Bill Brelje: A community icon
Wendy Bond ’77, M.A.T. ’79 can’t remember a time in her career when Bill Brelje wasn’t there for her.
He was there to interview her when she applied to the graduate school. He was her teacher and her counselor. He helped her find a student-teaching position, and he beamed with pride when she landed her first job.
As a colleague, Brelje offered Bond his respect and sought her advice on how to fine-tune Lewis & Clark’s deaf and hard-of-hearing program to meet current needs.
"Bill has been our father, our patriarch. He is an icon in the community," says Bond, coordinator for the Columbia Regional Program for the Hearing Impaired (which serves public schools in Clackamas, Hood River, Multnomah and Wasco counties) and former president of the Lewis & Clark College National Board of Alumni in 1989-90. "He is absolutely genuine. He is a wonderful, gentle spirit to whom you can talk about anything."
Brelje retired in May as chair of special education: deaf and hard-of-hearing. During his 35-year tenure, he secured nearly $4 million in federal grants to fund student scholarships and to provide program support.
"What I’m most proud of is the ripple effect we’ve created," says Brelje. "Our students have gone on to become teachers, administrators and advocates for the deaf and hard-of-hearing in this country and in places such as Lithuania, Korea, Guam, Taiwan, Saipan and Germany."
Since 1952, when the College began certifying teachers in the education of the deaf and hard-of-hearing through the Washington School for the Deaf in Vancouver, Wash., more than 800 students have graduated from the program, which boasts a job placement rate of nearly 100 percent.
The program at Lewis & Clark, one of only three in the Northwest, is regional in scope and graduates 20 to 28 teachers annually. It works closely with schools for the deaf and hard-of-hearing in Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Arizona, California and Hawaii.
Brelje says the numbers remain constant—about two people in a thousand are deaf.
"In the entire country, only 600 to 700 teachers for the deaf and hard-of-hearing graduate each year," says Brelje. "That number is not sufficient to replace the teachers who retire."
"Bill has always been the driving force behind deaf education and its success at Lewis & Clark," says Carolyn DeSantis M.Ed. ’84, visiting assistant professor of special education. "The field is diverse, and he is committed to preparing teachers to address all issues within the community."
Brelje’s commitment and sensitivity come from personal experience. Both his parents were deaf, as was his wife, Virginia Scott, who died recently.
Brelje learned about adult responsibilities at an early age. When he was 8 years old, his parents wanted to buy a car, and he interpreted their negotiations with the salesman.
Brelje earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from the University of Oregon, a master’s degree in education from Lewis & Clark, a master’s degree in educational administration and supervision from California State University at Northridge, and a doctoral degree in educational administration and supervision from the University of Portland.
In October, Brelje will travel to China to visit the schools for the deaf and to meet with Chinese educators for the deaf.
He also plans to assist Butte Publications, the leading publisher of educational material for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Butte Publications published his book, Global Perspectives on the Education of the Deaf in Selected Countries, and also two novels with deaf characters that his wife wrote.
"I shall miss his guidance and advice on sensitive issues and his historical perspective of the graduate school," says Jay Casbon, dean of the graduate school. "But I hope to draw upon those strengths again as he begins his new role as professor emeritus."
—by Pattie Pace 
Carolyn DeSantis, M.Ed. '84, visiting assistant professor of special education, and Carolyn Bullard, acting director of deaf and hard-of-hearing education, practice sign language with Bill Brelje, professor emeritus of special education. | 
