Hey,

the demand was in person not Vp. Do not give in to the VP bullshit.

Demand in person. Gallaudet Unity. UNITED WE STAND.

Yes A you are right……dont believe IKJ!! CM, come in person!!!

Yeah! Do not GIVE UP!

you guys are going to lose…. get over it. Jeez, there’s too much at stake to reverse the decision. grow up… get a clue… and most imporantly GROW UP.

Offer Rock Star aka Ron Stern a new job — Gally Provost! Case Closed! Move on your life!

i agree with you, adam…

normal people are inferiors to the officials. sad, but… that is the fact of reality.

they really cant arrest all the studennts and staff, but i agree to ure caution. the DC police are all buisness. and IKJ??? oh, plz! come in person!!!

People who are against the protest have no clue….Adam do us a favor stop writing and put your CI into a good use

B - what is CI? Cochlear Implants?

yes johnny you are right!! he should put it to a good use hear things right!

Look, as bad as it is now, it now appears to me that JKF will have a very hard time to unify Gallaudet in the foreseeable future. More and more faculty and staff are showing great support for students’ protest. As of 5/4/2006 at 3:20, DC police have not made any arrests.

adam has a CI. so? do you really want to make this all about cochlear implants? **that is such an old and tired topic.** this protest is not about cochlear implants.

that is pointless to tell Adam to put good use to CI.. many deaf use CI and it is not part of protesting against Gallaudet.

And the protest isn’t about Jane’s ablity to say hi too.

Yay! I’m glad they will be arresting those people who are a thorn in our side. There’s a total lack of refined culture of undergraduate students and some faculty and staff at Gallaudet University. At most, the students are elitist and dismissive of the rest of the deaf community which cares about real issues. I bet more than half will also be charged with possession of illegal substances.

As of 3:43, 5 or 6 Gallaudet “students” continue to make complete jackasses of themselves at the side gate. As they are spoiled little brats who care about no one but their lilly-white selves, it will not surprise me to see them all get away with breaking the law. What they all deserve is a good spanking. And if any deaf dweebs get in my face tomorrow morning on my way into the campus, I will kick their s**t!

In response to #7… Uh.. Ever see the police in riot gear? They can do that to the Gally protestors!

I wonder how much the students will have to pay for the damage to the U-Hauls when the riot police shoot it up with rubber bullets.

Gallaudet is going to pay for the damages already caused by its PPD. The PPDs tried to haul those rental trucks while their tires were flatten and ruptured its brake lines.

Dim Sum

Make a donation and it might be used to cover the damages like U-Hauls, legal fee, and etc..

Tim

I’d rather make a donation to the PPD for its valor in keeping Gallaudet University, the “leading undergraduate liberal arts school for the deaf”, open to business as usual.

Dim Sum, post #15:

You’re actually equating the protesters with substance abusers? And you talk about unrefined behavior?

Unresolved issues. See a counselor.

Sorry to disappoint you all, police had already announced they will not arrest any protestor.

Well, I think Dim Sum has a good sense of humor. It’s beautiful outside and according to the photos, everyone’s slacking around campus - waiting to see some students to get arrested. So killing some time to experience….nirvana isn’t so surprising.

I wonder how many of them will sign, “ADA! ADA! ADA!” when they’re being arrested. Well - they probably couldn’t do that while being handcuffed. Oooooo, the Justice Department will really get busy soon. Uh-huh, uh-huh.

I bet Jesse Jackson is shaking his head in shame.

Hasn’t anybody noticed DeafDC is dominated by RIT/NTID alumni? Why not set up DeafRochester?

Please look for more Gally people/writers to balance the team of DeafDC bloggers here.

Actually, look at http://www.deafdc.com/blog/central.php

There’s like 4 Gallaudet graduates (and 2 current Gallaudet employees). They aren’t writing for some reason…hmm.

Cement, I’m sure Gallaudet has some really great counselors. Of course, can’t forget to sign the agreement to allow them to film you and let graduate students analyze it. Hope it’s not a blabber mouth like you.

I bet Jesse Jackson doesn’t give a hoot about Gallaudet University. Ask him and he’ll say, “Wally What?”

Some of you questioned why the Deaf DC bloggers who are employed at Gallaudet have not writing any lately. Logical explaination is that they are in fear of losing job, unlike some older Professors highly protected by tenure.

