An Alumni, Staff, and Student Perspective
By Chris and Allison Kaftan on Fri 5 May 2006 |
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Long story short: the two of us are both current students (Allison undergraduate, Chris graduate) at Gallaudet. Chris also happens to be a staff member at the Clerc Center (MSSD). And after much careful thought and questioning of many trusted and well-respected sources close to the action, we’ve decided we both disagree and agree with the drama happening on Kendall Green. Here’s why.
We agree with the FSSA’s resolutions (1. re-open the search process and 2. no reprisals for protesters) because we have decided that the selection process was flawed on the part of the Board of Trustees.
1. A professional consultant service, Academic Search Consultation Service, dispatched a friend of I. King Jordan’s, Patricia van der Vorm, to help design the search process. Not only did their acquaintance throw a shadow of perceived bias over the whole process, Dr. van der Vorm is and was woefully unaware of the unique characteristics of the community that now watches the protest at Gallaudet today. After all, not only are we seeking a highly qualified University administrator, the president of Gallaudet serves as an ambassador for the diverse possibilities and futures of deaf and hard of hearing people everywhere, regardless of affiliation with the University. The resulting process, however, underestimated the level of investment the community both inside and outside Gallaudet has in the selection of the next president. Therefore, from the start, the prescribed process for presidential selection was an ill fit for Gallaudet.
2. At the initial town hall meeting regarding the selection process in January, only 41 undergraduate students and 6 graduate students showed up. Although their small attendance is not the Board of Trustee’s responsibility, clearly, a critical mass of student involvement had not yet been gained. Further effort should have been made to achieve this. We don’t know about the involvement of other groups such as faculty and alumni, but are guessing their involvement, at this point, was comparable to that of the students.
3. I. King Jordan has publicly disclosed, although not in so many words, that he has been far too close to a process in which he should have been neutral or removed from the decision making or the ability to influence the selection. He personally wrote a letter of recommendation for Jane Fernandes, which is a natural move on his part, since he was her supervisor and best suited to review her merits. That has been confirmed by three trusted sources, two of whom also told us that information was public and that Dr. Jordan would confirm it if asked. But that act of recommendation created a conflict of interest when, according to a press release from the public relations office dated yesterday said he also interviewed each of the finalists and shared his thoughts with the Board of Trustees. That he only did so at the end of the process does not excuse the conflict. Ethically, Dr. Jordan should not have been simultaneously an advocate of one of the candidates and an interviewer of all three finalists.
4. The slow, progressive trickle of information regarding the selection process (i.e. the sudden disclosure of the number of candidates and how many of those were female or of color from Celia Baldwin in her memo dated April 29, 2006, or the aforementioned press release released yesterday) suggests there was not complete disclosure of the integrity of the process from the beginning. In the perception of those not privy to selection decisions, it also opens up the possibility of the existence of more information that has not yet been shared with the Gallaudet community at large, despite its possible relevance. Whether or not this information exists is irrelevant; trust in the Board of Trustees has been violated and suspicion is natural.
5. A message from a coalition of organizations representing students of color was either misunderstood or inappropriately responded to; no action was taken on the part of the Board of Trustees to assure the community and the coalition that drafted the message that the call to support our diversity goal was heard. Instead, Celia Baldwin issued a statement that said, in short, that yes, of course, people of color were included in the search process.
We disagree, however, with many of the protesters and the protest techniques used.
1. Although a new group, the FSSA, has been formed, with more refined resolutions and goals in mind, many protesters continue to pursue irrelevant arguments. Students and alumni, especially, continue to videotape the President-elect in hopes of catching her rolling her eyes or making some other inappropriate motion. They continue to seek dirt on her past actions. They continue to criticize her signing skills. They continue to do all these, in spite of the obvious, that Jane Fernandes is fully qualified to serve as president of Gallaudet University… IF chosen through a fair process. If the selection were clean, then there would be no cause to protest. If one of the other two candidates was chosen and no protest ensued, after all, then there would be no reason to believe the community had any issues with the process. Jane Fernandes is a human being, not evil incarnate, and the flaws in the process are not her fault, nor is the tension on campus. Continued JK-bashing only hurts the cause of the FSSA and makes protesters look immature and uninformed about the reasons for the protest and reinforces the outside world’s perception of deaf-related stereotypes. “I’m protesting because she doesn’t say ‘hi.’” Need we say more?
2. We are also concerned with the “us vs. them” mentality that many protesters (but certainly not all) have. Repeatedly, “administration” is cited as the source of all evils at Gallaudet. Thinking this way only divides our community more. We hope the pending meeting with Celia Baldwin will be collaborative in spirit with the future of a united Gallaudet in mind — yes, even with Jane Fernandes and those who think she will be a great president on campus right along with the rest of us. The change of presidents, after all, is a perfect time to grab the opportunity to unite and celebrate all that Gallaudet means to us.
The dilemma that faces us now, however, is how to get out of this fix.
We cannot re-open the search process until Jane Fernandes voluntarily resigns.
Because the Board of Trustees either refuses to see or cannot see how their implementation of the selection was not well-done, they have already signed, sealed, and delivered the presidency to Dr. Fernandes. To rescind that offer is to open themselves up to a lawsuit and violate the integrity of their word.
And because both we and Dr. Fernandes know she is fully qualified and able to lead the University, we do not blame her for being reluctant to resign only to re-do the whole thing again. We are also absolutely sure that, should the process be re-opened, she would be a finalist again, and very possibly chosen again.
Therefore, the Board of Trustees has effectively gotten itself in a terrible bind, and Jane Fernandes is one of many who must deal with the fallout.
In short, while we agree with the FSSA’s resolutions, we are wary and anxious to see how this will resolve itself. One thing’s for sure - it’ll take an enormous amount of compromise and dialogue between the Board of Trustees and the community.
Only then can the healing begin and we can be proud of our University again.
