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 would ask if the population polled in 2005 is significantly different from 2001 as well.

Gallaudet has improved its post-graduation support services for graduates since my era, as well as internships for students. They’re doing MORE than when I graduated from Gallaudet. I’m jealous.

So what is wrong with Gallaudet now, anyway? Statistics can lie.

This is for Jennie and her response to Joe Dirt. You go, girl.

Pandoras box has defintely been opened. so many angles. so many different sides. so many “well this is… well that is…”

is it any wonder why my head’s spinning?

P.,

I am a Gallaudet student who has been down in the trenches with the masses from the beginning. I experienced the provost firsthand for the past four years. Adam has not. Therefore, he is in no position to talk.

Jane-
You have a very weak arguement. Adam does not need to experience four years of Jane (no pun intended) to write a good analytical article on the situation. He is writing about the BOT in this article and showing that they clearly have done their job and I don’t see how you comments are related to Adam’s abilities to write a good article.
I think you are just angry because you want to follow everyone else and be part of history that will end up being a little bloop in Gallaudet’s History. Next time read the article instead of attacking it without any knowledge of what Adam is writing about and by the way what is the point of newspaper writers and journalist? They observe and write. They are impartial, they do not have to be with President Bush for the past 5 and a half years to have the right to write about him and his policies. Think about that next time.

Ridor: You’re lame, self-centered and often make up facts (like you’re claiming that MJ Bienvenu had applied for the Prez position, when in fact, she had not.)

Adam: It’s refreshing to read your blog. Fernandes was obviously not the most popular candidate but she was the most qualified for the job. I was a student during DPN and this is nothing like that. It looks like a bunch of cry babies who didn’t get their way and are now protesting. It’s embarrassing.
Hopefully, this will be over soon and the University can move on. I think Fernandes will do her best to do a good job.

Chris (#68),

And that is exactly what the outside world is seeing them as…sore losers.

“She doesn’t say ‘Hi’.”

And when was the last time the state university students protested over the selection of their university President? Thank you.

My sister attended Gallaudet. She was mainstreamed, and we grew up signing to each other. I have been reading this thread and I have to throw in something about transferring… she transferred out too. She was shocked at the disparity between her four year university and the quality of Gallaudet education.

1) The vast majority of teachers accepted plagiarized work, but so do hearing teachers at hearing colleges. Michael Crichton famously submitted a George Orwell paper to his english professor precisely so he could see if it would raise any red flags. It did not, so he changed his major from English to Medicine.

2) The vast majority of Gallaudet Teachers coddle their students. The atmosphere is “you made it to Gallaudet, you’re at the pinnacle”. The problem with that is, the pinnacle at Gallaudet is still 20,000 feet below the pinnacle of, say, Northern Virginia Community College. There is no growth without struggle. Coddling leads to apathy. From what I read, apathy is just about the only thing you guys can agree on.

3) Culturally deaf people have created a prison for themselves, willfully. Taxpayers are not funding your little super adventure club, they want a return on their investment and willfully not interacting with the world at large is not a return on said investment. I personally know Dr. Scott Smith, a genius who was born deaf, mainstreamed all of his life and he laughs at Gallaudet. He compared Gallaudet to a popcorn fart. Analogous to Jon Henner comparing Gallaudet to his middle school.

What this little matter has exposed, is that deaf culture is actually quite a nasty little matter based on intimidation, cliques, and yes, discrimination of each other. Women make up 51% of the population and your board has selected a qualified woman to be your university President. You decide to protest, because, and be honest about this: she represents everything deaf culture does not, which is HARD WORK. SACRIFICE. COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE. So what if she is still learning how to be a public figure. Are you perfect?

Adam-

We are not protesting Jane as you see, we are protesting the way that Jane was presented to the board, in such a way that they had no choice but to pick Jane.

Jane has a very bad reputation here at Gallaudet that was very sadly unknown to her, since the people around her didn’t inform her of it, I think that it became more clear to her when the “Know thy enemy” shirts began to popup.

However, Jane is IJK’s pick and protege. This is known from two distinct facts,

First during his retirement speech he said “please welcome (begain signing president)Pre- oh wait I mean Provost our Provost Jane F.”

Then before the final 3 were picked, Jane wanted to become a distinguished alumini of Iowa, and she needed a refrence. So he submitted her as the “Future President of Gallaudet”

Conidence that the BOT knew some piece of information that no one else knew about Stern to pick her over him??

