History is replete of good committees who have engaged in groupthink. This Board is no less susceptible than others. The Board is not perfect.

I think the argument that “Listen to the Board - they know what they are doing” is dangerous because it relies more on faith than in transparency.

That said, there is good reason to point out the Boards qualifications. They seem impeccable. The real issue here is not their qualifications but the conversation between the Board and the faculty/staff. Perhaps the problem is that this process is more non-democratic than not.

Excellent, I couldn’t have said it better. thank you so much Mr. Stone for the post. I can rest peacefully now. =)

Well said. I couldn’t agree more.

Agreed. Adam, it’s the first time I agreed with your post since I came here. :)

Hmm… Adam, you mention nothing about the faculty’s call for Fernandes’ resignation, their claim that she does not understand how teachers work and her lack of involvement of the faculty in the decision-making process, and the results of Gallaudet’s recent federal survey which stated that:

Gallaudet failed to meet its goals or showed declining performance in key areas, including the number of students who stay in school, graduate, and either pursue graduate degrees or find jobs upon graduation. For example, Gallaudet graduates who find employment commensurate with their education declined from 90% in 2001 to 69% in 2005.

As Provost, would not Ms. Fernandes be responsible for ensuring compliance with federal standards? The website is here. I would be interested in your opinion.

As I noted on my blog, the claim that all the protests amount to “Jane does not say hello” is specious. Patronization and a lack of respect for individuals is a serious consideration.

I’d be curious as to your response. I would like to encourage everyone to be as clear as possible.

Oh, by the way?

So? Lots of leaders (especially in the corporate world!) are cold, aloof, and condescending. Lots of people don’t say “Hi”. Does that recuse them from responsible positions, from leadership roles? Not necessarily. History is full of ********. What’s one more?
I don’t really want to see an ******* be president of Gallaudet. Do you?

Well said, Stone. Like the quip about “17-18 years-old bald freshmen” raiding Gallaudet - *chuckling*

I thought the Board of Trustees, in any given university, generally do not consult with the students on choosing a president? Anyway, for a student to understand the bureaucracy of its administration - finance, marketing/public relations, admissions - it’s quite complicated. A good reference is found here: ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.....inistrator)

Students who spend most of their time studying, socializing/partying, and extracurricular activities would not spend most of their time discussing about these responsibilites. So, basically, the whole protest was based on uncertainty, fear, and suspicion among the students and the easiest reaction is rebellion. Simple as that.

you do have your points and they make sense!

i’ve seen JK’s presentation and it was excellent! she was very straightforward and to the point on every topics that she presented because she has the benefit of being the provost for 6 years.

maybe the FSSA(faculty, staff, students, alumni) are a bit lame with this ongoing protest which could be irrevelent, according to the pointers that you’ve mentioned. they could have found a different approach or method, in a professional way.

but how do you explain why not only students, but faculty, staff, AND alumni feel the same about JK? how can they be heard? why didnt the BOT listen to their issues?

all of this you’ve mentioned here is all politic talk.. but what about that side where feelings come in, recognizing the emotions/needs of others and listening to them? are we supposed to ignore that?

Thanks for another great blog. You’re right on the money, as usual! Thanks also for providing an important voice in this blogosphere debate. Keep up the good work!

Point of Information…. Dr. Harvey Goodstien never was prez at Maryland School for the Deaf.. he was prez of Maryland Association of the Deaf…. by the way.. good job on this article….

Well said, Adam, although I’m sure you’re tired of hearing that. Anyway, yeah, it’s a deal done. JKF is here to stay, whether you like it or not. They dream of another successful protest; not gonna happen again. They’ll have to wait for a new President (I’m guessing maybe 20 years?) and hope for a more Deaf-centric President this time. Meanwhile, it’s time for those bald-shaven freshmen to get serious and pave a path to put themselves in a good position to become the President, i.e., getting a Phd. degree, experience, and all of that qualifications.

At least we have a President that’s a woman, so it won’t be an issue the next time around.