Long Live Gallaudet.
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42 Comments
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THANK YOU, Kaftans! You’ve said so much of what I am thinking and feeling. The Board made a terrible mistake and they cannot undo it unless Fernandes realizes that she needs to resign in order to begin the healing. But the beginning of the protest was disorganized and some reasons were not well-articulated. In the students’ defense, they did not have DUCKS helping them at first and there was no plan, like there was before the “real” DPN occurred. Still, what happened happened and it has created/cemented perceptions. This is why we alums/current students need to be advising the students and giving them the benefit of our prior experiences and knowledge. I am doing that and hopefully it is helping.
Wow!
Well said!
I agree with you the process was flawed from the very beginning and I am in support of keeping Fernandes because if we look at the pros and cons of starting over it is obvious that we expose ourselves to a lawsuit and Fernandes could very well win again. So it is important to give her a chance to succeed.
And I also want to mention that I am in complete agreement with you about the bashing. It is like the group of protestors keep changing their reasons for getting rid of Fernandes because when they realized their earlier arguements are dumb they change and change it. And now they are lulling in “diversity” as a reason why there should be a do-over. I want to speak up and say I believe that this is just another effort to change their reasons to rid of Fernandes with anything they can dig up instead of focusing on the real merits.
Two of the outspoken leaders at the beginning of this protest, Tawny Holmes and Anthony Mowl, are not stupid and they have helped put together a coalition consisting of BDSU and LSU members to make it look like they are really interested in protesting the diversity of the whole selection process. I want to remind everyone this is the same Tawny Holmes that didn’t bother meeting with BDSU or communicating with BDSU when they were screaming foul two years ago when signs around campus were vandalized with racist comments. Tawny as VP chose to put this issue on the sideburner and BDSU was very angry and apparently they have forgotten about this if they are working with her because do you really think she believes their race deserves more attention in the selection process when she didn’t bother standing up for them or communicating with them to let them know that this was an important issue? The same goes with Mowl, he was a Buff and Blue writer at the time and was one of the assistant editors if I am correct and he didn’t give much attention to the issue either and the BNB coverage simply tossed this issue aside as “just an occurance” at Gallaudet instead of tending to the fact that this was wrong at a university full of deaf people that share a bond not breakable by race. It makes me sick to see them helping create a coalition to call for Unity and seek out diversity in the selection process.
And don’t forget that one of the other leaders Noah Beckman was a SBG assistant at the time of the racism issue and I remember he didn’t get involved either so I am surprised they are all of the sudden concerned about diversity when they should have been concerned two years ago when it was a big issue within the african american community at Gallaudet University.
I also want to point out that there are probably only two qualified candidates of diversity that could run Gallaudet. Glenn Anderson and Robert Davila.. Both are old and Davila served in the Bush Administration.. The first Bush not the current one. That is how old he is… The fact is that there aren’t enough qualified diversity candidates in the first place to be screaming foul about diversity in the process and it is clear that Glenn was one of the final 6 but apparently didn’t move on, I am not surprised since he was beaten out by two other candidates (Fernandes and Stern) yet I don’t think Stephen Weiner should have beat out Anderson for the final spot but I am pretty sure it wasn’t because of diversity, it was probably an age issue.
One last point, the current Zoltan professor is going around talking about his experience with Fernandes and now I see some students saying this shows how corrupt and unethical she is. I think this is being thrown out of context. The university was sued and we lost so any logical administrator would take steps to prevent this from happening again. And this is what apparently happenend as Fernandes no longer signed forms for international professors. That is a logical choice. Just like how McDonald’s was sued when a woman spilled coffee on herself and claimed she didn’t know it would be hot, and now ALL McDonald’s coffee cups have labeling warning that the coffee is hot so they can’t be sued since the consumer should know it is hot in the first place. Same thing here, Fernandes prevented future lawsuits by not signing INS documentation for international professors. I think this was a poor choice but regardless I think it does have some justification and I think the only real reason any group can protest the BOT selection is to protest the transparency of the whole selection process as you have mentioned in this blog. I hope the protestors get their act together and realize that and start doing what you guys say… begin carrying out an enormous amount of compromise and dialouge to restore trust in our beloved community.
P - the point you raised about Tawny Holmes and other current student leaders not being proactive on the issue of racism on campus a while ago is very good. Have you ever asked Tawny or others for a follow up response? Sometimes leaders need to be reminded of their past or current “inaction.” It’d be interesting to see what they have to say for themselves.
As a Gallaudet Alumni, let me ask you all this: What is it that you fear the most? I mean, c’mon! Are you just hopping onto the bandwagon to look cool and support someone else’s cause? Do you honestly have a cause of your own? Do you have a vested interest in the soon-to-be new President Dr. Jane Fernandes and the potential ramifications of such character in this position? Or are you being genuine and know for a fact that you care deeply about the state of Leadership within the Administration at Gallaudet? If so, then let me ask you this: Has the state of Leadership affected your education? Has it affected the quality of education that you’re there to pursue or has it affected the parties that you’re there to get drunk at? If it’s the education, great, I know I’m talking to the right person!
How do you know for a fact that Dr. Fernandes will have a detrimental impact on your education? What if you’re a Senior and just about to graduate next week? What do you care? What if you’re a Freshman having just completed your first year at Gallaudet and know that you want to stick it out for another X number of years until you graduate? My question to you is, how will Dr. Fernandes impact the quality of education at Gallaudet? Did Dr. I. King Jordan have a direct impact on the quality of education? *shrugs* Dr. Jordan impacted Gallaudet University in many, many ways. He hardly had anything to do with the education. Know why? Because he was responsible for the Administration and the livelihood of Gallaudet. He was responsible for overseeing the survival of Gallaudet in terms of financial support from the Feds. He was responsible for overseeing the growth of the Endowment Fund that went up to over $100 Million! He was responsible for being a genuine Leader in the Deaf-World, all over the globe! And yes, he had a positive impact on many Gallaudet students, many who have long graduated, and many who are still around, still a student or now a faculty or staff. Dr. Jordan’s Leadership was inspiring. But, what was he truly responsible for? The overall functioning of Gallaudet’s Administration! The quality of education that you receive is not just Dr. King’s responsibility but rather, YOUR responsibility as well. YOU gotta go to class and learn the stuff that is presented and taught to you. YOU have got to incorporate the newly learned material into your schema. YOU, above all, made the choice to be at Gallaudet because it’s the heartbeat of Deaf Culture. So if you’re there to get an education, YOU gotta do your part.