Yeah we wanted to know about our president before the summer, so the BOT did a “Hit and Rin” on us, we did ask for it, but then again who can blame us when they blindsided us by giving Jane tenure during their May meeting in 2004 when there was no staff around to complain. Jane has never taught in a classroom here at gallaudet and has only been around here for 6 years, rather than the 7 required by the faculty senate. All she had to do was sign the paper and submit it since she is Provost after all.

Something smells fishy adam… and that is what we are protesting.

7 for the secrets never told,

Thank you for the clarification. Jane was “selected” way before the process was started. Ron never had a chance before he submitted his application for this president position.

Tim

Wondering here….

The IKJ and BoT make it clear that they are not going to reconsider the decision. What do they expect to happen if they continue the protest if the BoT is not budging? Hmmmmm….

Amen to P’s #55 comments.

I would like to make a few additions: People involved with the protest are crying out that they are being oppressed by the BoT. You want to talk about oppression? You declare that JKF isn’t absorbed of the deaf culture and that she isn’t “deaf” enough to run the university? Isn’t that a perfect example of oppression? Do you realize that you cry that you are being oppressed and at the same time you are oppressing JKF?

oooookkaaaaayyyy.

I sadly agree with Dan — the protest is an embarrassment to Deaf people that are “winners” that Dan knows of. We got to remember that people out in the world cannot help but generalize when they see a bunch of fools on Gallaudet campus whine that JKF doesn’t say hi and think that ALL Deaf people are cry babies.

(and don’t try to say that the fact that Jane doesnt wave like Queen Elizabeth is not one of the reasons of the protest….we all know it is)

Dan’s comments are harsh and they hurt, yes. He, however, makes a few points…. unfortunately.

Even I am Deaf, I like this guy because he tells us how it is from the outside perspective.

and c’mon, Gallaudet students…first, you had to cause drama over the football’s record and knock over the goal posts (even though I know it is a normal reaction across the country when their football team wins), then the huge mess during Homecoming at a hotel, and now this??

I wonder if you guys realize how you are affecting the world’s perspective on the Deaf community?

Perhaps I am not sticking to the topic here and I apologize. I am just sickened with what is going on in Washington, D.C. and how it is influencing the world’s outlook on the Deaf community.

I expect to see postings regarding my comment and say “screw what they think of us.” and I am saying this in advance….I DO care because I don’t want to go out there in the world having to prove them I am a “winner” (according to Dan’s comment on winners and losers) because of what is happening today. I already have co-workers laughing and asking me what the hell is going on and I am tired of having to explain for your rash behavior. I have a close friend who is a CODA whose parents graduated from Gallaudet and she and her family are miffed for having to explain and defend the Deaf community…

I desperately ask you to give us a break, ….please.

Guess whose name was mentioned in the paper this morning… again?

Pick up a copy of today’s Washington Post Express. *rolling eyes*

Since when did Adam become the spokesperson for the deaf community? If you guys conducted a election and appointed him, I wasn’t informed. Hey - know what? I demand to reopen the selection process! I don’t like this dude because he never said hi to me.

The entire nation is basing their opinion of this situaton on Adam’s observations! That’s what is wrong here, folks.

And this one is just for fun

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0506/324791.html

7 secrets: first, I was NOT a JKF supporter, and I believe most of the BoT had their minds made up long before Ron Stern set foot on campus, but… this statemeng below just sounds like a myth. Slander, actually, best not used in an argument, unless there is proof.
“Then before the final 3 were picked, Jane wanted to become a distinguished alumini of Iowa, and she needed a refrence. So he submitted her as the “Future President of Gallaudet””

To be clear about the reason why there is protesting at Gallaudet over Jane!!
I got a very clearly understanding from my friend who is very deep in thinking..

As in DPN, they demands a Deaf President! Jordan was not deaf till he got in motorcycle accident and became deaf, he not grew up deaf from the birth and his ASL is not like what most DEAF students are using. he uses voices and sign too ENGLISH! same with Jane.. He is not a big “D” “DEAF”. He is small “d” therefore Jane is small “d”. It is from my understanding that DPN have no choice but accepted that IKJ becomes a president, it was a sign of beginning for the Gallaudet University to have Deaf President, therefore he is not big “D”. As it has passed 18 years, it is very clearly that Gallaudet University is identitied as a big “D”. and the students want to see Gallaudet be in big “D” and Jane is not part of big “D” to represents Gallaudet University. It is very clearly that students protest to demand the president who is big “D” to run Gallaudet University.

Any thoughts?

A big ‘D’ or a little ‘d’ is soooooo not important.

Here’s the link for today’s DC Express:

http://www.readexpress.com/rea.....off_an.php

“She doesn’t say ‘Hi!’”