Very informative post, Adam. It’s good to know those kind of details. I also find it interesting that NAD’s made an official statement on the whole Gally protest.

http://www.nad.org/GallaudetOpenLetter3

So it will prove to be very interesting to see what happens now. I do agree with the various complaints that the education and diversity suck at Gally. Those ARE legitimate complaints.

But c’mon, just because someone’s a snob isn’t a reason to protest. If there were official, public statements by the faculty and staff on Fernandes, then I would bet you that people like me would take this whole thing a lot more seriously!

Hmm…natech, did you read my blog? “Deaf-centric” :)

Good job Adam. DPN2 it is not.

McCock….get out!

Now that it’s highly possible that the board won’t back down, so I’ve been wondering about who’ll be the next provost of Gallaudet? That position is heavily based on student interaction, right? I would think Ron Stern would make a good candidate for that, for it will balance the administration out. Jane on the outside and Ron on the inside…

I just read JKF’s comments on-line, and I’m like - that’s it?

Man…Adam just nailed this one! Now I would like to quote Ridor’s ASL “finish hot dog close”.

Let’s move on and get used to the fact that JKF IS the next Gallaudet University President.

Wow, the rumors about Adam from RIT must be true.

My blog has covering the events along with Elisa Abenchuchan from day one. And you wonder why my blog already fields over 11,000 hits in 48 hours? Can you top this at all?

Maybe Fernandes is here to stay but something is wrong with the system. But I expect people to say “nay” at the legitimate concerns of others as usual.

Did anyone realize that Adam Stone is doing the propaganda because of his sister who works and is very enthusiastic about being that close to IKJ?

Be careful with how Adam Stone wrote these days. I should mention that when I poked fun at Adam, I got a lot of thank you emails. I wonder why …

R-

I agree with bobby’s points on the board argument. that same argument is often made in a number of other cases and leads to dangerous passivity. a sort of: the masses are dumb; trust the elite attitude. that being said, i pretty much suspected that the most the protests could get was some sort of explanation. there are the employment law questions and no contractual agreement that faculty/students would get a real say. its hard to weigh the students concerns (to take apart whats nitpicking over personality and what are legit concerns), but the faculty sound like they need to get organized to address their own concerns that have clearly been around a while. my organizing prof was part of the organizing campaign there in the 80s , and that failed the first time around, but they might want to start talking about it again.

Christine…good possibility. So, if Ron can’t help improve the numbers at Gallaudet as Provost then it’s all Ron’s fault? Or if Ron doesn’t get selected as Provost, will there be a “DPN3″ protest? Just wondering…

Cynthia AShby? Please, get a clue. Check up with the updates at GSD where students, faculty, staff and alumni are protesting the Ashby’s selection of a person who knew NOTHING about deaf issues to run the GSD!

That person only had a child whom has Down Syndrome. Oh, audism is thriving well and you are perpetuating these notions, Adammy.

R-

Maybe the students will use this opportunity to take their education more seriously, so one of them can replace soon-to-be President Fernandes in two decades or so.

They also demanded the BoT make the announcement prior to them leaving for the summer, and now they’re screaming foul?

They reap what they sow.

It seems to be that the bigger issue is NOT JK’s selection as President but the institutional culture that Gallaudet has. The students seems to want more transparency and open communication from the administration.

RIT/NTID seems to enjoy that but it was not always like that under Dr. Castle’s reign. We kicked him out then RIT replaced him with a serious Deaf VP - Bob Davila and the rest is history.

Ignore all the negative comments - JK is here to stay but the students can do something much more powerful - ask to be educated and be assured of jobs upon graduation and become powerful alumni and donate and influence Gallaudet.

BTW: Audism and Deafism are equally present in this whole thing so please don’t bring us down to that level.

When I was a student at Gallaudet, there has been debates about “audism” and SBG have been involved in this issue for years and do not know if it is solved and if it is not solved, sure the administration resists the change of issue with “audism”.

I do not know the update about the “audism” at Gallaudet.

Ridor: how about spending time on your own blog?

Regina, i second that!

