The Gallaudet campus descended into frenzied guessing as the news spread via e-mail. The PR office’s letter read, “Dr. Glenn Anderson, Chair of the Board of Trustees, will convene a community gathering this afternoon in Elstad Auditorium at which he will deliver an important message about the future of the University.”

Congressional cuts? Retirement? New appointment? A new building? As soon as I found out, I zoomed over to Elstead Auditorium from my work in Takoma. A woman I bumped into as I walked on M Street from the metro said, “Who knows, maybe it’s another murder.” Given the sudden nature of the e-mail announcement and the immediate presentation, her guess was as good as any.

Elstead was full, so I followed the crowd to the SAC where we all assembled around the two TVs in the main eating area. Glenn Anderson came to us via the miraculous technology that is VP, and then as soon as he said something about being sick, his image froze up. Everyone groaned and threw up their hands.

Then some other suit came on the stage. I didn’t catch his name, but I caught what had brought us all to this location at this time: Dr. I. King Jordan is to retire December 31, 2006.

So the most prevalent guess–retirement–was the correct one. 18 years of a distinguished university presidency which was borne from remarkable beginnings. Dr. Jordan visibly expressed his inner struggle regarding his decision.

“My heart wants to stay here for twenty more years, but my head says I can’t,” he said. “Gallaudet needs new leadership to take us into the next phase - and I mean 5, 7, 10-year leadership.”

The crowd at SAC didn’t seem particularly surprised by this announcement. Was everyone expecting it? Or had Dr. Jordan already faded away into irrelevance in the eyes of Gallaudet undergrads? As a person who’s never been a Gallaudet student, I’ll never really know.

“Gallaudet will be a better place when I leave than when I entered,” he proclaimed. Whether people believe that or not (I do), his impact was undeniable. He increased private and public funding by tens of millions of dollars, added a couple new buildings, and all sorts of other cool stuff that I can’t quite think of right now.

The end of the announcement was followed by a tribute of sorts, as faculty, students, and staff all lined up to ask questions and give praise on his distinguished tenure. In response to one of their questions, however, he dropped something of a bombshell.

“Will the next president be deaf? I don’t know.”

Eep. That’s not quite something I wanted to hear from him. As a departing president, he will acquire an august distinction as an elderly Deaf leader (more so than before). He needs to live up to that label, and speak like one. History has been kind to Dr. Jordan, but it isn’t finished with him yet.

For us, that is a good thing.