I just got this

Julie

May 4, 2006

Dear Members of the Board of Trustees, Gallaudet University:

I am writing to you as a concerned member of the Deaf Community, as an Employer who has hired the “end product” of those graduating from Gallaudet, and as a Leader who has had extensive management experience lending assistance during times of dissent between leadership of an organization and that of the community. After reading the open letter from NAD yesterday, I decided to send my own comments. It is my hope that this outside view provides you with further insight as to why restoring order to campus is not only important to Gallaudet, but more importantly taking immediate action, will also restore peace within the Deaf Community nationwide.

First, dissent is not necessarily a bad thing. “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism” (Thomas Jefferson). The students showing ownership of a University that is “the world’s only comprehensive, multipurpose institution of higher education for deaf and hard of hearing individuals”, by protesting the decision is in fact a good thing.

Where it has become troublesome however, not only for the candidate who was ultimately selected, was when the initial hue and cry immediately following the announcement of the final selection, with angry statements that she was “not deaf enough” to be this University’s President, set off war between those who are “deaf centric” vs. deaf mainstream individuals everywhere. In other words, this message has now caused damage nationwide. I am completely disgusted with the ugliness in emails flying around, all of which shows me, the issue surrounding the true definition of “audism” has completely been distorted to evidently divide the deaf community. And, it will continue until Gallaudet Leadership steps in to halt such distortions and attacks. Many Deaf leaders in our community will tell you they do not support the “not deaf enough” as the reason to dislike the final decision and that reason alone has absolutely no merit at all.

Secondly, in your search requirements, you spelt out that there are diversity problems on campus, and specifically, “In addition, diversity must continue to be a central value for Gallaudet and its leadership. Concerns about racism and audism are strong, and there is a notable consensus that Gallaudet must continue to address these and other injustices, on and off campus.” This honest admission that there is a problem at Gallaudet, shows people like myself, that the BOT was in fact earnest enough to search for a new leader who can really step up to the plate with the “know how” to bring about your vision and create true unity.

From my view, the real issue here is not about who is deaf enough to be the President, but more about who understands what it takes for students and faculty to feel respected, and that such issues as audism and racism are dealt with by establishing policies prohibiting such practices. A good leader will know exactly how to communicate this vision and restore peace. There has been no public effort demonstrated with a message from the current President, nor the Board to communicate to the eyes of the beholder, to communicate that they recognize there is dissention, and that such patriotism is appreciated, and further communicate how unity can be restored, etc. Without any evidence of this leadership, the damage is growing more severe, to the point where it is affecting even people like me clear on the west coast.

Thirdly, the question amongst many is whether or not, the Board indeed conducted a fair selection process as it claims. The strong protests amongst the students hint to the fact that it really wasn’t. Their petition to the Board circulating the United States strengthens their position. Furthermore, recent rumors of statements made by some members of the selection committee, expressing dissatisfaction with the process, saying that the Board twisted their recommendation to a different candidate, also demonstrates distrust with the selection process.

The Boards own requirements searching for candidates from the onset, seemingly now appear in conflict. My question to you is to ask if the selections of the finalists were even based on a “Performance-based” selection, if this process was utilized, then the final choice voted on would have been one whom all can respect and trust. A performance-based selection process actually takes the Employer beyond just what’s on paper (resume). It actually is a process that allows the board to look into how a candidate applies knowledge to real-life issues. It also allows you to interview and document experts and stakeholders input based on carefully designed questions about each candidate. The actual selection committee (not a subset of), composed of students, faculty, community, and board of trustees would need to emphasize this being a performance-based selection process. All of which, would have shown you ahead of time, what the ramifications would have been – because simply polling, after meeting the final candidates and hear their speeches, is in itself not even touching how any of them would apply leadership and knowledge to real life issues. The polling to get a “percentage” will not accurately reflect the outcome of the candidates’ success as a leader. The first mistake I can see that demonstrated your process was flawed is when specific candidates who applied with the “first round” were not even asked to interview. Right then and there, you lost the trust of the students and the community. Thus the Board should not be surprised at all that chaos has occurred as a result.

