Celebrating 50 years of Education and Opportunity

BY SUSAN MURAD

This summer, thousands of alumni, faculty, staff, family members and friends will gather in Rochester, New York, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID)– the first and largest technological college in the world for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) was an early and strong advocate for the establishment of a dedicated postsecondary school focused on marketable technical skills for deaf and hard-ofhearing individuals. In 1964, Congress was urged by leaders of the NAD and others to study the educational and employment status of deaf people. One report suggested that about 80 percent of deaf adults were working in manual occupations, whereas only about 50 percent of the hearing population assumed those same types of positions.

Shortly after, the House and Senate drafted bills recommending the establishment of a college tailored to the needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing students pursuing technical careers. The legislation was passed in both the House and the Senate in a record-setting 47 days.

On June 8, 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed Public Law 89-36, establishing the National Technical Institute for the Deaf.

According to NTID Professor Emeritus, historian and author Harry Lang, the NAD’s support for the concept and creation of NTID was constant from the beginning, with NAD’s Executive Secretary Frederick C. Schreiber stating, “The members of the National Association of the Deaf are immeasurably grateful and appreciative to Congress for its farsightedness and humanitarian awareness of the needs of the deaf, as evidenced by the law making NTID a reality instead of the dream it was.”

Department of Business Studies faculty member, Dr. Alvin C. Merritt Boyd III, teaches a class.

“This institution is providing for the future of deaf people. Deaf people will be able to grow and expand their potential for full lives only through the process of education.”

With the bill signed and plans for its execution moving quickly, more than two dozen universities across the country applied to establish the college on their campuses. However, with connections to industry and business, pre-established programs in many technical disciplines, a favorable relationship between Rochester industry and people with disabilities, and a steady stream of deaf students who had already enrolled in some existing Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) programs,

Cody Cummings, a laboratory science technology major from Austin, Texas, works on a project in NTID’s newly updated science labs.

particularly in the School of Printing and the School for American Craftsmen, RIT became a strong contender.

In July 1966, a site team visited RIT’s new 1,300- acre campus under construction in the Rochester suburb of Henrietta. On November 14 of that year, RIT was selected as the future home of NTID. The strengths of this initiative would be a new, blended learning environment for the nation’s deaf students interested in technical careers and an enhanced learning environment for the university’s hearing population. Today, deaf and hard-of-hearing RIT/NTID students enroll in programs such as electrical and mechanical engineering, business administration, printing management and medical technology, and earn associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at NTID and across the other eight colleges of RIT. More than 8,500 deaf and hard-of-hearing NTID alumni are living in all 50 states and in 20 countries, working in all economic sectors, including business and industry, health care, education and government.

NTID actively sponsors and encourages research designed to enhance the lives of deaf and hardof-hearing people. The college is home to research centers dedicated to studying teaching and learning; communication; technology, access and support services; and employment and adaptability to social changes and the global workplace.

Opportunities are available for undergraduate and graduate students to work directly with faculty, travel in support of their research and apply for research funding.

When NTID opened, the NAD President Robert G. Sanderson was enthusiastic about the promise the college offered, “This institution is providing for the future of deaf people. Deaf people will be able to grow and expand their potential for full lives only through the process of education.”

Members of the NAD leadership have been involved with NTID throughout the 50-year history of the college, such recent NAD President Chris Wagner, who is co-chair of NTID’s 50th Reunion committee along with his wife Staci, and NTID leaders such as former President T. Alan Hurwitz have served as presidents of the NAD. NTID will be celebrating the 50th anniversary with an alumni reunion this summer.

Gerard J. Buckley, who was named NTID president in 2011 and is the first RIT/NTID alumnus to hold that position, said students today leave the college prepared for the real world, where there isn’t always sensitivity and inclusion. They leave understanding their rights and responsibilities, and they leave with the self-confidence to interact with hearing peers. “As RIT and NTID prepare the next generation of leaders, I want them to walk away from this campus feeling that they were included. I want them to increase their earning potential and economic power,” Buckley said. “But it’s not just about money. It’s about the ways they can influence the world. In that way, we’ve truly fulfilled our mission.”

Susan Murad is the director of public relations and technology transfer at RIT/NTID.