I have plenty of time, regina and johnny, to monitor the audists at its best.

lol. going off for a while. but i’ll be back.

r-

I third that.

How’d I know Ridor would trot out “Audism”… it’s going to soon become the “Godwin’s law of deafness” it’s being so ridiculously cheapened.

I am a hearing person, and I am loving this. My co workers are loving this. The vast majority of deaf people we see out and about in Washington, DC are embarrasing. They expect the world to bend over backwards for them, just because they are deaf. Whoop dee ******* doo. I know people with multiple handicaps who would never accept a free ticket such as SSDI that deaf people are so fond of. Now the whole world can see what a bunch of dumb ***** deaf people really are. “Jane doesn’t say Hi”. Indeed. I wouldn’t say hi to a ******* moron either.

For the sake of civility, can we please stay on topic? If Adam is even half the person that his sister is, I have no reason to doubt his sincerity. Do we really need to guess at his reasons for posting what he does? Or can we just focus on his ACTUAL points (many of which were excellent, by the way- kudos to Joseph Rainmound for taking the time to dissect a few…. let’s see more of that, hmm?).

With your apparent knowledge of the English language, I was surprised that you kept saying that one of the reason for this protest is because “Jane doesnt say ‘Hi’”, when the true reasons have been said over and over.
Granted, someone had that written on their sign BUT it is not the reason of the protest AND YOU know that, yet you perpetuated this as if it was one of the reasons.
It is obvious to me that you’re downplaying the true concerns of the protestors. How else can you account for the faculty, staff, alumni being involved in all of this? Did you seriously think we’re all in this because Jane didnt say ‘Hi’??
They’re not confident in Jane and do not want the environment that she created while she was the provost.
Credentials, my fanny! I know real geniuses who cant even teach.

Dan, that was harsh and totally unncessary. You don’t know what it is like to be deaf, so I am not going to bother arguing with you. Vast majority? Jeez.

Dan, Gallaudetine: I have to agree on some level. More often than not, I am embarassed by Gallaudet students’ conduct in restaurants and bars. Where I will disagree is saying that the “vast majority” — the vast majority of deaf people go about their lives in DC unseen, working and playing in relative quiet and harmony.

It’s comments such that Ridor and others make that cheapen the dialogue and make it about sensationalism and ad hominem attacks.

I am replying to Dan’s comments above
(Post # 30

My response:

You are entitled to your observations, but I want to point out that there is a vast majority of hearing people who are unbelievably embarrasing, disgusting, uneducated, illiterate, obnoxious and so on. They also expect the “Great Society” to bend over backwards for them. Shall I go on?

Although I am not denying the fact that as a deaf person myself, I do not necessarily agree with or approve deaf people’s thinking and actions. But I remind myself that “these folks” do not necessarily reflect the deaf community at large. And the same goes for the mainstream.

So, I would very much appreciate it if you could share your constructive comments regarding this spirited debate rather than to join other people who constantly bash other opinions without any substantive comments. You are only embarassing yourself.

Let me correct my comments above (# 35).

I meant to state, “a good number of hearing people”, not a vast majority, otherwise my statement will be a moot one.

And after re-reading my comments, I asked myself this question: Do the public really understand what is the nature of this debate within the deaf community?

Both hearing and deaf people have their own “frame references” about “deaf people” at large, but do we really understand what is a “deaf-centric” individual?

I understand that people want a deaf-centric president and I do not have a problem with that, but please tell me what is a “deaf-centric” president and tell me why Jane is not a deaf-centric individual? Because of her oral background? Because of her character? Because her ASL is so-so?

Or is it more because of her “personality” or her administrative skills?

Please share your thoughts.

What is a “deaf centric” individual? Who is entitled to speak for one?