I’ve seen a couple blogs here and there saying that Gallaudet’s education is a joke. If it’s a joke and has been in a decline the past 6 years, don’t you think it’s obvious that Dr. Jordan didn’t really play much of a role? I majored in Biology, and cruised by, always being either high or dead asleep, yet I still passed. If I were to enroll at another university, say, Georgetown University or George Washington, I would be finding myself flat on my face, having been expelled. Or worse, not having even been accepted in the first place. It’s true that Gallaudet does “dumb down” it’s level of education to accommodate an average of 4th grade reading level among a small representative of the Nation’s Deaf population.
We all desire a great leader. Question: (and I think it’s already been answered one time too many) Do you believe that Dr. Jane Fernandes is a great leader and role model among the Deaf? *ducking* Of course not, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.
Another question: Can Dr. Fernandes improve the quality of education at Gallaudet? Can she challenge us? Can she prove that we’re dumb? Or can she challenge us to show that we are smarter than we appear? Maybe she isn’t your ideal role model of a Deaf Leader—citing negative reports of past behaviors towards others. But if she’s got all these credentials, perhaps she’s actually qualified to challenge you students? If you’re at Gallaudet to get a quality education, then perhaps you should see what she has to offer in that aspect?
It seems that the FSSA is more concerned with the Leadership behaviors and traits that Dr. Fernandes possesses or lacks than her potential to revamp Gallaudet’s education. So what if she learned ASL at the age of 23? I learned ASL at 16 and I’m a part of the Deaf-World. I even teach ASL at my local community college, even though I sign primarily Pidgin Signed English. Does that make me a bad Deaf person? Not at all, just a different type of Deaf person. Dr. Fernandes may not be Deaf enough to be a model Deaf Leader, but that doesn’t make her a bad person. Then again, maybe it’s your perception that needs to be considered, because of the fact that your information is based on someone else’s information that person’s information is based on some other sources of information and all it means is that everything you read or hear is total hearsay! There’s no basis! What evidence do you have?! All you’re doing is taking someone else’s sob story and making her into a dirtbag douche when you have no basis or evidence!
Beware—this type of behavior can lead to libel, which can lead to a lawsuit against YOU, especially when there’s no evidence.
Besides, I’m a strong supporter of second chances. We all need chances. I’m not supporting anyone, but rather, I’m just introducing the idea that sometimes people make mistakes and they need a chance to show that they are genuine, honest beings. I know what it’s like to be falsely accused—it’s terrifying! How would you feel if someone refused to give you a chance simply because he or she heard something negative about you?
You guys are looking for every excuse imaginable to justify your protests and rallies. Just make sure that they are the RIGHT reasons, and not just some making-it-up-as-you-go-along piece of bullshit. Ask yourselves, are you protesting for the right reasons according to YOUR values?
Because honestly, I don’t think that half of you are.
Thank God that I’m not one of your ASL students. I would have difficulty getting through your class with your using PSE to talk about ASL.
Not only can I sign PSE, I also sign ASL, SEE, as well as speak and hear. I’m capable of being “hearing”, being Hard of Hearing, being deaf, and being Deaf. I can change and adapt my behaviors to fit into any one of these identities. I’d be happy to accommodate your language needs–it wouldn’t be a problem. Sometimes Deaf people think I was born Deaf, imagine their surprise when I tell them that I was raised mainstreamed and started to learn ASL at 16. Imagine the hearing peoples’ surprise when they find out I can’t hear as well as I can speak–”You’re not deaf!”
*shrugs* I didn’t ask for this. It’s just the way I am.
Hmmm. So you can change and fit into many identities, which is cool. But what’s yours? How did you go through all these identities and arrive at a coherent, total, El Finko? :)
I myself am sometimes perplexed with that question–for I’ve faced it numerous times. Lets just say I am the sum of my parts–there is no ‘one’ identity, but rather, I am a myriad of identities which places me on the verge of being diagnosed with a multi-personality disorder, just to joke. Technically I’m hard of hearing, identity-wise, I’m deaf-mainstreamed. It’s a difficult one at best. *shrugs* I guess I’ll never know.
The whole “she doesn’t sign ASL” thing strikes me as bizarre. I visit blog after blog and see Deafie after Deafie signing, code switching. Seeing various “English signs” pop up. Entire English sentences being signed. By culturally Deaf folks. Just watched a CSDF blog full of “WAS”, “HER”… yet, no one seems to mind…
Regarding JK’s qualifications, here’s a fact: she has never taught a bona fide university level course here or anywhere. She headed the Clerc Center during a period its schools experienced rapid decline in enrollment. Whether it was her fault or not, I can’t say. But she definitely didn’t distinguish herself performance-wise. So it was a little strange that IKJ promoted her to the provost position, out of all fine professors or deans- you know, those with higher education experience- he could’ve picked. As a provost, I don’t think she distinguished herself either- we sure haven’t seen education improving at Gally. So is she really the most qualified? I don’t know.
Another great piece. Thanks deafdcblog. It’s a blog. It’s your opinion,as all blogs are. However,you folks consistently state your opinion in acoherent manner, and never resort to petty insults. I, for one, thank you. And, yes, for those who’s only response seems to be to invoke “Godwin’s law of deafness” (scream: audism at every opportunity, regardless of of the merits of such a claim), I was, am, and remain, a Ron Stern supporter. I know him, I like him, and thought he was the best of the three.