After reading several blogs about that comment, I couldn’t put it off any longer….

C’mon!!!! For those who grew up in and graduated from State Deaf schools, who are you to say (and who do you think you are?) “She doesn’t say Hi”???? And for those who said that are totally hypocrites!!!! Like JKF, I grew up as an oralist and graduated from a mainstreamed high school and didn’t learn to sign until at a later age. So when I came to Gallaudet, I was appalled and shocked at how RUDE, snobbish and condescending the students were (and they still are)…. they are the most immature students I’ve ever seen in my whole life so I endured my four years at Gallaudet. And don’t tell me “why didn’t you leave Gallaudet or transfer?” or “If you don’t like Gallaudet, there’s a front gate for you.” I didn’t with undisclosed reasons…. I didn’t care if no one said hi to me on campus, YET YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO SAY ‘SHE DOESN’T SAY HI’

Adam summed it all up in his comment so why don’t you immature students grow the freaking up and MOVE on! Give JKF a chance! Keep in mind, the BoT CAN NOT and WILL NOT revisit the unanimous decision after this totally unnecessary protest!

I am now back in the hearing world and aaahhh… what a sigh of relief!!!! I am so glad I didn’t have to deal with this “deaf” crap anymore!

JKF, Congratulations! You will do a splendid job as a President of the Gallaudet University!

NMP… heh I understand exactly where you are coming from but unfortunatly these deaf-o’s just don’t understand reality. too much isolation between themselves.

I think I should follow that one guy who said he thinks he should Kick deaf-o’s in the crotch and point at em when they scream and say “ORALIST!” just out of spite. =)

[…] This morning’s excerpt was from Adam Stone’s post detailing the reasons why Gallaudet’s Board of Trustees cannot back down from their decision to appoint Dr. Jane K. Fernandes as Gallaudet’s next president. Today’s recognition is our fourth in Express. Our previous quotations in the “Blog Log” were: […]

Here is one little thing that was a BIG MISTAKE made by provost Jane Fernandes’ administration: a couple years ago, between 2001 and 2003, Jane Fernandes as provost was involved in a scam to deprive international faculty from getting labor certification. They were kept at the Gallaudet indefinitely without appropriate immigration paperwork! There was a public outcry against this, and she had to fire dean Dillehay as a scape goat. But Jane Fernandes herself never took responsibility for this outrageous sitiation. Later she forced through a piece of faculty guideline effectively preventing international faculty from getting labor certification during the first 3 years of employment, a way of enslaving them without providing appropriate paperwork for employment. This treatment is NOT a common practice in higher education at other universities, but it was the usual practice at Gallaudet during Jane Fernandes’ years as provost. The faculty member who protested against this discrimination (this would be me) was later fired.

Dr. Zoltan

If accurate, that IS a good reason to dislike Fernandes. I never asked Dr. Dillehay why she stepped down as Dean, I figured it was just too much political *** anymore, one way or the other, and I applauded her for doing a stressful job so well.

But it’s insulting she’s not even the department head anymore (which she was before she was promoted).

But who are you? And what you describe isn’t INS procedure.
Why don’t you just name the correct visas and info? Any immigrants know all about the paperwork. “Labor certification” sounds like somebody who doesn’t really know the full details.

Thank you.

In response to NMP:

Come on, you have to admit — “She does not say hi” would make a great punch line on one of these late night shows! *snickers*

As for your comment about how it is SOOOO great living as a deaf person in the hearing world, boy - you must feel good saying that. I don’t understand why you stayed at Gallaudet. “For undisclosed reasons… blah blah,” you said. Crapoola. You are probably bitter because you were not able to make friends while you were at Gallaudet.

In response to several comments by the others who seem to enjoy criticizing deaf people in general, here’s something for you to think about – by attending Gallaudet allows deaf people to achieve goals and assume different types of leadership roles, in order to make up for their time lost being deaf in the hearing world.

When I was young – I mainstreamed and guess what? I tend to be picked the last, ignored, behind, not given a chance to experience higher positions in organizations or clubs or even part time jobs due to the fact I didn’t have the ability to speak or hear well.

For those hearing people who criticized us, would you wish that on your kids? I don’t think so. So think twice before you say anything. You know how it is, karma and all.

As for you deafies who criticized Gallaudet, I guess you guys must have had it easy growing up. Good for you.

Attending Gallaudet was one of the best decisions I ever made, because it has gotten me to where I am today. It is all BECAUSE of Gallaudet and the students I interacted with and learned from. Gallaudet allowed me to participate in class (including a wide array of activities and organizations) without any communication barrier.

