited and hug me. It was always nice to see them.”

Family ties

While they were nurturing students at work, Carolyn and Larry also started a family at home. Their first two sons, Gary and David, were hearing. After their third and youngest was born, Carolyn and Larry were surprised to realize he was deaf.

“I was delighted,” Carolyn says. “I’m deaf myself, so I knew we would have shared experiences.” She cherished her time with all of her sons. “The best part of my life was with my kids when they were young. I already loved working with young children. Having my own was wonderful.”

The youngest, Kelby Brick, ’94, would go on to have his own storied career in the deaf community. As a teenager, he surprised his parents by insisting on attending Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD) on the Gallaudet campus. Carolyn reluctantly let him go. As a result, she found herself frequently commuting from Philadelphia to her old stomping grounds in D.C. 

The commute continued through Kelby’s college years when he attended Gallaudet. “I went back and forth so often, it didn’t even feel like a special trip,” Carolyn says. “Gallaudet is home for me.”

Carolyn and Larry were both retired, kept their love of adventure after retiring. The couple traveled extensively. In the winter, they would drive their RV to the Rocky Mountains to ski. They also loved to scuba dive.

Carolyn continues to be a devoted mother. In 2015, her son David developed a performance that explores his experience as a Child of Deaf Adults (CODA). Carolyn participated in the show, sharing stories of her college days. The venue was a block from her old home in Washington, D.C., a few miles from Gallaudet.

After Larry passed in 2023, Carolyn stayed close to her family and moved in with David. She’s eager to pick up where she left off when she was a child.

“I’m excited. I finally have time to read again.”

A lasting legacy

Brick returned to Gallaudet for the 65th anniversary of her graduation during Homecoming in October 2025. She was glad to see her old classmates and friends as they gathered to reminisce. Only four graduates from 1960 were able to attend–perhaps the last of their class.

“We scattered all over the country after graduation,” Brick says. “I was so happy to see them again.”

She remains exceedingly modest. When asked about her pioneering entrance into Gallaudet’s graduate school, she remarks, “I was just one of the group.”

Kelby Brick is happy to speak on his mother’s behalf. “Mom was an anti-racist feminist who always emphasized that the Deaf community, and community at large, would be stronger if we embraced everyone and uplifted those who are the most marginalized. Those values were a critical part of her raising three boys, and imbued in every part of her teaching career.”

That long career began in the halls of Gallaudet, where Carolyn Brick rubbed shoulders with legends in the deaf world. Brick and her peers built a legacy of culture, community, and language access that reverberated through the deaf and hard of hearing community.

“Gallaudet feels like home because it’s easy to communicate with everybody here,” Brick says. “When I was a student, many teachers of the deaf were lousy signers. Even at Gallaudet. Now, I come here and everybody signs so well! Even the janitors sign.”

Brick has passed on that legacy of access to future generations of deaf and hard of hearing children.

“I always wanted to be a good teacher for my students,” Brick says. “A good teacher has a lot of impact. I understood how deaf children felt because I felt that way as a child. If I can empathize with them, they’ll enjoy learning and school. It makes all the difference.”

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Gallaudet University remains the world’s leading educator of teachers for the deaf. We now offer 5 master’s tracks in Deaf Education, along with 3 bachelor’s tracks, 2 doctorate tracks, and more.

Visit the Education program webpage to learn more.