OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi is home to a
number of bands that offer audiences a wide range of
instrumental music. However, one UM band performs not only
for those who can hear, but also for the hearing impaired.
Instead of playing drums or trumpets, members of the Ole
Miss Hand Band uniquely express music with their hands by
signing lyrics.
“The overall goal is to show people the beauty of sign
language,” said Rebecca Lowe, faculty adviser of the hand
band since January 2002.
The group has performed in churches across northeast
Mississippi, at Ole Miss football games and, for the last
three years, at graduation ceremonies for the School of
Applied Sciences. One of the band’s major accomplishments
was its performance for 13,000 attendees at the American
Speech, Language and Hearing Association National
Convention, Lowe said.
Vanessa Brasher, a third-year psychology major from Banner,
serves as the group’s manager. She joined the band after
hearing about it from Lowe, who was her work-study
supervisor during her freshman year.
“Signing is like dancing with your hands,” Brasher said. “I
like to have another means of expressing the song other
than singing.”
Originally founded within the Department of Communication
Sciences and Disorders, the band is composed of around 20
students from a range of majors.
Heather Sneed, a senior communication sciences and
disorders major from Chattanooga, Tenn., has been a member
since her sophomore year. Besides improving her signing,
Sneed said the experience has allowed her to meet new
friends.
“A special bond is created between all the girls, and it’s
really fun to work together,” she said. “I also really
enjoy the performance aspect of it.”
While Sneed’s favorite performances are signing pregame
songs at Ole Miss football games, she also enjoys
performing in church services because of signing’s unique
way of demonstrating lyrics.
“I think it’s great that you can express the gospel through
signing, which is a less common avenue,” she said.
Whether at football games or in churches, the group’s
performances have been helped increase people’s awareness
of sign language as a whole, Brasher said.
“We have many deaf people who struggle through life because
few people know how to sign,” she said. Learning to sign
can be a great opportunity for ministry and assistance,
especially in hospital settings involving hearing-impaired
patients, she said.
The hand band is open to all Ole Miss students. For more
information, contact Lowe at UM’s Speech and Hearing Center
at 662-915-7271. For more information on the Department of
Communication Sciences and Disorders, go to