Being a student, I felt liberated! As a result, I went out in the hearing world a better person. With the skills I acquired from Gallaudet, I was able to contribute to the hearing world in many ways.

Although I know I cannot account for those who reflect the deaf community poorly, but I know they will eventually grow out of it. Give them time.

Hi Jenn, believe me, I know a LOT about labor certification. I have been working for Gallaudet for 7 years as international faculty, and I have been kept on H-1B all the time. It is an abuse of the H-1B which is meant for short time transition toward a green card.

I have requested Gallaudet to allow me a employment based labor certification, which is very well the first step toward a green card. As you may know, Gallaudet only needs to give signature for the process to start. And the admin refused to give me that bare minimum signature for over 4 years. The reason I was told was that Jane Fernandes was horrified by a lawsuit against the university by another international faculty member a couple years earlier. A member of the closed Media Deaprtment sued and won!! It was the doing of Jane Fernandes. So she decided not to allow international faculty to have the green card at all. What a shame!!

Believe me, I know what I am talking about.

I have a serious concern for these students camping outside in front of Gallaudet University. I am appalled at the fact that these students have no regard for their safety, especially what with the crimes occuring in the neighborhood. What amazes me even more is the fact THAT IKJ AND JKF BOTH HAVE YET EXPRESSED CONCERN FOR STUDENTS’ SAFETY NOR HAVE THEY SENT ADDITIONAL DPS OFFICERS AND CARS TO MAN THE FRONT GATE!!! I would know because I was there the last couple of nights and I’ve only seen at least two DPS officers!

The parents of these students better take action against IKJ and JKF as soon as possible!

That is certainly something to protest against, because people working here on visas need paperwork done on time, or they’re in trouble through no fault of their own.

Thank you, Dr. Zoltan, for sharing something concrete against Dr. Fernandes. I agree with you it is an outrage. If you hire people, treat them fairly and legally.
I am not sure how Dillehay got involved in this mess. Was it even her signature that was supposed to be done??

I just wanted to check that you were in fact affected by this personally, Dr. Zoltan, not just repeating secondhand or thirdhand info.

can deafdc.com please monitor the comments and spare us the name-calling and such? it would be nice to keep this debate clean and to the point. thanks. :)

If that is REALLY Dr. Zoltan, and what he says is accurate, then people do have a legitimate reason to protest.

If people show a pattern and practice of Dr. Fernandes doing unethical things, then I guarantee you that not only we take the protest seriously, but the media will too!

But you guys need to have solid evidence. Posting comments on the internet isn’t proof. :/

And if there’s no evidence to back up all of the allegations, then BPN or RDPN whatever it’s called now… like it or not, whether your intentions were when that sign was made, this protest will be forevered remembered as ” ‘She Didn’t Say Hi!’ Gally Protest.”

o_O

to someone who claimed that I said MJ Bienvenu applied for the position — I never said it — I said that someone mentioned it!

and i heard that adam and liz stone are members of AGB Association.

umm. makes sense, eh?

R-

Wondering… has anyone ever once changed his/her individual stance on this whole thing? The way it seems, the notion of debate is lost on both sides… they’re sticking to their guns, period.

Sad. Sad. And sad that (insert blogger; Adam Stone, Ridor, etc) thinks himself above persuasion; he who writes to persuade should in equal exchange be genuinely open to other viewpoints. But… go on keep your tunnel vision and talk to your choir; soon they’ll be all you have left.

Bzzzt. Once again, Ridor, you are wrong. Adam and Liz Stone are not members of AGB. Now would you crawl back into the cave you came out of.

This is a revenge by Kappa Gamma… the reason Andy Lange from NAD is supporting the removal of Jane is because he wants Kappa Gamma as President… look at the leaders behind, all are Kappa Gamma… shame on you and shame on NAD for promoting false information… Shame on you Andy! It’s time for a woman Deaf President, Kappa Gamma go away and come back another time!

Hi Jenn,

yes it is exactly what happened in May 2003. There was an international faculty meeting where the issue was raised: “Is there institutional bias agains internationals at the Gallaudet?” The admin got tremendously scared that after I posted the flyers about the meeting all accross the CLAST building. Dean Dillehay was immediately asked very kindly by Fernandes to step down. Fernandes herself took over her position, and a year later she passed the deanship to Karen Kimmel her lieutenant.
There was a well staged cover-up.

Later I learned that I had a one year period of time to request EEO investigation. But come on, folks, I am an international, I had no clue how EEO works, or whatnot. I did not file it, and it was my big mistake!! So later I got the ax as soon as they had a chance. My last day of employment at Gallaudet is May 12, a week from now. I am not making this up!

