Deaf Awareness Week, or the International Week of the Deaf, is celebrated internationally during the last full week of September. The focus of this event is to raise awareness around the deaf community as well as organizations that support those who are deaf. Additionally, this week promotes positive aspects of deafness while uplifting the voices of individuals in this community. This year’s theme is “With Sign Language – I am Equal” and highlights advocacy, equal language and equal employment. We at The Guilfordian are committed to protecting and promoting inclusivity in our diverse campus community. We believe in increasing accessibility to services such as sign language interpreting, subtitling and closed-captioning on campus and in the larger community. We also believe in sign language as a valid, fully operating language.

Guilford College has epitomized the benefits of the deaf community’s inclusion into places of leadership. Jane Fernandes is the ninth president of Guilford College and the first deaf woman to lead a college or university in the United States. Although deafness may be seen as a barrier or obstacle by some, it has become an identity that has created a cultural and linguistic community. The Guilfordian editorial board supports Deaf Awareness Week and is dedicated to creating a welcoming environment for all while living up to the core values of community, diversity and equality.

To take it a step further, it is our duty as citizens of our community to work for the inclusion of people regardless of their background. To go beyond building a great life for one but one for all, we have to understand each other as people, which means making the effort to collaborate together as a society. The Guilfordian supports this value.

Reflecting Guilford College’s core Quaker values, the topics and content of Staff Editorials are chosen through consensus of all 13 editors and one faculty adviser of The Guilfordian’s Editorial Board.