ASL Study Group Removed From Fisher Fine Arts for Disturbing the Peace

In line with their commitment to providing Penn students a silent place to study, librarians at the Fisher Fine Arts library escorted an ASL study group from the premises early last Thursday for “disturbing the peace.”

“We were just minding our own business, practicing vocabulary,” recounted Jillian Sanders (C ’19), who is in the study group. “Then we were asked to leave, without a warning.”

The Fisher Fine Arts Library prides itself on being “one of the few quiet study places on campus,” according to its website. 

“The rules are clear,” said Miranda Hynes, one of the librarians working on Thursday. “Students are asked to refrain from any kind of conversation, in order to avoid disrupting anyone else’s work. The study group in question was certainly disrupting the peace around them: I could personally hear the air molecules they were pushing around all the way from my desk.”