Adam’s statements on the Board:

The Board is not made up of dimwits. Tom Humphries, who has authored many outstanding books on Deaf culture, is on the board. He knows Deaf culture. Celia May Baldwin is the director of student life at California School for the Deaf, Fremont. She knows students. Cynthia Ashby is the director of state-operated schools for the State of Georgia. She knows deaf schools. Dr. Harvey Goodstein planned Deaf Way II and was president of Maryland School for the Deaf. He knows international deaf and deaf schools. Dr. Benjamin Soukup is CEO of a multi-million dollar organization fueled mainly by federally-sponsored video relay services. He knows money and government.

===============
Read below on what Mark Twain said about School Boards in 1900:

“In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made School Boards.”

very well written, adam. i enjoyed reading no trash in your blog, keep it up.

Ridor could learn a thing or two from you….one of them would be writing with maturity and class.

Ricky Taylor,

Adam has Usher Snydrome. He can hear and speak very well. He has a good reason to support Audism. Everyone is different.

Adam, one problem: the search committe headed by the professional you mentioned didn’t even recommend Dr. Jane K. Fernandes.

The issue about Fernandes not saying “hi” to the students is pointless because that happens everywhere. There are several university presidents who are socially inept, but is adept in running the institution. Let’s move on, people.

Now, what I am curious - exactly what was the relationship among the provost, the deans, and the professors in the past 5-10 years? Can anyone summarize that? Was it negative? If so, why?

I think this is what we should investigate on instead of the cultural issues. As for the definition of “”deaf-centric”, I believe it was something that was invented within the deaf community, not from the outside. I could be wrong, but I assume it means someone who has a strong deaf identity who emphasizes the use of ASL. I won’t get into the oral background issue - since more than 75% of deaf people come from hearing families and are frequently forced to speak to communicate with them anyway!

First of all, here’s a round of mild upplause(1) for Dr. Jane Fernandes’ (JK) appointment for the Gallaudet Presidency. I say this with faint, damning praise, and congratulate the Board of Trustees (BoT) in their work, due dilligence, and eventually settling on a successor to I. King Jordan. Moreover, an enormous amount of thanks and gratitude must go to I. King Jordan (IKJ) for his sage stewardship at Gallaudet, validating the DPN movement beyond its wildest dreams, and wish him well in his final phase in life, enjoying retirement and its many and varied perks.

All pleasantries aside, and they were truly sincere, I can’t help but feel the BoT, in a myopic fit, missed out on a tremendous opportunity to right the Gallaudet ship for decades to come. The BoT focused on the now, the university itself, what the candidates are bringing to the table, etc., and not really thinking that much about the far future. The mere possibility that RS will earn a Ed.D by the end of this year should not be discounted in the immediate present scheme of things.

Moreover, IKJ was quoted, “This is not an election, this is not a popularity contest, they did not elect someone to lead the deaf community, they picked a president of an university.”(2) With due respect to IKJ, and I am only but a mere Gallaudet alumni, I could not disagree more with him on two levels.

Firstly, it appears as though as IKJ has forgotten about the presence of MSSD and KDES. IKJ seems to have glossed over the existence of the Federal endowment for Gallaudet, and its primary funding purpose geared towards a secondary K-12 Deaf educational development model.(3)

Secondly, IKJ may like it or not, Gallaudet is also a beacon, a mecca of sorts, for the Deaf community. Already, ASL is well on its way in becoming the lingua franca of the worldwide Deaf community. The impact of many decisions that Gallaudet, as an institution, undertakes has an enormous impact on the worldwide Deaf community, far beyond its reaches at Kendall Green, on so many levels. The President of Gallaudet is also the public face of the Deaf community, and his/her leadership has an immense impact on many of its FSSA and stakeholders.

This is where the BoT should’ve been mindful along those lines, when they selected JK as the ninth President of Gallaudet. I will continue to take the high road and say that JK is well qualified for the job and trust she will more than capably fill the enormous shoes left by IKJ. In reality, the BoT should have selected Ron Stern, if they really wanted to have a long term vision and vitality for Gallaudet 25+ years from now.