The Board of Trustees development of its strategic goals, are commendable. Specifically the following three copied and pasted here for emphasis, actually asks for ownership by the students and the community:

Strategic Goal #1:

*The term inclusive deaf university refers to an academic institution of higher learning that is comprehensive and recognizes the diversity among deaf and hard of hearing people—in cultural identification, language and communication choices, audiometric measures, age of onset, use of amplification technology, school experiences—and in age, gender, disability, racial and ethnic background, religion, sexual orientation, and social-economic class.

Strategic Goal #5:

Gallaudet University promotes an environment where every member of the community is included, valued, and respected.

Strategic Goal #6:

Gallaudet University nurtures and strengthens its position as a global educational and cultural center for people who are deaf and hard of hearing and demonstrates its commitment to diversity by reaching out to deaf and hard of hearing people everywhere.

The Board of Trustees further emphasized to all candidates: “The recent adoption of an ambitious plan regarding the University’s strategic goals for an “inclusive deaf university” where everyone is “included, valued, and respected” specifically demonstrates the Gallaudet community’s commitment to this value. The dedication to shared governance is also striking and robust. Co-curricular campus life, for residents and non-residents alike, is vital to these efforts. The new president must address these issues through institutional innovation and experimentation, but also by providing an example of openness and civility to all of Gallaudet’s many constituencies.”

These goals are also the reason why I have been emphasizing “openness” to communicate a message to restore order. I personally am not surprised to see that the student’s, and faculty members of Gallaudet protesting, because they simply feel their input did not count, nor valued, nor respected. I must side with the students, to ask that you review and act on to your very own goals. Respect has to be earned, not forced.

A couple of suggestions to leave you with:

1. If Ms. Fernandez is a true leader and understands the dissent has nothing to do with her, per se, that this is actually an example of why such strategic goals were designed in the first place, my suggestion would be for her to step in and deliver a message that will encompass ownership, unify the diversity, and restore peace.

Or

2. The Board sends an open letter reaffirming its decision, with justification that the process was indeed fair.

Or

3. If in fact the Board discovers there were flaws, and assesses that leaving it as it is will have a more harmful impact on the University as a whole, to further evaluate to determine that the lesser impact may very well be to rescind its decision and re-open the selection process to ascertain its doing so is in everyone’s best interest, including the person who was ultimately selected.

Should none of the suggestions above seem doable at this point in time, I ask then for the Board to at least make it a point to bring together Leadership of this University, to communicate a message to all stakeholders. Such leadership should include a, representative of the Board of Trustees, representative of the Faculty, and three representatives from the student body. All of whom needs to meet soon, to develop a unified message to share with all within the next 24hours. This unification of leadership actually sends the message that there are clear plans to resolve the crisis at hand, one in which I honestly feel, the Board allowed to happen. Because like it or not, it is the Board of Trustees whom is ultimately responsible.

Bottom line, the longer you wait the worse it becomes, and I say this based on my own experiences dealing with organizations that have gone through their own state of chaos.

Last but not least, as Chair of the E911 Stakeholder Council, sponsored by TDI, we have a meeting on campus just next Tuesday to focus on an issue of national concern, finding solutions to ensure access for consumers using VRS and IP relay, emergency notifications, etc. I am very concerned that those of us flying in from all parts of the United States will even be allowed to enter the grounds to even have this meeting. What an awful image this would create for Gallaudet, should we not be able to get in due to a lockdown, and cause this meeting to be cancelled with nowhere to go.

Please show us that Gallaudet is capable of being the world’s leading deaf institution, restore order and peace immediately.

Thank you,

-Sheri

Sheri A. Farinha, CEO

NorCal Center on Deafness

4708 Roseville Road, Suite 111

North Highlands, CA 95660

Email: SFarinha@norcalcenter.org

Pager: Sheri@mycingular.blackberry.net

Phone: (916)349-7500

http://www.norcalcenter.org

Cc: NorCal Board of Directors

Board of Trustees, Gallaudet University

National Association of the Deaf

California Coalition of Agencies Serving the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

TDI

To #31 of the letter writer:

Gawd, I hate seeing this TJ quote thrown around wrongly. It is NOT “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism” (Thomas Jefferson)

There is NO evidence, even with scholars in the Jefferson library, that that quote came from Thomas Jefferson. Google it and you’ll see. Makes me puke everytime I see that false quote attributing to be from TJ.

this whole “protest” is weak. first they claim JK isn’t “deaf” enough.. now they claim the whole search’s not diverse enough…
students have openly said “yes, we can’t get JK out by saying we don’t like her but we can play the diversity card.”
playing dirty, eh?

students– GROW UP.

i’ve got a suggestion— see what JK does… let her work on re-establishing relationships with students for the 8 months she has left…let her be a president— if she does anything wrong, illegal, unacceptable– we THEN have GROUNDS to protest.

hmm?

