Dr. Rosemary Wanis, like any other person this past February, watched the Super Bowl awaiting the pregame and halftime performances, only to be disappointed again by the lack of representation (change to visibility) of the Deaf performers.

Wanis is a part-time deaf studies lecturer in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Deaf Studies. One of the major courses she teaches is Deaf Culture, where recently a group of her students started a letter campaign in response to the Super Bowl situation. During the pregame and half-time shows, the Deaf performers were on national TV screen for a total of 10 seconds out of the five performances. The students were led by Davian Thompson, a 50-year-old junior majoring in theater arts and music.

“I have a show on Facebook, called ‘3, 2, 1, Blast Off,’ where I try to inspire others to follow their dreams. So I wanted to do this, not only for Dr. Wanis, but for the whole Deaf community,” Thompson said. “They should be able to enjoy performances, just like every other American.”

In the letters written to the NFL and the National Association of the Deaf, the students expressed their concerns and a solution to the issue by saying, “for future Super Bowl events, there should only be viewing, via split screen or with both artists on stage, like the performance from Super Bowl XXVII, in 1993, with Marlee Matlin and Garth Brooks.”

That was the first and last time a Deaf performer shared the stage and was on the TV screen the entire time. Since that time, the stage was never shared again, Wanis said. The only reason Matlin was able to stand by Brooks was because he refused to perform unless she was by his side, Wanis said.

Wanis said this is a sad normality for the Deaf community, but was so unbelievably proud that in all of her 16 years of teaching, this was the first time her students stood up for what they believed was right with a call to action.

“Students are always told they have a voice, but often are not taught how to use them,” Wanis said. “This happened because we wanted to make the world a better place for all of us and for the students to make them feel empowered.”

Wanis was born in Egypt to hearing parents, and later moved to Monterey, where she was identified as hard of hearing at age 4. After receiving her bachelor's degree in psychology at the California Baptist College in Riverside, she graduated with a master's in social work and a master's in administration and supervision from Gallaudet University, a college for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Washington, D.C. She then received her doctorate in educational leadership from Fresno State.

The Deaf Culture course is a cultural class, which means any student can take it. Recently, Wanis changed her teaching format after borrowing from the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I wanted to focus more on allyship and accountability,” Wanis said “Allyship is taking action, not just acknowledgment, and I am so glad to achieve that with this class. I appreciate each of them so much. The world can be a better place for Deaf, hard of hearing, DeafDisabled, and DeafBlind individuals when allies step up, encourage change, and break down barriers.”