Hi Deaf Pundit,

yes, I am Dr. Zoltan. I lost my job, and probably my chance to get employed in the United States again because of lack of labor certification. I am thankful for this to Dean Kimmel and Jane Fernandes, who refused all my requests for an appointment with her during the last 12 months. I did not even have a chance to tell her about my situation. She just axed me. It is clearly a case of retailation, but I can’t afford to pay a good lawyer to fight for me. So it looks like they won.

Jane Fernandes is the most heartless person I have ever met in my life.

having read responses to adam’s blog entries, i have two things to say:

1. i am deaf, i work, i pay taxes. there are some hearing people who go to community or state colleges/universities that use a portion of my taxes for the institutions. and there are some really bad apples from your own that my taxes are ‘supporting’. telling deaf people that you would like your tax money elsewhere is like telling us to think about what our taxes are being spent for–your point, therefore, becomes moot. when you want to talk about taxes—talk to Bush about overspending for the unnecessary war.

for those of you who think the same, you have much to learn about deaf people. there are MANY DIFFERENT KINDS of people who receive welfare or money from the government and some more lame than discrimination.

2. ’she doesn’t say hi’ is the same as ’she patronizes and is condescending towards deaf people’. all in all, it does mean something–patronizing or being condescending is not acceptable. don’t look at deaf people as handicapped people–we’re a linguistic minority. by saying this, it means that deprivation of accessibility and rights have always been the experience of deaf people, period. to criticize further of one comment is verifying the discrimination that has been experienced by all. if you had a jane fernandes who is patronizing and condescending at a black university, this would be over in a day.

this is a much deeper problem. it is not the person. it is not how ‘not deaf enough’ jane is (i think we’re ALL past that). this is not about ‘deaf people getting what we want’ or that ‘hearing people have to bend backwards for’–this is about discrimination and the most incredible form of such.

I disagree with the notion that ’she doesn’t say hi’ is the same as ’she patronizes and is condescending towards deaf people’.

The former statement can be interpreted in many different ways, such as, “Jane’s a snob.” “Jane’s social skills suck.”

People do need to choose their words carefully, particularly in public. Words are powerful, and leaders know this, and use it to their advantage. JFK, the US president, said, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.’

It would have been far less effective if JFK said, “We need you to go fight in Vietnam for us. Some of you will be killed, but hey, it’s all in service for your country!”

If someone held up a sign saying “Jane’s patronizing and condescending” then I can say personally, I wouldn’t have reacted with derision.

I would also wager that if the latter statement on a sign happened, I wouldn’t be alone in asking for more elaboration on Jane’s condescending attitude, instead of dismissing this whole thing.

Now, obviously there has to be something to this whole thing, or else NAD wouldn’t have backed the protestors. But I still have yet to see evidence of discrimination as everyone only now is starting to claim. I’m still not convinced about Dr. Zoltan, sorry. It’ll take more than a blog post to convince me that it’s really him, and what he says is true.

Dr. Zoltan,
I am sorry to hear about your situation and I just read the Washingtonpost.com from chat live interview yesterday with Jane. She has a vision that Gallaudet establish program to have a Master Degree in International Deaf Studies and why not she helps you to stay in Gallaudet. How hyprocisy she said that.

Hi Johnny,

that is very good point. You are absolutely right! She would say anything today to calm down the crowd, and pull the carpet. But tomorrow she will sit in the president’s house and forget everything. That is her way of doing business. She is not only a hypocrite but a liar. But people figured her out by now, and they simply don’t want her anymore. That makes her very, very anxious.

“All mine, all mine, don’t you see, it’s all mine!” (JKF)

One thing that many students don’t realize is that universities are actually corporations. In another way, they function as businesses - earning revenues to provide services for the students. For those who haven’t been out in the workplace, many corporations have CEOs who are not so nice or don’t give a damn about their employees’ personal values or beliefs, but that doesn’t mean that they cannot be effective leaders. That applies the same to Gallaudet.

I have one question: if Gallaudet elect a candidate who is culturally deaf and is popular with the students and faculty, but does a terrible job in administering the university, what are you going to do about it? I can’t help but imagining many students would respond in ASL: “Important - he/she deaf. Sign ASL. That our culture.” And what about his or her leadership and ability to improve the plummeting graduate rates? Ummmmm…..

response to cloak and dagger-

Yes, we are absolutely right. We need a good administrator for Gallaudet University.

Now, what is this I’m hearing about Jane’s administration difficulties? Plummeting graduate rates? Breeding discontent among the faculty who are directly affected by her policy changes?

