Gallaudet University is officially bilingual, with American Sign Language (ASL) and written English used for instruction and by the college community.

In 1856, philanthropist and former United States postmaster general Amos Kendall became aware of several deaf and blind children in Washington, D.C., who were not receiving proper care.

Kendall had the courts declare the children to be his wards and donated 2 acres (0.81 ha) of his land to establish housing and a school for them.

[16] During 1861–1862, new monies provided for industrial education were used to rent a nearby shop in order to teach cabinet-making to the male students.

During vacation in August a regiment of Union troops used the brick building for a hospital, and some of the students who stayed over the summer helped with tending to the sick soldiers.

Gallaudet asked for money to pipe in water from the Anacostia River, as the existing cistern and well were inadequate for the school's burgeoning needs.

In early 1864, the 38th Congress authorized the institution to grant and confirm college degrees and an enabling act was signed by President Lincoln on April 8.

[21] In recognition of his hard work in helping the institution grow during its formative years, Gallaudet was also promoted from superintendent to president.

The chief topic of discussion was the recommendations put forth by Edward Gallaudet regarding adding articulation lessons to schools' curricula.

Gallaudet cautioned Congress that Kendall's heirs had plans to subdivide the property if it was not sold to the Columbia Institution, and hence the land would never again become available for purchase as a whole.

When the fall 2006 academic year resumed, some students, faculty, staff, and alumni continued their protest, calling for Fernandes to step down and for the presidential search to be done again.

On October 16 at a regularly scheduled meeting, faculty members voted 138 to 24 to block Fernandes from becoming president of Gallaudet University.

[45] He was formally installed on May 9, 2007, during a ceremony that included a speech by D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who spoke positively of the 2006 protest.

On June 29, 2007, in the aftermath of the controversy over the university's presidency, Gallaudet was temporarily placed on probation by its accreditation organization, the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

Gallaudet University offers thirty graduate programs in ten Departments as well as on-line and on-campus continuing education courses.

Separate from the KDES Early Childhood Program, the child development center is inclusive of, but not exclusively for, deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

[103] Gallaudet women's basketball made its biggest splash in 1999, with a group of players from the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf among those leading the way.

Under the leadership of coach Kitty Baldridge, Miller, Touria Ouahid, Ronda Johnson and Jenny Cooper led the Bison to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons.

In the second round, Gallaudet faced a team from The College of New Jersey which had received a first-round bye and was highly favored, but Miller poured in 38 points, using a variety of impressive shots.

The Bison advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the 1999 tournament before falling to host school Salem State College (Mass.).

[104] Miller finished with 2,656 points scored, 1,545 rebounds and 373 blocked shots, and was called "one of the best basketball players in Division III history" by the NCAA.

"[108] The football huddle originated at Gallaudet when the team noticed that their opponents were trying to see and read their signs in order to try to guess their plays.

[109] After an undefeated season in 2005, which was achieved after 122 years, head coach Ed Hottle began his campaign to return Gallaudet to the NCAA ranks.

[112] In the fall of 2013, Gallaudet's football program began a remarkable run for the Division III playoffs and garnering a considerable amount of publicity, winning the regular season with a 9–1 record, before falling to Hobart College in the first round of the playoffs and ending the season with a 9–2 (.818) overall record.

[113][114] In 2006, the Gallaudet women's volleyball team ended their season 30–10 after a history-making run to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Division III tournament.

[115] Notable athletes that have attended the university include: The campus Greek community is relatively small with only three fraternities and three sororities.

RSIA researchers gather and analyze data concerning the social, academic, and perceptual characteristics of deaf and hard of hearing populations, primarily to provide information needed by educators in the field.

[119] In 2016, RSIA began hosting the Gallaudet Research Expo, to give students, faculty, and staff "the opportunity to share ideas and showcase scholarly pursuits and achievements.

"[120] Presentations represent "education, linguistics, STM, neuroscience, interpretation and translation, computer science, audiology, psychology, deaf studies, and other fields that reflect Gallaudet's research priorities.

The Chronicles are designed to "mimic professional, peer-reviewed journals"[123] and provides graduate students with the opportunity to disseminate their original psychology research.