Gallaudet University President T. Alan Hurwitz visited Northern Essex Community College on Saturday, Oct. 20, to celebrate the 32-year-long partnership between the colleges as well as to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that will aid qualified NECC students in transferring to the Washington, D.C. based university.

Gallaudet University, federally chartered in 1864, is a bilingual, diverse, multicultural institution of higher education that ensures the intellectual and professional advancement of deaf and hard of hearing individuals through American Sign Language and English.

The Gallaudet University Regional Center located at Northern Essex, which opened in 1980, is one of six regional centers connecting the Washington campus with communities all over the country.

Addressing more than 50 faculty, staff, and students, President Hurwitz acknowledged Northern Essex’s long standing commitment to the needs of students who are deaf and hard of hearing as well as the future professionals who work with them.

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding builds on this partnership. Its intent is to facilitate the transfer process of academic credits of qualified students from the regionally accredited NECC to a variety of bachelor’s programs at Gallaudet University.

Gallaudet’s mission aligns with Northern Essex’s mission to provide high quality, affordable adult and post-secondary education, a broad range of occupational programs and community services which enhance the social, cultural and economic life of the region, according to Hurwitz .

NECC President Lane Glenn noted that having GURC on the Haverhill campus for more than three decades has led to a robust deaf studies programs and stronger developmental classes for the deaf and hard of hearing.
In addition to the six New England states, the Gallaudet University Regional Center serves NY, PA and NJ.

Locally, the GURC provides a monthly Shared Reading Program at the Lawrence campus for both Spanish and English speaking families with young children who are deaf and hard of hearing. Through a contract with the MA Department of Public Health, the GURC provides sign language instruction in the home for families with children who are deaf and hard of hearing from birth to age three.

Northern Essex offers programs to meet the high demand for sign language interpreters as well as professionals working in the Deaf community. An Associate Degree in Arts in Deaf Studies is available in either American Sign Language or Sign Language Interpreter. NECC also offers a certificate program in Deaf Studies: Sign Language Interpreter.