Seems to me that JKF, from what I’ve been hearing, is not the person for the job. I, however, am reserving full judgement until I get the whole “backstory”. I smell smoke and I want to see where the fire is.

“If people show a pattern and practice of Dr. Fernandes doing unethical things, then I guarantee you that not only we take the protest seriously, but the media will too!”

How would it happen?

Honestly, I really don’t care about audism or favoritism or deaf guys pretending to be hearing or love/hate relationships. However, something really does smell fishy here-

I know Gally inside out and let me say that it appears virtually impossible that Weiner made it to the final round over the likes of Anderson and Rosen.

I beg anybody to tell me what Weiner has over these two dudes. My best guess here is that somehow the toughest competition for JKF got eliminated early on in the process to make her ride to the finish line smoother. How? What? Why? When? I don’t know the answers to these questions, but transparency is in order, and until we all get clear answers, I am in full support of the protest.

I don’t care, really, about what all of you are trying to make out of this– I only care about getting these answers since that’s something that us students, faculty, staff, and alumni deserve— the rest of you can sit down and shut up and mutter your assumptions and judgments to each other. This ain’t your place to stand up and speak up, really…

P.S. Dan (the hearing guy), I really do pray that somebody knocks some sense into your head. You seem so detached from modern-day reality. Go back and hide into the cave you came from.

Another interesting critique..

1. The activity at GU today seems to be SIT-DOWN Demonostration, not protest. Strange to see that Dr. Ben Behan, Prof of Deaf Studies, Master Degree Program at Galluadet joined in this demostration as well as participated as one of speaker yesterday at the front gate area. You know Deaf Studies is centered on the advocacy of Deaf Centre and its social history as he is an author of Journey TO Deaf World something like that. I was feeling strange that as Professor is the one who usually do not participate in the social collective behaviors of Deaf event to avoid conflict of interest of advocacy of the reason of it happening today. Professor role is to educate in the class about different issues that have been happening any where while the Professor is an expert to observe and able to interpret its events etc. Why is Dr. Behan or Behun is participating and it is conflict to his role of Professor of Deaf Studies. Now I see oh oh its probably he is a Kappa Gamma brother’s secret behavior to puppet students and faculty and staff to do this activity on campus as coordinated efforts by Kappa Gamma Brothers to make sure their oath is to get one of their frat bro. from deaf family to become a President of Gallaudet as they want to dream this to be seen in their lifetime. What a shame students and faculty and staffs are not thinking hard what is Dr. Behun’s behavior meant to be?? Dumb.

Oh boy, Andy Lange, Kappa Gamma brother, has two roles advocating… He is the President of NAD at the same time as he is the President of Gallaudet Univ. Alumini Assocation.

You already discussed about NAD letter that is kind of weakness points. You Know that NAD Director is formerly oral or dont know sign YET NAD members accept her background, yet lead the NAD organization. That s truly irony, that now NAD leaders has double standard and is advocating what the students at Gallaudet doing now.

Secondly, the GUAA letter demand that more nbrs of GU aluminis to serve on the board. Oh no! It will not be good from the government, taxpayers, diversity of deaf folks perspective. It is because Alumini means they try to control and make sure their own one to lead the University, more likely wishing wishing Kappa Gamma to lead.

“How would it happen?”

Well, you have to document it. But that’s very time-consuming, and when you document it, you also run the risk of retaliation, which is why most don’t do documentation.

Now mind you, I’m not an attorney or anything. I’m just lucky enough to have been around a lot of attornies and advocates.

But this is what I understand how you document and establish a record of something you consider to be wrong.

The first thing you do is to get EVERYTHING in writing. If it is not in writing, it never happened. And I don’t mean in writing like on a blog. I mean on an actual piece of paper with signatures, or an e-mail with verified e-mail addresses and such.

Do you know how many companies folded after internal memos and emails leaked out, showing unethical behavior?

That’s also how you win complaints. If you have a verbal conversation with someone, and you later on want to show what the person said, as evidence of their unethical behavior or whatever, you have to write a letter to that person.

In that letter you basically say, ‘I’m writing to you to confirm our conversation on this time and date.’ Then you go on to re-create the conversation word for word in the letter. Then you close with something like, ‘Please respond back *in writing* if I’ve misunderstood anything that was said or done in our conversation. Thank you.’

If the person doesn’t answer back, well, there’s a saying in legal circles… Silence is implict consent. That’s how you start to build up a case of unethical behavior.

Well, thanks for the good advices. I have a lot of emails from 2003 when the immigration paperwork problem escalated. Many of them from associate dean Kimmel, who is the dean now, and Denise LaRue who was the director of the personnel office. Guess what, Denise is not in office anymore, and the letter of termination I received was written by Kimmel.