Ben M.-
I can tell you that some of the top universities in the world have presidents that have never taught courses until they became president and taught them as special assignments. A perfect example are the many politicans go leave high level political jobs in the President’s cabinet or as governors and become university presiden. There is a long list of such presidents and they are brought in because they have administrative experience at the highest level of government and know where the cash flows from in government funding circles. That is what matters, not teaching experience.
And yes the honors program improved under her tenure, she paid some attention to the program and in fact acts as an mentor/advisor to one of the honors’ students that is completing the required thesis prior to graduation. And under her tenure, she gave the honors program and special programs good attention. It was under her tenure that we have the Heller Erhman Moot Court program. I am surprised that the leaders of the protest aren’t thankful for Fernandes’ leadership along with Kimmel’s in securing the funds and support to keep that program here. Several of the leaders in the protests are alums of that program. It brings together lawyers from Heller Ehrman, a high level law firm just two blocks away from the White House and a group of Gallaudet students that are interested in studying law. After a 7 - 8 week refresher course they hold a moot court session and it is very fun and competitive. So she has performed in creating programs and sustaining support for critical programs and I think that is an important aspect of administrative duties. It is up to the students and faculty to get better grades academic wise and it is up to the administrators to provide the opportunities to do so and it is clear that Fernandes has continued to provide opportunities at every turn during my four years there. And after being a Stern supporter all along, I am started to get excited at the prospect of Fernandes bringing in a new breed of administrators that will focus on creating new opportunities and programs for students and it will be up to the fac and students to show incentive to helping these programs and ultimately the university succeed.
Your article has definitely given me something to think about in regards of the protests. I would like to hear more on this…
It is too bad that this wasn’t articulated at the beginning. On one hand, I’m starting to see where you guys are coming from now.
On the other hand, I can believe that the protest leaders are hypocrites and it’s obvious that they ARE changing their reasons for the protests everytime their reason is written off. P (#2 post) says it the best.
My 2 cents on this whole thing: I think that if anyone wants a truly good outcome for the entire community, then we have to take a serious look at ourselves.
So far only a very few are. Not even NAD is willing to examine why there’s such a severe, deep split between the Deaf-Centrics and the D/deaf mainstreamed. I believe that once we as a whole start to honestly, openly examine the split, there’ll be some kind of resolution.
Because I do believe that this split is a big part of why the protests are happening.
What I see as a PROUD Gallaudet Alumni of DPN (who actually stayed through the whole DPN protest .. meaning all 7 days back in 198, this protest is a whole different era.
In my perspective, this protest is setting us back 20 years in the public eyes. The reason why I say this is because this is a beautiful example how “horizontal violence” or “crab theory” develops in a divided culture within a community. This protest is going for a long, long haul since the justifications does not serve its purpose of the American society. In reality, especially being in the ADA era, civil rights meaning all kinds of Deaf people have the same basic rights, not just the capital Ds of Deaf (Deaf families or early ASL users, who grew up in deaf schools are the minorities of the Deaf populations say about 3 - 5 % ). There are 100 thousands of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in the United States, who, may be scratching their heads thinking if Dr. Fernandez is obviously the most qualified, consistant, well prepped to step up, has the most distinguished accomplishments in both worlds, from a Deaf family (her mother and siblings), who uses ASL, took courses in ASL linguistics, Deaf culture, and I could go on 15 pages more within her resume, vitae, and letter of applications. This lady is a true Bilingual & Bicultural candidate. She does have the best of both worlds and the other canidates are more of monolingual and do not represent the true meaning of being a Bilingual and Bicultural Gallaudet Univeristy Deaf President.
Therefore, Dr. Jane Fernandez is the best Bilingual and Bicultral candidate to lead Gallaudet University into the 21st century. She meets all the criterias and more (especially already being trained when terrorists strike in the backyard or disasters happen), qualifications, and requirements to be the Gallaudet New President. Heck !! no wonder the Board of Trustees voted for her.
Therefore, what is really wrong with this protest picture?? Even the National News have not yet picked up on this protest because of the controverties just does not justify and perhaps, they are doing us a big favor in the long run by saving our own diginity just being DEAF and being different by those who measure being DEAF in one way or another. What the protesters can do is belong into grass roots movement within our government to promote ASL, Deaf Culture, removing IDEA laws, and so forth. Since it is the taxpayers who keeps Gallaudet ALIVE and our congress can easily say… the Capital Ds of Deaf Community just do not get it!!! This is America. I say UNITED DIVERSITY & DEMOCRACY stand STRONG. Then I say.. pick Ronald Stern as Gallaudet Provost since it is the Provost that makes Gallaudet happen.
Best wishes to all of you and appreciate your freedom of speech and democracy.
Lastly, be sure to SUPPORT OUR TROOPS in perserving our rights, freedom, and democracy.
Excellent! This should be posted on the Elisa blog as well as Ridor blog - those two blogs need to see the other side of the coin.
This lady is a true Bilingual & Bicultural candidate. She does have the best of both worlds and the other canidates are more of monolingual and do not represent the true meaning of being a Bilingual and Bicultural Gallaudet Univeristy Deaf President.
You gotta be kidding, right?
Jane is not bilingual. I saw her acceptance speech. She used Signed Exact English.
PRL - you are practicing counter-audism. What if somebody told you to your face, “Hah. You use ASL and you’re too deaf. Not gonna respect ya.” Plus your earlier comment to El Finko was completely uncalled for. What was the point other than illustrating further how close-minded you appear to be?
Why are people demanding to be respected for being D/deaf and yet they are rejecting other people who are also deaf because they don’t use “pure ASL?” Your comment that JKF used SEE in her acceptance speech smacks of snobbery at best and plain ole “I can’t find anything else to complain about so I’ll pull that out of my ass and throw it in there.” Give me a break. If you want respect, you must be willing to respect other people.
