Fifth NAD Letter Responds re: IKJ’s Keynote Address @ NAD Conference
By Chris and Allison Kaftan on Fri 26 May 2006 |
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Open Letter to NAD Members, Supporters, and Interested Persons
Posted May 25, 2006
To refer others to this page: http://www.nad.org/OpenLetter5; see also http://www.nad.org/GallaudetPresident.
The NAD Board of Directors extended its invitation to Dr. I. King Jordan in January 2006 to keynote the opening ceremonies at the upcoming 48th Biennial NAD Conference, June 29-July 3, 2006 in Palm Desert, CA. The Board wished to recognize Dr. Jordan’s 18 years of leadership, also keeping in mind that this would be his last biennial conference as president of Gallaudet University. Dr. Jordan accepted the invitation in the same month.
Dr. Jordan’s upcoming keynote address was announced in a press release issued by the NAD on May 17. The timing of the press release, nearly four months after the invitation was issued and accepted, may have unintentionally sent a confusing message. Some community members have reacted with concern and a few have called for the NAD to withdraw its invitation. Others have informed us that they eagerly look forward to what Dr. Jordan also has to say about the recent Gallaudet presidential selection and ensuing protest by faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
We believe that recent events at Gallaudet University make the keynote even more interesting. Dr. Jordan is mindful of the open letters issued by the NAD on the presidential search process. This includes our fourth open letter where we articulated our belief that the public relations effort expended to date by the University in playing the “deaf card” has, in effect, set back national and global advocacy strides made by the deaf community for years to come, causing long-lasting damage. In a recent letter Andrew J. Imparato, CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities, made the same point when he said, “I am convinced that the reasons for the ongoing protest are much more complicated than the mainstream media explanation would have us believe.”
A few people have expressed a different concern: that there is a connection between Gallaudet’s sponsorship of the NAD Conference and our invitation to Dr. Jordan as the Conference keynote speaker. Gallaudet is one of many sponsors of this biennial conference; there is no connection between Gallaudet’s sponsorship and Dr. Jordan’s keynote invitation.
The NAD and Gallaudet University have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship spanning over one hundred years, which continues to this day. Edward Miner Gallaudet gave civil rights speeches at national NAD conventions; the NAD donated the famed Gallaudet-Cogswell statue to the Kendall Green campus; and the NAD provided leadership prior to and during the Deaf President Now protest. In addition, many members of the NAD are also Gallaudet alumni. Gallaudet students have also been key participants in College Bowl competitions at biennial NAD conferences, where Gallaudet also sponsors its “open to all” breakfast gathering. Dr. Jordan by tradition greets sponsored breakfast attendees. The list goes on and on. Dr. Jordan’s keynote remarks will continue this historical relationship.
Our invitation to Dr. Jordan still stands. He knows that he will be presenting to an audience that has diverse perspectives on the presidential search effort and his legacy at Gallaudet University. His keynote presentation has gained an even greater urgency as it allows Dr. Jordan and the community at large to address the ongoing leadership crisis at Gallaudet University.
Conference attendees will be able to seize this golden opportunity to see what Dr. Jordan has to say during the Opening Ceremonies and meet and interact with him in person throughout the conference week. Attendees will also have the opportunity for expression of divergent viewpoints on Gallaudet, the current leadership crisis, and the future of the University. For Dr. Jordan, too, the conference week also presents an opportunity to truly reach out and listen to members of the NAD community, many of whom are also Gallaudet constituents.
The NAD intends to continue its efforts to facilitate a positive resolution to the current state of affairs at Gallaudet University. We encourage NAD members to keep up with latest developments by regularly visiting the Gallaudet website, the faculty, staff, student, and alumni website, and other sites devoted to the protest and its repercussions. Equally as important, we urge the Gallaudet leadership to engage in soul searching and honest dialogue, without reprisals, as they go about the arduous task of resolving deep-rooted concerns held by faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
We hope you will be with us in Palm Desert!
Sincerely,
Andrew J. Lange
President
Nancy J. Bloch
Chief Executive Officer
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2 Comments
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whoa… I think IKJ is brave to do this, but feel that he will do a good job with an audience that could be up to 50% hostile. (Some morons on “the other blog” are threatening to throw tomatoes at him during the speech.) The man has loads of charm… if anyone can do it, he can. I’m almost intrigued enough to attend the Keynote, myself. I really hope someone at NAD will tape the speech live over the Internet, like Gallaudet did for the entire Commencement.
If I could only ask him one question, it would be: “What is it about JKF that enabled her to outperform the other candidates through the PSC and BoT process?” I’m thinking that since Stern and Weiner were such popular candidates, she must have something that weighed more in points than the ability to electrify an audience with charisma.
Here’s an exerpt from the Gallaudet PSC web site: “The PSC carefully considered and weighed all of the wishes and advice of the many constituent groups of the University. There were also open forums and receptions for each of the finalist candidates so that everyone who was interested could ask questions of the candidates, and then file their views about the candidates with response forms. The PSC and the BoT were exhaustive in their review of these responses, as well as other comments, advice, and suggestions from the many people in the Gallaudet community who wished to participate in the process.”
I don’t recall ever reading or hearing from someone who identified him/herself as actually participating in those phases of the process. I do agree with what others have said, that the protestors came out of the woodwork until AFTER Fernandes was selected. In other words, they did not get involved in the selection process when they had an opportunity to do so.
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