AND thank you for your blogs!!! i agree with you wholeheartedly.

When I read the letter that was sent to Julie, I predicted that Bushervatives like mcconnell would post within two hours to ‘correct’ it. Man, I’m so good at predicting Bushervatives’ behavior patterns.

However Thomas Jefferson did say:

“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the atmosphere.”

Source: Thomas Jefferson to Abigail Adams, 1787

And another great quote by Thomas Jefferson:

“The man who loves his country on its own account, and not merely for its trappings of interest or power, can never be divorced from it, can never refuse to come forward when he finds that she is engaged in dangers which he has the means of warding off.”

Source: Thomas Jefferson to Elbridge Gerry, 1797. ME 9:407

Although I think Sheri should’ve used President Theodore Roosevelt’s statement in her letter:

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else.”

Source: Kansas City Star (7 May 1918)

Indeed. And that was from a Republican President. Lovely speech, that is.

Back to topic, Julie, that was quite a good letter. It’d be interesting if anyone would heed Sheri’s letter and act upon her suggestions.

wow Jane was 3rd Miss deaf amrica in 1984 She wrote an aticle to encourage the deaf students to use ASL in theit poetry and stories the deaf woman admistator at my school support her ideas that deaf adm was in dpn in 1988

Fresh off the Washington Post - http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....02095.html

One paragraph quotes:

“Born deaf, Fernandes grew up speaking rather than using sign language, went to mainstream public schools and did not learn to sign until she was 23. “All those things are markers that define what kind of deaf person I am,” she said in a meeting yesterday with Washington Post editors and reporters. “We’re in a little bit of an identity politics struggle on campus regarding who speaks for deaf people.”

She didn’t learn how to sign until 23? A faculty member mentioned that she comes from a deaf family - is that true? Oh, boy. That’s an interesting twist to this saga. I may have missed something, but can anyone verify the fact that Fernandes had a week and half to prepare her speech while Stern and Weiner only had a few days? If that is the case, then I’m not so sure if that is considered as a fair and democratic process.

Jason B, you just proved my point that TJ never said that quote. It’s a matter keeping correct to the historical quotations, whether it’s from a Democrat or Republican president. We all have the right to disagree or dissent towards any sitting president. However, I don’t have the intention of turning this discussion between political parties. That is not the topic subject in this thread. Continue to pat yourself on the back if you wish for your, uh, “prediction.”

You’re right, Cloak and Dagger, JK didn’t learn sign until age 23. She comes from a long line of oral deaf. Her dad is hearing, mom is oral deaf, and she has siblings who are both deaf and hearing. She chose to learn sign when she was 23 instead of continuing with the “oral only” approach.

Nobody got arrested. Basically, IKJ was just bullshitting to scare the protestors off. I am so proud of the faculty and staff who stood by their side. The police just said that they could not arrest anyone until something happens since the protestors were protesting in a peaceful way. The funny thing is IKJ supported the entrances being closed during DPN. He also said that Gallaudet is a private property and now he says that it is a federal property. I had always admired IKJ until I caught him lying a few times this week. I just could not believe my eyes. He was my childhood inspiration. Sadly, he is no longer someone I look up to. Adam, you’ve never been a student at Gallaudet. Please come down on campus before you form your opinion. I am quite disappointed with your blogs lately and your comment in the Washington Post. You were never a student at Gallaudet or came down on campus during the whole protest. Come join us after DPHH tomorrow night and see the other side of the court.

Adam,

You said the protest was aborted after only a day. False.

You said students would be arrested. False.

You said Baldwin’d VP with protesters. False.

What next?

Leave blogging about Gally to those who actually know something about it.

Amen to what Ben said.