Those emails show a frightening level of incompetence and ill-wish. These women had no clue what a green card is all about, but they kept control and prevented any chance to start the process for one.

I learned later two things: 1. Kimmel acted on behalf of dean Dillehay who was ill that time, and 2. Kimmel directly followed order from Jane Fernandes. These things can be concluded from other sources, like emails from the vice president of the faculty senate, who quoted Fernandes extensively. I don’t know what implications can be established from these emails, but for me it is clear that provost Fernandes pulled the strings.

Unethical behavior may be identified on at least 3 levels: 1. Kimmel talking nonsense about the labor certification, 2. Dillehay is fired as scape goat, 3. Fernandes is not taking responsibility but orchestrates a cover-up.

How can these old tales relate to the current protest is another puzzle for me. If you have been around attornies a lot, you might have better clue than I have. I agree with you that we need firm facts otherwise the protest may wear off. So how could we make good of this?

Postscript:
It is a sure fact that Jane is pathologically afraid of emails and that is why she ignores most of them she receives. It is a deep seeded phobia in her mind that causes her to reject zillions of appointments requests from employees because she is too scared to email back. If response is mandatory she orders her secretary to write an email in her name. What kind of practice is this?! Folks, this woman is not only a lousy administrator but she also looks like a psycho-bag. The two thing are obviously not unrelated.

Like I said, in some cases, it would bolster your case if Dr. Fernandes ignored your emails and/or correspondence, because silence is implict consent…

Which means she agrees with what you said. And it doesn’t matter if her secretary does the actual emails or whatever. Her secretary does it with the permission and knowledge of Dr. Fernandes. If not, then Dr. Fernandes SHOULD resign on the basis of incompetence! :P

It would be deeply ironic if people did e-mail complaints to Dr. Fernandes and she consistently ignored them. That would totally give more credibility to the protest.

But you do need to find other faculty/staff who have the same problems. Get those e-mails and memos out, look them over. I’m sure if the allegations of unethical behavior and discrimination are accurate, you’ll find enough people who have evidence in those e-mails and memos.

It pains me to read the comments here that so define the delineations and “sects” that comprise the “deaf community”. I see insults being hurled at an individual that boasts an extremely impressive and qualifying resume. The bottom line is fear. Fear that deaf culture will somehow die, if step are taken to bridge the wide gulf that has rifted families and cultures due to the diversity of paths that are being chosen by individuals and/or their families in an attempt to meet the educational/life goal needs of their deaf and hard of hearing children.

It should not matter the parentage of the individual, it should not matter the degree of their disability, it should not matter their chosen mode of communication, what should matter is striving to meet the goal of literacy and independence. However, that goal is best met. My experience is that the path to that goal will be as diverse as the individuals that are walking it. The time of segragation in this country is over, it is finished. Celebrate the diversity of the deaf culture, but, do not build a mote around it and a shrine to it.

The hearing world is not the enemy, and if there is not an acceptable level of understanding about what it mean to be deaf, how it affects the individual, the struggles, the triumphs then it falls to you to change that. Let people in to share it, educate them so that they don’t make ignorant mistakes that are often translated as rudeness. How will the hearing world understand what it means to be deaf, if the deaf isolate themselves from it and build walls against it.

The courageous build bridges, the cowardly hide behind walls.

Said it before, said it again. The world doesn’t care if you’re deaf, talk funny, look funny, like this guy we call “wolfman”, he has some kind of genetic problem that gives him a white stripe down the middle of his hair in right in the middle of his monobrow… also appears to be making him age faster. Now that I think about it, why do so many of you look deformed? Maybe people with genetic problems should stop breeding with each other. Anyway…. you made me go off topic, ya deaf mutated freak. Anyway, the world only cares if you’re a winner or a loser. Win, and everyone lines up to get behind you. Lose, or act like a loser, be prepared to deal with it. Honestly, how many people do you expect to stop in their tracks and wave “hi” to deaf people in washington dc now? Someone else on this blog wrote “we need to accumulate wealth”. There you go, that’s thinking like a winner. Keep it up.

dan the hearing guy, that is WHAT you say but you probably do not practice it, though. Which is why each time you commented, I skipped to the next one. Because I have no interest in hearing what you have to bark.

Deaf Pundit: Blah, blah, blah. You have to be there to see the antics of Fernandes. She is manipulating, trust me. But again, no, you want to think for yourself, then so be it.

