Those who attend 10 p.m. Sunday Mass at St. Francis Xavier College Church have undoubtedly seen junior Beth Schwaab, but they may have never heard her.
Schwaab, along with another interpreter, has been responsible for sign language at the 10 p.m. Sunday Mass for the past year. She can be found in the front of the church translating the night’s message into American Sign Language for deaf worshippers who might not otherwise have a way of receiving the message.
“[Signing] is a way that I’m able to enter into worship,” Schwaab said. “It makes the Mass more alive for me.”
Schwaab, a 21-year-old investigative and medical sciences major, has spent the last three years at Saint Louis University fostering a greater understanding and acceptance of the Deaf community on SLU’s campus. She was an advocate for getting doorbells installed on the dormroom doors of deaf students, which set off lights inside the room, and she taught a small introductory course in sign language to SLU students last year.
“The interest has increased immensely on campus,” Schwaab said.
To expand on this interest, she holds a meeting at 9 p.m. every Wednesday in the fourth floor common room of Griesedieck Hall, attended by deaf and non-deaf students.
“People get a chance to really hang out and learn about the Deaf community,” Schwaab said.
Schwaab became involved with Deaf culture in high school when the Advanced Placement art class she wanted to take had no open spots. To fill the period, she signed up for an introductory sign language class.
“I absolutely fell in love,” she said. “[Signing] has become such a huge part of my life.”
The teacher of that class was deaf, and he introduced her to members of the local Deaf community in Houston, her hometown.
“Once you get immersed in one Deaf community, you learn about the different facets of all of them,” Schwaab said.
Despite all her experience with sign language, Schwaab would not call herself an expert.
“I still have so much to learn,” she said.
Schwaab, who visited 27 different schools while trying to decide on a college, said “SLU just seemed to check everything on my list.”
However, there was one thing she did feel was lacking from SLU, namely that there was not a great enough emphasis being placed on deaf students on campus.
“[Deaf culture] is one of the silent communities that people just aren’t aware of,” Schwaab said.
She spent more time on SLU’s campus and eventually became better acquainted with the student body.
“I knew that if I was going to spend four years somewhere, this was where I wanted to be,” she said.
Schwaab has seen an increase in the number of deaf students at SLU in the past few years and is glad to have played her part in making SLU more accessible for them.
“It’s been really awesome to foster an openness to the Deaf community,” she said.
In addition to her work within the Deaf culture at SLU, Schwaab is active in a number of student organizations. She founded Embrace, an all-women Bible study group, and will be a resident adviser in Grand Forest next year.