Ron Stern has more than twenty years of experience in secondary (K-12) Deaf education, especially in high administrative capacities, and is currently serving as a Superintendent of NMSD. Moreover, he is expected to earn an Ed.D in educational leadership, a nice fit for what is truly needed for the future. However, many of you in the blogosphere will counter, “But he doesn’t have higher education experience?!?”, or “He’s gonna be running the university, and someone else is going to run K-12 institution side of things, anyway!”

Let’s take a little step back and examine the roots of the problem afflicting the current student population(4) (& previous generations) at Gallaudet; the lack of a high degree of literacy. This single biggest problem flows into all aspects of life at Gallaudet and is truly a disruptive force. Short of raising educational standards and expectations, Gallaudet really can’t do much for the current student body’s educational problems, but can do something about it in the future. For some reason, their model K-12 insitutions have not really exported their successful Deaf education methods and techniques to Deaf and mainstreamed schools all over the U.S.

Gallaudet is truly helping itself, in an university sense, by bolstering its secondary (K-12) educational offerings and ‘evangelizing’ to nearly all besieged Deaf and mainstreamed programs all over America. Gallaudet also has its own regional centers and they can be used for this purpose. RS and his educational leadership background will aid Gallaudet immensely in this arena. Over the long term, a decade or two, just perhaps, maybe the educational problems affecting Deaf students in secondary settings, will be a thing of the past and future student bodies at Gallaudet will be that much better off, and Gallaudet can truly prosper as a liberal arts university.

Plus, there’s no reason why RS can’t grow into the leadership role at the university itself. IKJ did it with grace and dignity, and has elevated the stature of the President at Gallaudet University to heights unseen before. I daresay that RS could revitalize Gallaudet and really put it to the forefront of our collective Deaf consciousness, affecting all aspects of university life, from classroom settings, extracurriculars, job development, student recruitment, financial development & fundraising, academic activity, schmoozing with various important people, and much more. Adam Stone said it best in describing him as a ‘Rock Star’.(5)

I guess we’ll all never know how much of an tremendous opportunity Gallaudet University has truly missed out. That train has gone (ASL-speak!), and I sincerly wish JK and BoT the very best in constructing a better Gallaudet for future Deaf generations. I have confidence that JK will bring Gallaudet into the 21st Century, and conquer the challenges besetting the university such as declining enrollment, educational standards, academicia, and shoring up its financial foundation. The worldwide Deaf community deserves no less from the world’s only liberal arts university serving the Deaf.

Sincerely Yours…

1) Aped from Ken Glickman’s Deafinitions book, with humble apologies!
2) As reported by a fellow FSD alumnae, Elisa, in her blog.
3) Don’t hold my word as to the scope of the Federal endowment, though!
4) I speak in generalities, of course. I am well aware that Gallaudet always has had fine students of academic distinction from all walks of life and all kinds of hearing losses.
5) See his blog, ‘Ron Stern, Rock Star’, in summing up RS’s Gallaudet campus presentation.

Todd… you just made me cry. :) what you wrote pretty much said it all!

81 percent of the undergraduate student body found JKF to be unacceptable before the BOT selected her.

75 percent of graduate students also found her unacceptable.

2/3 of the faculty found her unacceptable.

today there was a huge rally at the field house - with many members of the gallaudet faculty/staff, both HEARING and DEAF - who have stepped up in support of the students.

If you base your opinion of the protest based on what you read on the newspaper, then you are misguided. You need to come down on Kendall Green and see for yourself.

I’m here, and I’m sleeping on the street. I believe in it, and we are here until the fat lady sings her way out of Gallaudet.

And it’s not about her not saying “Hi”. It’s about the extreme no-confidence from the faculty and the dissent from the students - she’s been here 11 years and yet she couldn’t even mobilize a half majority of us to support her. That says a lot about her character. The only reason why Jane is in the picture is because of I. King Jordan. She has enjoyed riding on Jordan’s trailer, and now it’s time for us to de-hitch her.

Funny how when someone actually tries to discuss real points everyone goes silent or decides to attack ridor. You know what, guys? You spend more time attacking some guy who’s never claimed to want to be anything but controversial instead of talking about issues you supposedly care about. If anyone wants to discuss what I brought up and have a real parley on the issues, my blog is up north at surdus.blogspot.com. Those who want to pretend Ridor is the problem can stay here.

