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During the 1998-1999 college basketball season, Gallaudet University fielded a women's team of remarkable ability that won the Capital Athletic Conference regular season championship and advanced to the "Sweet Sixteen" rung of the NCAA Division III tournament. The team's accomplishments seem even more extraordinary considering that Gallaudet's total undergraduate enrollment numbers less than 1,200 students. As much as the team's superb play thrilled the students and other fans, the stellar record they established demonstrated that deaf university athletes could compete among hearing colleges and win, an even more significant achievement in the eyes of the Gallaudet community.
At the end of the season, Tiefenbacher collected her students' photographs and was amazed at their unique quality. Photo after photo revealed the passion, work ethic, and exuberance of the players as they marched on toward their goal of a championship season. Understanding that she had in hand a striking record of achievement by students at the university, all scholars and artisans in their own right, Tiefenbacher created Deaf Girls Rule. In her research, she learned, too, that Gallaudet has enjoyed a rich tradition of women's athletics since its earliest days, which she added as a poignant frame of reference for the 1999 team. In bringing these elements together, Tiefenbacher has produced an exquisite photographic chronicle.