Whatever happened to the “inclusive deaf university” that everybody appeared to be in favor of before all of this happened? Did it just disappear because they don’t like the President-Appointee? It was convenient when it served everyone and now it’s not convenient because of personality issues?
The Kaftans said it best when they said one of the reasons they weren’t in favor of the protest was because people are not being consistent. First it was, “She doesn’t say hi,” then it was “She didn’t grow up using ASL,” and now it’s behind the thinly veiled mask of “diversity.” What? Being a woman isn’t diverse enough? Being the first *deaf* woman isn’t enough? Do you really want to base the entire Presidency solely on race? That only hurts people who are qualified *and* happen to be people of color. We don’t want people wondering, “Was s/he hired because s/he is a person of color?” We want to hire someone because they can do the job. Pure and simple.
You got that right!
There’s no such thing as “Signed Exact English”, perhaps you’re thinking of Seeing Essential English (SEEI) or Signing Exact English (SEEII). Regardless, No Jane Fernandez wasn’t using it. She wasn’t using ASL either, no.
Deaf Pundit,
You provide a very interesting insight to the self-identities of the Deaf-World at large. And I think this is EXACTLY what’s going on here.
Here’s what I see happening–
Pre-Dr. King days: The student body and the Deaf Community nationwide (am only restricting this argument to North America’s Deaf) and intermixed with the “oral” hard of hearing folks. There’s no clear cut cultural identity with a sense of pride.
Dr. King get’s elected and shouts the slogan heard ’round the world “The Deaf can do anything except hear.” This proves to be the VERY inspiring slogan, much like Dr. Martin Luther King’s “We have a dream” slogan. This is the slogan that injects a sense of pride in being Deaf. I can do anything except hear? HELL YEAH!!!!
During Dr. King’s tenure:
I witnessed the slow emergence of what I call “Deaf Militants”. Not that there’s anything wrong, but it’s an extreme form of pure Deaf Culture. The Deaf students at Gallaudet are slowly diverging into Deaf and deaf identities. Some of them are still oral hard of hearing.
And it is at this point when Dr. King’s just about ready to hang up his guns and I can see that there is almost a clear line in defining the deaf people into Deaf and deaf. Pundit introduced Deaf-Centric and D/d mainstreamed. He further clarifies (or is merely conveying this information, however unproven in research it may be) the emerging shifts in deaf identities of the students of Gallaudet and those of the deaf in the Nation.
Proud DPN above states that Fernandes is Bilingual and Bicultural. As we have more and more people who had once considered themselves Deaf, we are starting to see them getting cochlear implants and this also plays a role in the shift of the identities of the Deaf in America. We have seen many Deaf children become mainstreamed instead of being placed into Deaf schools for a number of reasons–and thus we’re losing the Deaf-centric children.
In my eyes, clearly, this is an awkward position for the students of Gallaudet. They want a Deaf-centric leader–a leader who was born deaf. Know what? If they want someone like that, why don’t they just elect Ron Stern or Fred Weiss instead?
And thanks to my ever-so-distracted mind, now I’m just thinking…. perhaps, when Dr. King was elected president in 1988–and because I said that there was no clear-cut identity of the deaf back then, that perhaps Dr. King is simply (using Pundit’s identification system) a deaf mainstreamed. He too, lost his hearing at 22 and learned sign. He will never be a Deaf-centric. He thinks like a hearing person, walks and talks like a hearing person. Perhas then, he relates even more with someone like him. Dr. Jane Fernandes learned sign later in her life–she’s apparently deaf-mainstreamed as well. This common ground is reason for Kind’s generous support of Fernandes.
So it’s simple. The students want a Deaf-centric leader. They’re getting a deaf-mainstreamed and now they’re all acting like a bunch of 2 year-olds. It’s not the direction they want to go. They want to further develop and exploit to the world their sense of pride in being Deaf-centric. Nevermind feeling the BoT was full of shoddy practices and shady figures, they just didn’t get want they had originally envisioned in the first place.
*shrugs*
I still question the protest. Why not embrace Bilingual-BiCulturalism? Since we’re such a diverse population to begin with and everyone’s saying “We should embrace diversity!” and blah blah, why can’t the students think for a moment and say “Hmm, now this should be interesting–a Bi-Bi female president leading our University into the next eon. I wonder how this is going to play out.”
But on the other hand.
Dr. King’s slogan “The Deaf can do anything except hear.” may just as well bite him in the ass thanks to the wonderful laws of Karma. Now the students want a truly DEAF leader. This could be the beginnings of a civil war within the Deaf-World. The Deaf-centrics at war with the D/deaf-mainstreamed. Oh man, lets not go there.
There’s no clear cut direction where this is going. It’s kind of clear where it’s coming from, though.
Again, I dont think the students truly know what they’re protesting for. They’re all just joining the wagon and happily singing “Kumbaya!” and not knowing what is it they are TRULY protesting for. I suggest therapy for them all.
I was even close to buying a tix to DC. But nah. I’m not truly convinced.
I’m a she. ;) Sorry for the belated post, but I just wanted to add my 2 cents to this one!
And yeah, I agree with you. Diversity doesn’t only entail race. It also inclues gender, sexual orientation, religion, and so forth. It would be a mistake for us to forget that.
The sad fact is, there’s more D/deaf mainstreamed individuals now than Deaf-Centrics, and there are some out there who percieve that as a threat when it really shouldn’t be.
What I’m seeing is that the Deaf-Centrics think, rightly so, that they’re slowly fading away, and they’re very angry about it. And it doesn’t really have to be that way! I don’t think people realized that while being angry at our oppression and discrimination is *very* legitimate, we also started to turn on each other, and that was, and still is a big factor why you see a downward spiral on the numbers of Deaf-Centrics. But that’s only based on my observations and discussions with both Deaf and hearing allies.