Adam, kudos on your blog.

Out of all candidates, JK is very qualified and I do see her lead the Gallaudet just fine. A couple of weeks ago, an organization was complaining about the search process but no one listened. Now the students began to bash JK just because she was not deaf enough, later on, they realized that it is not worth to bash JK because they don’ thave no ground to bash so they decided to complain about the search process now. Now, if we are to start the search process over again, The finalists might be the same, Jane will be still in the picture. And if they restart it, everyone has to apply for the job AGAIN including all finalists.

Doesn’t say hi to us. please, I don’t say hi to every person that I pass by. My hand would be falling off at the end of the day. Sometimes I was so preoccuiped that I didn’t see someone walking by me and later on , called me a bitch just because I didn’t say hi.

Ahh, i guess those who are BIG D (from deaf families) reject those peopel who are not from deaf families or not culturally deaf just because they didn’t grow up the way they wanted them to. We really can’t blame on the parents who thought the best for their children which JK’s mother probably did.

Anyway just two pennies of my thought.

Hearing people are not the issue. Deaf people is the issue. This is a deaf website. I said “the vast majority”. We already know about the minority - those who can function in the real, hearing, world. You see, the world doesn’t care if you’re deaf, blind, in a wheelchair, an as*hole in your forehead. The world only cares about one thing: are you a winner or a loser. From what my friends and I can see, the vast majority are losers. You hide behind ASL and so called deaf culture because you’re chicken. You don’t have the balls to go out, accept that you talk funny or look funny and make a name for yourself. And believe me, through my job, I have met a handful of kicka*s men and women with hearing problems or other handicaps who didn’t let it stop them. So everyone knows what the issue is here. You’re crybabies. Waaa waaa waaa waaa waaa. “where’s my interpreter?” “Help me, I’m deaf”. Out of all the handicapped people, deaf people are the biggest crybabies. Seriously. Like I said, nobody gives a **** if you’re deaf. Step up and be a winner and quit hiding behind the iron bars of Gallaudet. I read somewhere else on this website that NTID and CSUN enrollment has shot up, while Gallaudet enrollment has gone down. Good. That tells me that more deaf people are willing to be mainstreamed and learn how to get along with the rest of the world. Meanwhile you crybabies make national fools of yourselves. And yeah, hearing people do the same thing. Hearing people aren’t the issue here. The issue is, deaf culture is for p*ssies. Mommy, can the little deaf boy come out and play? Sorry honey, he can’t. He has to watch deaf mosiac.

Dan (Hearing Guy), you seem to know a bit too much about deaf culture for a hearing person. Deaf Mosaic? You know about CSUN and NTID?

Are you a CODA? Interpreter? Or most likely, a deaf person impersonating a hearing person?

On behalf of Dan and all the other ignorant hearing people of the world, I would like to offer my apologies. I am hearing, and if you want to talk about embarrassing, this is it! Dan, sit down and shut up for once!

On the other hand, if I’ve been taught the meaning of audism correctly by my Deaf Culture teacher who is Deaf, Ridor is a clear example of a Deaf audist! Yes, Ridor, you are entitled to join any blog you like, but you’re just adding to the number hits you seem to enjoy thinking you have more of. I think you must be suffering from a severe case of penis envy!

Lastly, I have taken the low road on this, but it was worth it! Many of you seem to have forgotten what you’re blogging about. Rather than sitting around insulting one another, STICK TO THE TOPIC! Take a stand one way or the other.

And for goodness sake, quit thinking you’re all superior than everyone else! “Can’t we all just get along?” [smile]

LOL! Amen, Tracy!

Even though Dan (supposedly a deaf guy pretending to be hearing)’s message was insulting, but I have to admit it was hilarious - you hit the spot with the last sentence. But, I must say that not everyone who graduates from Gallaudet will not be able to function in the workplace because of communication barriers. Yes, interpreters do help, but I’m sure when there is a new gizmo in the market that will allow deaf people communicate directly with hearing people without using speech, interpreters would probably need to find another career.

