Jason Hurdich and a colleague partnered with a Starbucks in Greenville, S.C., to coordinate the first Signing Starbucks Nights event for the Deaf community in 2019. Photo by Will Crooks

ONE GOOD DEED

One Good Deed: Jason Hurdich (CAS’97)

Uniting the local Deaf community, one cup at a time

Jason Hurdich settled in South Carolina seven years ago to take a job in Clemson University’s languages department. The placement was a dream come true for Hurdich (CAS’97), a senior lecturer of American Sign Language, or ASL, and a deaf individual.

“We have an ASL major at Clemson and a minor,” he says. “We have six faculty members in the department, and five of us are deaf.”

There was only one problem: the Deaf community in the area had few real-world spaces to meet up and make connections. It was an issue he sought to remedy immediately.

“I realized the community has been starving for communication access, to be able to understand each other, and to be able to communicate within the same language,” he says. “That’s what really inspired me.”

Hurdich and a colleague partnered with a Starbucks in his new home of Greenville to coordinate the first Signing Starbucks Nights event in 2019. It was an open call for anyone who knew ASL—but particularly the Deaf community—to gather, socialize, network, and make connections.

Hurdich knew he was providing a much-needed solution—6 percent of adults in the state have reported hearing-related disabilities—but he had no idea how the first event would go. As it turned out, that meetup would see more than 300 participants from South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia come through the doors. The overwhelming success inspired Hurdich to make Signing Starbucks Nights a monthly occurrence—and, since 2019, each event reliably draws a steady crowd.

“Almost all the tables in Starbucks get taken up with signers [each time],” he says. “It’s really cool to see that community engagement and to be able to share the same culture and language—it’s been really beautiful.”

The series picked up a lot of good buzz, and word spread through Hurdich’s efforts to broadcast events on Facebook.

“Facebook is still very popular with the Deaf community,” he says. “The community also gossips a lot, so once I announce an event, it spreads like wildfire.”

Soon, the press got wind of the story; Hurdich describes the arrival of an all-deaf news crew from Atlanta as one of his proudest moments as the event’s primary coordinator.

“I watch a lot of those news programs,” he says. “It really felt like there was a connection, and to see them there validated the experience.”

Hurdich makes sure the events are well-advertised and run smoothly, and coordinates with Starbucks staff, many of whom know ASL. He can usually be found sipping his standard coffee order: a blonde roast with a little bit of milk.

Hurdich has another idea designed to unite the local Deaf community: bring together parents of deaf children for teaching sessions. Approximately 90 percent of deaf children are born to hearing parents.

Meanwhile, events like Signing Starbucks Nights have encouraged the chain to facilitate 11 ASL-friendly locations. The first one opened in Washington, D.C., in 2018.

The greatest reward, Hurdich says, is the connections that are made each month. “I know of people who have met and become friends, or even started dating or doing businesses together,” he says. “The Deaf community is pretty strong in regard to collectiveness. We tend to depend on other members.”

Do you know of a BU alum who has taken the initiative to right a wrong? Email us at alums@bu.edu.