Someone claimed that there are four Gallaudet who are bloggers on DeafDC.com — actually, they wrote very FEW entries in comparison with Stone and Cox’s entries.

In fact, these days, I consider Stone’s entries “much ado about nothing”, really.

Let’s face the reality — I was in Tent City and people were joking about the limits of Stone’s perceptions.

But again, that is what Adam is, eh? LOL.

Later,

R-

This is all nuts. WE ALL need to grow up, yes? I would let the new selectee do her job before anyone does anything? Has ANYONE considered that the new selectee may improve Gallaudet University to much bigger and better standards and recognition? All this protesting, to me at first glance, doesn’t really project acceptance from the Gallaudet protestors. None of us know what the new Provost can really do yet. Maybe we give her a shot, eh?

haha…. there was supposed to be a rally this morning to protest JKF again, the gates are open, and hardly anyone is around holding up signs.

Summer is here, you lose, go home, if you aren’t graduating this year, come back in the fall and work towards your degree, start a life, have a couple rug rat’s, do something with your life that has more value than SSDI and crack cocaine.

Congratulations to Jane Feranandes on the presidency and Kudo’s to all those who tried to overturn it.

The rally is postponed to 3p.. don’t get your panties all in a bunch.

Moron Is the Ridor,

You have serious delusions of grandeur. A DOZEN TENTS DO NOT FORM A “TENT CITY.” A tent cul-de-sac maybe. Your silly little “protest” has accomplished nothing except to turn Gallaudet into a laughingstock. And apparently many Gallaudet students are self-involved spoiled little brats who GET OFF on commiting acts of vandalism–at homecoming hotels, campus football fields, pretty much wherever they please. I fart in your general direction.

Pictures of this “Tent City” would be nice. All of a sudden there is a drop on the number of pictures taken at the protest. Why?

Ok. Maybe not a “Tent City” but a “Slum Row”?

check it out. mowl’s article… well-written.

Hmm…yep. More like slum row than a tent city.
http://michellemcauliffe.com/contact/

Lots of activities going on in slum row or so it seems.

hahaha classic, IKJ mentioned that he won’t provide interpreters cuz it’s not an educational related event. You boys and girls wanna play hard ball… you got it. =)

you guys have NO idea what it takes to run a university, you haven’t got a fricken CLUE. IKJ and JKF busted their behinds for years to make sure you tards could have governmental assistance and complete accessability.. free food free board free edducation free money free blah blah blah. all simply cuz you are deaf and THIS is how you treat the hand that works so hard for you? god, if it were my choice i’d close all the schools down and let you survive on your own.

Honestly, I have a life of my own, a home, I’m about to be married, I have a career going, and I can’t explain why this whole mess that’s happening at Gallaudet is bothering me.

Maybe it’s because of my past experience with deaf-o’s and seeing how they percieve the way the world turns really makes me passionately annoyed.

Maybe it’s because I still haven’t forgiven the deaf community for the hell I had to endure. I left a mainstream University to attend Gallaudet, in hopes I would feel accepted. Boy was I wrong…. in a couple years I had been destroyed by rumors, (even almost got arrested for a false rumor), unbelievable conclusions and expectations in the classroom, couldn’t join a a club because I wore hearing aids…. greatly ignored by the Deaf because I could speak.

what’s that suppose to tell me? How do you think IKJ and JKF, whom of which are simply trying to survive in a world that would chew them up and spit them out, especially by their own kind, how do you think they feel knowing an entire university is protesting them when HALF of them can barely make it pass homecoming?

Then I suggest you click ‘x’ and go back to your superb life.

JBH, Adam Stone, Joe Dirt:

What is this? Are you living in some fantasy world where you think you know EXACTLY what is going on? A world where you think your words are objective and absolute truths?
You are miles and miles away from even understanding what the protest is all about. Your blog entries and words are laughable for it is not even close to objectivity or even truth.
To those who agree with Adam Stone and havent checked the reasons of the other side: Good, sound decisions are made when all sides and options are evaluated.
Do yourselves a favor, read the voices of the other side before declaring a stance or conclusion:

Anthony Mowl:
http://www.insidehighered.com/.....05/05/mowl

Jesse Thomas:
http://www.xanga.com/powhog/48.....test-.html

A big middle-fingered salute to those who disguise themselves as fair and balanced when it is not the case.