I’m curious - can anyone tell me what is the most popular career for Gallaudet graduates? Education and psychology - especially at schools for the deaf? Telecommunications - CSD, VRS? What else? I know it’s a liberal arts college - but the reason why I asked is how successful are graduates in getting good jobs. If the percentage is low, then that’s a job for the next President.

Tracy, nice try but no cigar. I can plug any if I want to. I like the way it sprang sometimes. But that is not the issue here, though.

R-

Does anyone know how many board members are hearing and how many board members are d/Deaf? I copied and pasted the list of BoT members from their website. Thank you!

Board of Trustees

Cynthia W. Ashby, Georgia
Celia May L. Baldwin, ‘70, Acting Chair, California
Dr. Brenda Jo Brueggemann, Vice Chair, Ohio
Susan J. Dickinson, G-’77, Colorado
Dr. Harvey Goodstein, ‘65, Arizona
Bill Graham, Secretary,Washington
Pamela Holmes, ‘74, Wisconsin
Dr. Tom Humphries, ‘68 & G-’72, California
L. Richard Kinney, Wisconsin
Ken H. Levinson, California
Frank Ross, Maryland
Benjamin J. Soukup, Jr., E-’74 & H-’00, South Dakota
Christopher D. Sullivan, New Jersey
Charles V. Williams, Ohio
Frank H. Wu, Michigan

Dan,
Oh, dear. Go get a life!

I want to say I think Adam’s blog hits home and it really does feel like the protests are being carried out for no good reason and I want to defend JKF on one point.

She is not the reason of “baby down gallaudet” or whatever the protestors are calling it. If some of the accusers look at what they are saying… It is obvious that the real people who babied down themselves are the students and Jane simply let them get away with it because after all what would happen to Gallaudet if most of the students flunked out? Bye bye Gallaudet.

So they need to stop using that excuse. Jane is not the reason why Gallaudet still babies its students. And I think Jane’s actions are the opposite. She has implement strict policy and suspended many plagurizers and threw the hammer down on the foolish students from homecoming weekend. Doesn’t sound like someone who is babying students. She also has been involved with the honors program and channeling energy to improve it and give it the attention it needs. I went to a different university before coming here and I can tell you the honors program feels like the classes I would take at a regular university while the other non-honors classes are very easy and most students don’t seem to really care about getting A’s. But I don’t regret coming to Gallaudet because hell the experience was worth it and I will always cherish my Gallaudet memories forever.

Back to the point, I hope some people who are open enough will see that Jane has been an okay leader and I had my qualms about her. Yep she doesn’t say hi but I always saw her as an insecure person and now she is acting like it because everyone is ganging up on her for the wrong reasons. I think we should give her a chance to see how she does her job, and the whole BOT process has been effective.

I really wish I was there on campus to smack some sense into the BDSU and LSU leaders to tell them to get out of the protests because the process did involve diversity. Glenn Anderson was a candidate and he simply did not advance. I don’t know how someone can say there is no diversity in the process when everyone knows Glenn was a candidate in the top 6 and the current incoming President will be the first woman ever to hold that office since Zinser did not get sworn in. That is pretty diverse. And to be honest who else is diverse enough and Deaf for this position? Glenn and Robert Davila are the only minority candidates I can think of and they are quite old right now so I think it isn’t appropriate to scream foul about no diversity when there simply aren’t enough diverse candidates in the scenario where one of them doesn’t make it to the final round. I think the members of BDSU and LSU should abstain from the protests and focus on encouraging its members in becoming leaders of the community in the future.

Also I don’t understand why I see some very intelligent students involved with the protests. I thought they were smarter than I thought and it seems like they have been caught up with the nostalgia of DPN ‘88 and are not looking closely at the situation. Because this situation does not warrant the complaints they are making when they had plenty of time to mobilize and Jane is not a baby down provost. There are quite a few that can agree with me on this but none of them are speaking up and I am not sure why but hope students start speaking up because they might as well as change their slogan from Better President Now to Worst President Now if they want to pick the 2nd most qualified candidate instead of the most qualified.