You can still be Deaf, even if you were mainstreamed. We just have to tweak our definition of what being Deaf is about, but that’s healthy. That’s how a culture and community stays for the long-term, or else we WILL die out as a culture. And I think we can’t forget that. We also have to remind ourselves not to be constantly angry. We also need to throw some warmth and love to the mixture, cheesy as that may be… :P
Beautifully said, Ali & CK. The deaf community (and DeafDC) are lucky to have you as bloggers.
Allison and Chris - you gave me a reason to continue coming to deafdc.com.
Please ignore the naysayers. It seems they will not be swayed by logic or reason. Your words are desperately needed to bring organization to the chaos of this protest.
El Finko - Yes, many students are just jumping on the bandwagon. That doesn’t logically mean there aren’t serious concerns. Many serious people have raised them. You should listen. Seriously.
I do not think this should be framed as “deaf militants” versus “bi-bi” - bilingualism/biculturalism is inherently Deaf. I am sure some crazy kids have said lots of stuff. I go to war protests and there’s always some fool chanting “Free Mumia,” you know? This doesn’t invalidate the protest. But it does mean that people who speak sense - like CK and Allison - must take the lead.
In my college, the presidential selection process would probably be mandatory attendance. It would also have been emailed to all students, posted everywhere, and videotaped for broadcast in the school cafeteria. It seems the media and tv dept was shut down (at a deaf university - so much for “visual people”) so this is probably impossible.
I always like your comments, Joseph. And I agree that people with reasoned arguments like Allison and Chris should take the lead on this protest.
Yes, it was eloquently written. What does FSSA stand for, though?
A few things though: you mentioned that the next president serves as an “ambassador” for deaf and hard of hearing people everywhere, regardless of affiliation of the university. Well, that may be the case for those who are interested in earning liberal arts degrees - deaf studies, education, psychology, etc. But, there are other universities out there that offer different kinds of degrees - computer, engineering, law - that Gallaudet doesn’t offer and the ADA requires that courses in colleges and universities to provide interpreting services for deaf students, right? So, deaf and hard-of- hearing people have more opportunities to earn degrees without having a strong deaf culture on campus.
It’s common knowledge that the selection process for a dean or a president tends to have low turnout of students and faculty but one of the reasons may be because January is the month where everyone is returning and settling in. So, it’s more of a bad timing. Gallaudet could have an open forum later on in the semester for all students and faculty to express their views and opinions on what kind of leader they would like. I believe that would be fair and reasonable and would reduce wild accusations of secrecy, betrayal, or perhaps the most common, favoritism.
Protesting techniques – well, it’s very easy to get downright nasty. Campaigns mock and slander their opponents when running for office and the public accept it as healthy competition. It’s American politics, anyway. Kaftans’ suggestions are very diplomatic, but there is much investigation needed. One question that I had at an earlier blog: did Fernandes had more time to prepare her speech than the other two finalists? If so, then that may be a factor. She would have more time in receiving feedback to impress the Board. I am not saying that it is wrong, but….is it fair like she said? Hmmmm.
Don’t get me wrong – I think it’s terrific that Gallaudet is an unique place where a deaf person could understand more about his or her own culture – the same way Howard University is for black people. I could be wrong, but did Gallaudet have a president who was “culturally” deaf – someone who was born deaf and communicate in ASL? If not, then I don’t see nothing wrong with choosing one – if he or she is qualified. I know that the students want a president who cannot articulate a single word because he or she would be a huge inspiration for deaf people across the globe. I have to admit that would be cool. I am not saying that hearing candidates who can sign are not qualified, but deaf people have had a long history of discrimination due to communication barriers and lack of employment opportunities. So…why the hell not?
But, this is a mixture of politics and culture and the students and faculty to organize and compose a list of failures that Fernandes have caused toward the university and its programs (Kendall or MSSD) and justify their reasons. Perhaps, that would be a more successful approach to this situation and I wish them the best of luck.
Interestingly enough, this is the first website that I have blogged on and I am already addicted because of the intelligent arguments made by…certain people and it’s rather stimulating for a deaf working professional who graduated….years ago.
FSSA - Faculty Staff Students Alumni
They have a website up - http://www.gallyfssa.org
Interesting. Thanks for the link. I see that Joseph Vieira registered that site. He was the co-chairperson for Rockfest 2006.
You wrote:
Although their small attendance is not the Board of Trustee’s responsibility, clearly, a critical mass of student involvement had not yet been gained. Further effort should have been made to achieve this.
Can you please elaborate on this? What kind of efforts did the BoT and PSC make to involve the students, faculty and staff? From what I heard, their efforts seemed pretty thorough- what else should/could they have done? Isn’t there a line where the students, faculty and staff have to assume responsibility?
Well, it would have helped if the digital media and tv dept hadn’t been closed by the Provost a couple years ago so that they could have reported and filmed all the speeches the students weren’t permitted to attend because they had classes.
“the students weren’t permitted to attend because they had classes”. Students are permitted to attend BOT and other meetings because most students have a wide ranging schedule and BOT activities run a good 4 hours so no excuse for students not showing up. I remember being the only student that was not part of Buff N Blue and SBG exec branch to show up at regular BOT meetings 2 years in a row and by then some of BOT knew me by name since I was the only student there. Students need to stop acting like this and rise to the occasion and beginning going to more meetings and being more involved.
Um. In my HEARING university, the administration were considerate of the students’ daily schedules and tried to schedule events when all students - and faculty - could attend. The expectation was not that students would suddenly become politically skilled; rather, they tried to provide a model for the students to emulate.
Well Gallaudet sure was considerate of my schedule and I was able to attend the BOT meetings. I was excused by all of my professors when I asked if I could go to the meetings. I still remember the first time I asked and they acted shocked and I don’t think they ever had a student ask to be excused to attend a BOT meeting. The opportunity was there, the students just didn’t care but I hope they will now.