A Parent, boo hoo. Frankly, there is a group of deaf people who cannot sign very well but write better english, they make fun of Deaf people who do not excel in English. Do they complain? Not really. But when they make fun of ‘deaf’ people of their shoddy ASL skills, they really cry a big river. Boo hoo, boo hoo.

two things to say: THANK YOU!

R-

I would say that Jane and Kimmel have insensitive issues toward Dr. Zoltan and administration - (i.e.) faculty, staff and students.

Can we talk about something else like sports other than this? So many blogs topics about Galluadet as a whole.

I had a chance to talk about the international faculty issue to Celia May Baldwin and Tom Humpries at the grande Elstad meeting today. I said the Fernandes’ administration mishandled the request of international faculty for (permanent) work permission between 2001 and 2003. These requests were refused repeatedly, and as a result, at least two international faculty members don’t yet have work permission at this time after working 7 years at the university. A discriminatory practice against international faculty like this greatly damages their chance of survival in the U.S. I mentioned that I have evidence that Jane Fernandes as provost was involved in this discriminatory practice, and the Board should know about this.

Humphries said that this was something he heard at the first time. The Board did not have access to this information earlier.

I was deeply surprised that the Board did not care about or did not have critical piece of information before deciding in favor of the winning candidate. Ir might be another serious reason to restart the searching process.

Now that this is out of the bottle I wonder what would follow. A discrimation charge should be taken very seriously in a president-elect.

Dr. Zoltan

Hi Everybody friends and foes. I am deaf;former G.U. student the oldest on the camus: former student at Psychology class with I.K.J. as my teacher age 78= I read pro and con; myths, truth; BoT’s defense reasons;students’ reason for rebelling and so forth. What impressed me the most is JKF’s facial expression when 1/3 people walked out and fast locked down and pictures of crowded students..Actually it does not matter how wonderful resumes are; how wonderful grants from congress; etc. What I see revealed how faculty’ students and alumni distrusted her and the attitudes shown by all. If BoT and JKF refuse to back down, then it is sure there will be the others hold grudges and fear if she starts working on Jan.1st. knowing she will still have same attitudes with other. Firing, resigning, replacing and shifting around programs -not matter it is done for the best. The other candidates can do just as well as her. It is the attitude that is most important - not necessary to say hi - just show warmth and friendly like President Jordan did over years. And share opinions with each other finding good solutions instead of being high mighty and strict like a martinet. Ms Zinser resigned gracefully and she got a job as President of another university. JFK can get a similar job as President of Acamdemic university somewhere in USA.If there is rebellion, it is always for a good reason. There is no fear if BoT or outsiders think the students have their say hereafter. They have good sense of justice. I support the guide line for the best qualifaction. Perhaps the BoT were surprised the outcome of the reaction not have honest feedback from students and especially from the faculty. I know some of you agree or disagree. It is my life long experiences of the worldly matters - my personal opinion. Thank you for reading this.

I am with you all the way, Dan the Hearing Guy!

[…] Gallaudet’s Board Stands Firm - For Good Reason by Adam Stone: The reasons why the Board of Trustees cannot change their decision are outlined here. […]

** Gallaudet Faculty Use GU Students as Henchmen **

Now we all know that, in reality, there was NO student movement to replace the new campus president; the gullible Gallaudet students staged their little “protest” at the behest of the chair-warming faculty of GU.

I have heard of old men sending young men off to die in war, but sending young people out to vandalize and attempt to shut down a campus is a new concept for me.

A few low-rent, socially retarded, trouble-making Gallaudet faculty filled the minds of some gullible young people with lies and garbage and bade them to do their dirty work.

The *working* men and women of Gallaudet (i.e., not the faculty) now see through hypocrisy of the Gallaudet faculty.

Gallaudet University is now a hostile working environment due to the irresponsible actions of the GU faculty. Gallaudet faculty, in addition to being objects of humor to the men and women who *work* on campus are now also reasonable targets for other forms of retribution. Do you think you can just mess with us all week and we’re not going to do anything about it? You are mistaken.

We call for the immediate prosecution of every faculty member who stood in line with the students. We call for the immediate prosecution of every person responsible for turning this campus into a toilet last week. And we should start with that media starlet and chair-warmer extraordinaire MJ Bienvenue.

LOL! SHUT THE **** UP, DEAF!!!! I know a lot of deaf people who have been struggling with their english! I don’t understand why would deaf people prefer to stay with their hell SSI?!

Have a nice dramatic dream, idiots!

to the person that commented first

screw u!
my sister is deaf & she has gone thru a lot
she is in this protest
u dont kno anything about deafs

Adam,

How about a retraction?