My two cents….

Keep up the good work Adam.

TO answer the #53.. I believe 51% are Deaf. No question these Board Members are great people coming from Univ. Prof., Business, Book Writer, and other highly professional positions. I truly honor them for their great work as BoT. Same for PSC.

I agree with Dan. Everyone knows the hearing people who hide out with the deaf are the ones who couldn’t hack it either. This isn’t the 18th or 19th century anymore. Alexander Graham Bell saw the future when he foretold there would be a deaf variation of the human race, intentionally segregated from the rest of society, yet fully expecting every available benefit and service to be extended to them. It’s time to pony up and pay back into the system. So quit yer bitchin’ Jane is going to be your president and you’re going to have to start studying, students. Everyone, and I mean everyone, including the United States House of Rep. and Senate (you know, the guys who fund your precious deaf club oops I mean university) knows that Gallaudet academics are a joke. Jon Henner, perhaps the most brilliant student to ever set foot on Kendall Green transferred out, and you can ask him his feelings on the topic. He’ll tell you the same thing. Gallaudet for him was like being back in the 8th grade. Ya f*cking dummies. You are an embarrassment above all other embarrassments, so own up to your image and quit blaming it on imaginary discriminations. Jesus, you can’t even get along with yourselves.

Joe Dirt-
Jon Henner got messed up and couldnt focus on school. It wasn’t like 8th grade for him. He just got too egostical and didn’t start paying attention in school and messed up and transferred out. Please don’t apply Jon’s experience to your perception of Gallaudet University. We have some good and bad but overall it is an incredible cultural place and thats why Congress keeps funding it.

KUDOS on a great blog, Adam! You hit the nail on the head once again. Its refreshing to see that there are other intelligent deaf people like yourself out there who know their stuff. Unlike others who throw tantrums like 2 year olds when they don’t get things their way or cry “AUDIST!!!” when somebody doesn’t agree with them. Keep up the good postings!

For those of you who are choosing to bring Jon Henner into this argument, shame on you. How dare you go about making assumptions about someone you hardly know in regards to why he left or what his opinions on the univesity were and are. He left Gallaudet for a multitude of reasons, one of the biggest being that he had a fiance back home whom he missed. True, he did often think that the educational level at Gallaudet was sub-par. However, he also realized that what you get from your education is up to *you*, and chose to challenge himself while there, taking more difficult courses and joining the honors program. Here’s another interesting little tidbit: He transferred to a state university, and was shocked to see many similarities to Gallaudet; among the most striking was the inability of many hearing students to write well. He also didn’t get “messed up.” He did just fine in school, got good grades, and graduated in 4 years, even after transferring and switching majors several times.

Oh, and you may be curious to know why I scold you for judging him, yet I feel I’m capable of doing so: I was the fiance back home that he missed.

Dan.. Dan.. me laughing at you (ASL) L ya a big LOSER..

Me wondering why alot hearing people who are not succesful in hearing world decide to jump onto ‘terping job knowing they just sit and fart and terping for deaf people. Thats double standard my man, Dan… just leave this topic alone and go back to your hut.

I did not agree with you Adam. I feel that you do not know the community or the background behind this enough to be able to make such blatant assertions as you have been doing. I would suggest that you try to refrain from commenting on something you obviously do not understand.

Jane- It is more likely that you don’t understand and should refrain from critizing Adam.

He presents a well thought out case and anyone who is witnessing what is going on can present such a case like he has.

What is so hard to explain about the anti-Fernandes side?

And frankly, the decline in jobs from 2001 to 2005 happens to concide with the Bush presidency, a 9/11 recession, and general underfunding of everything except the military, and mushrooming cost of living. And the invasion of a couple of countries.

That’s a tough job market for any graduate. I would take the polling with a grain of salt, especially the sampling size and the small pool of graduates every year (what, 500 people?).

I woul