Exactly, P (#2264). Was there a big rush by students to grab seats at the BoT meeting?
The Gallaudet University Board of Trustees will meet at the Kellogg Conference Hotel (KCH) on Thursday and Friday, February 9th and 10th. The President’s Council would like to call to your attention the schedule of both full Board and committee meetings that are open to all. All meetings are held in the KCH.
You are invited to attend an open executive session of the Board of Trustees on Friday, February 10, at 9:30 a.m., in the Boyce Williams Board Room of the Kellogg Conference Hotel. During this session, Dr. Fernandes and the Diversity Fellows will give a presentation on the draft action plans that support the implementation of University Strategic Goals One and Five.
http://bot.gallaudet.edu/x2148.xml
Why should Jane resign to heal Gallaudet? It is not her fault. The FSSA should have protested long time ago - when the three finalists were announced, the FSSA should have protested right there, immediately if the issues are REALLY ABOUT flawed PSC process. I do not buy the FSSA story that it’s not about Jane anymore and it’s about the PSC process - they want a scapegoat and Jane does not deserve any of this. It is wrong to dig “dirt”. Jane should remain President because she is QUALIFIED and the FSSA will have to learn to deal with her - Jane is open minded and will let healing occur only if FSSA states a public apology that they were WRONG to slander Jane in the first place.
So the Board of Trustees meetings took place in February? Well, that’s more convenient, but after reading it, it doesn’t say much about student concerns’ about the administration. All I see is the the Committee on Student Affairs which was a panel of students who participated in internships, and reports from the Student Body Government and the Graduate Student Association. So, is that enough? Doesn’t look like it.
I keep hearing rumors about Fernandes’s radical approach in revamping the curriculums at Kendall and MSSD which caused an uproar among the teachers and parents. Can anyone comment on that?
Cloak and Dagger - check out Rainmound’s response to your comment on his blog:
http://surdus.blogspot.com/200.....l#comments
Thanks, Allison & Rainmound. Interesting perspective from a former student. The teachers and Fernandes weren’t on the same page. So, after her arrival, teachers lost their jobs and parents took their students out of MSSD and Kendall because of her administrative reorganization and teaching philosophy. Gotcha.
Read your blog, Rainmound. And many other blogs as well. MSSD alumni here too.
In my earlier attempts to understand the protest, the message was very mixed. Yet as the days went by, the message started to become clear, or to crystallize. It appears that, as I think Julie Tibbitt said, “..this is a blessing in disguise..”. When she said that, that hit me like a ton of bricks–ah yes. We needed this to happen and expose our deep, deep simmering feelings and resentments that have slowly cumulated over the years. It’s possible that these feelings are the result from oppression and discrimination from the environment external to Gallaudet. But, most so from within the internal administration. How is it that in the wake of DPN and during I. King Jordan’s tenure that we are still being oppressed by the administration itself? How could we not have seen it? Why was it so subtle? Why didn’t anyone speak up? Why was Dr. Roz Rosen suddenly fired? Why did Dr. Jordan not want to share his sentiments about that with the SBG at that time (’99?). How could it BE that many of us were so blind?? As this protest goes on, many blogs have posted stories of negative experiences from the FSSA. Finally the opportunity is here for everyone to dump out in the open their experiences with Dr. Fernandes. Everyone’s regurgitating it. But you know what? It’s healthy. This is therapy on a mass scale for everyone who has any relationship with Gallaudet.
It also appears that if we never spoke up, we are oppressing even ourselves–our own spirits. By protesting, we are teaching ourselves and everyone around us that it’s alright to be angry and more importantly so, to stand up for ourselves. A big event like this appears to be necessary to shake everyone out of their apathetic state of minds. But we cannot always wait around every 15-20 years for a new Presidential selection for an opportunity experience our pain and renewal. We all must learn to stand up for ourselves and our beliefs each and everyday and not ever let anyone oppress us. We all must take responsibility for our deafness. With our disability comes responsibility. Our responsibility is to teach others how to work with us, how to communicate with us, how to treat us fairly. We cannot continue being angry at the world for what they’ve done to us in the past. What we can do is control the future by educating. And in doing so, we must authenticate ourselves and make it crystal clear to ourselves what our values and beliefs are. We must be honest with ourselves every minute of the day. We must be honest with the fleeting subconscious thoughts each second. We must be honest with every part of our emotions every nanosecond. Only then we will know true strength and conviction. We all must do away with our personas and facades–they make us liars out of ourselves.
I’m now on the bandwagon. I support the cause in the perspective that this is healthy and therapeutic for all involved. In order to grow, we must first experience pain. Experience pain in it’s full essence and we shalt be cleansed and then once again we can exalt in our beauty.
Renewal. Unity. Educate.
Thanks Finko -
I do believe the Deaf community has a serious problem. We learn to take so much that we forget we can stand up. I take SO much **** from hearing people every day in the course of my work as a social worker. I have to fight to educate doctors, social workers, nurses, what have you about a variety of issues to advocate for Deaf people. I get the luxury of a reminder EVERY DAY.
But at Gallaudet it’s so easy to sink into complacency. The administration ignores student concerns. The PART review exposes the lack of committee oversight and quality improvement at Gallaudet. To summarize, there’s no motive force for change, and no way to make sure that change happens one way or another.
Gally students arrive at the University and spend four years learning what it means to be Deaf. I had to go through that process at MSSD and later at the University of Bristol. People pooh-pooh the Gally 10-Year Plan; I’ve come to learn that while it’s important to graduate on time, this process of learning to be Deaf etc. is also important - and yes, does require socialization, confirmation of experiences, learning of tools to deal with the world… If Gallaudet had any vision, it would have set up strategies to help students in this process so that they could get out in four years’ time.
