Showcasing our students

Rodney Burford appears in Netflix film Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story; Philip Wismer participates in CHARGE Syndrome panel; doctoral student Victorica Monroe publishes children’s book, Swishing

Senior Rodney Burford plays the role of Tony Hughes, a deaf victim of a serial killer, in Netflix’s biographical crime drama, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which premiered on September 21. This ten-episode series chronicles the life of Jeffrey Dahmer (played by Evan Peters), who killed and dismembered at least 17 teenage and young men between the 1970s and 1990s in Wisconsin before being arrested, convicted, and executed. 

Burford, who also appeared in Netflix’s Deaf U, appears in Episode 6 of the ten-episode series.

Senior Philip Wismer was a panelist in a virtual presentation on “Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children with CHARGE Syndrome” on September 24. The panel consisted of four young adults, including Wismer; Shannon Boelter, ’14; Mari Dwyer, and Aubrey Williams, and was moderated by Suzanne Morgan Morrow, project director of the New York Deaf-Blind Collaborative. This panel was one of several presentations during the annual Scarlett’s Park in the Silent Garden conference hosted by California State University at Fresno. 

Wismer is a communication studies major. He has presented at several CHARGE Syndrome conferences over the years. 

Doctoral student Victorica Monroe, ’16 & G-’20, has written her first book, Swishing. This autobiography is described by its publisher, Savory Words, as “Victorica’s journey of identifying as DeafBlind, facing prejudice, and playing basketball.” Intended for children, Swishing explores diversity, acceptance, and discovering identities, and contains questions for pre- and post-reading discussion.

Swishing is illustrated by Shawn Richardson, a deaf artist.

The book is available for order at the Savory Words website.

Monroe, from Mississippi, is in the second year of the Ph.D. program in Critical Studies in the Education of Deaf Learners. 

Congratulations!