The oppression happened because of what I said today on my blog - we picked a person with a hearing impairment to lead the University. This is important, yes, but there’s something else - deafhood. Deafhood is something apart from being Deaf. It is a way of understanding the world from a Deaf perspective. I know a couple of Hearing people who understand Deafhood and would actually make a good University president. But it’s become clear to me that not all Deaf people do.
[…] An Alumni, Staff, and Student Perspective by Chris and Allison Kaftan: One couple of two people representing three out of the four FSSA letters decides that the search process is, indeed, flawed. […]
Brewerlord: The real world rewards performance.
If Jane Fernandes is not able to get this situation under control by the time she is ready to be sworn in, there is a very good case to be made that she has shown herself unworthy in her response. I admit to you it’s not fair. It wasn’t fair that she had to deal with the crisis control during the Gally murders, either.
I’m just saying the BoT cannot ask her to resign simply because of the protest. They can however ask her to resign if they come to believe that she cannot run Gallaudet effectively.
Which means this next few months will be the most stressful of her life. But I have a definite feeling that the BoT will NOT change their minds until IKJ retires for sure. That’s the real politics of this.
If Fernandes is compelled to resign by the BoT after fighting this crisis, I bet you things will be so F’d up that the next president can’t find out the paper trail to anything and anywhere and a lot of people will get away with whatever they did.
If Fernandes manages to stabilize this situation and is sworn in, we should all support her, because she sure fought hard for it. While no other candidate is doing anything but letting their supporters whine and moan.
First of all, a little background; I am an alumni living well over 1000+ miles away from Gallaudet and have had the privilege of visiting Gallaudet for the last time in 1998. The current protest over Jane Fernandes’ (JKF) selection as the Ninth President of Gallaudet really has opened my eyes, and reawakened the alumni community from its complacency. I had no idea just how many problems Gallaudet has had in so many areas, such as audism, cronyism, racism, any -ism, declining enrollment & educational quality, low morale, continuing mediocrity, and much more. Frankly, it’s depressing to me as a proud alumni, and I suspect, a shock to the Board of Trustee’s (BoT) system.
I am going to quote I. King Jordan (IKJ) during the DPN; “The students, joined by the staff and faculty, have focused the world’s attention on the larger issue. I must now publicly affirm my support for the point of view held by the Gallaudet community. The four demands are entirely justified.” I want to thank the FSSA for the protest and their continuing effort in educating the world about the Gallaudet community’s concerns regarding their most cherished institution. While the initial exposure emanating from the protest, would give Gallaudet a black eye (& then some!), the long term effect would be giving Gallaudet a makeover worthy of a prom king or queen. It is along those lines, among the Gallaudet community, where the FSSA protest is entirely justified.
Much more troubling is the no-confidence vote held by the faculty yesterday. To my understanding, 140 faculty (out of 240?) voted on resolution #4 and an overwhelming 66% voted no-confidence in JKF’s abilities to lead Gallaudet. Even dividing 93 no-confidence votes by a total of 240 faculty comes to a high 38.75% figure. The faculty vote is an important one; They are the ones who work in Gallaudet day in and out. They work with the students on an interpersonal basis daily. They work with administration, and have to bear the many burdens of their decision-making. Moreover, in the past six years, the faculty has worked with JKF’s Provost leadership and have unique and intimate insights into her leadership acumen.
As such, the Gallaudet community should place a high degree of credibility upon the faculty as a whole. What the students have started with their protest, the faculty has essentially helped seal the case against JKF’s candidacy to assume the Presidency at Gallaudet. Earlier, I had expressed confidence that JKF will do the job as Gallaudet President and bring it into the 21st century. In light of recent turn of events and my great deference to the people who work at Gallaudet, I feel compelled to withdraw my confidence in JKF’s ability to lead Gallaudet, and in the short term, to even unite the fractured Gallaudet community. JKF has lost tremendous political capital she will need to lead Gallaudet beyond the protest, and I really cannot envision a way for her to regain her footing.
More devastating, the faculty resolutions could be viewed as a referendum of sorts into IKJ’s leadership. By extension, JKF is Jordan’s hand-picked protégé and the one he hopes will succeed him as President of Gallaudet University. JKF essentially has had a ‘glorified audition’ of sorts by virtue of her Provost leadership, in getting her ready for the Gallaudet Presidency. It is safe to assume that Jordan and JKF has worked closely together for the past six years in charting a course for Gallaudet in today’s challenging environment. The faculty’s rejection of JKF’s leadership could be viewed as rejecting Jordan’s leadership in promoting mediocrity and diminishing returns within Gallaudet for the past six years.
I’d sincerely hate to see that happen to IKJ, where his excellent leadership of Gallaudet University for his 18-year tenure is soiled by the past turn of events and repeated disclosures of many various ills affecting Gallaudet in the past six years, bringing into sharp focus of his leadership deficiencies for all in the Gallaudet community to dissect. His recent gaffes in dealing with the current Presidential Search process did not help his cause, either. I do think of the world of I. King Jordan, and I sincerely hope he can pull himself out of this quagmire, entirely of his own creation, soon and with minimal damage to his legacy. I would love nothing more for IKJ to don his Teflon suit and reassert his strong leadership in trying times at Gallaudet right now, when the FSSA needs it the most, and reverse the tide.
One last thing of note; information is at a premium when it comes to the deaf community. For as long as recorded time can remember, DHH people have been isolated and shut off from the information flow that courses throughout mainstream societies. The Gallaudet community demands transparency from BoT, and rightfully so. The protest is now eliciting information, both good and bad, from all sides of the situation, to the point where it becomes dangerously close to ‘white noise’. It is gratifying to see the FSSA sharpen its focus and hone on a message we all can relate to and act upon with decisiveness. I can only sincerely hope that the BoT will follow suit and work together in healing rifts at Gallaudet and putting our best foot forward towards a better Gallaudet for our generations of DHH students yet to come.