By Alok Doshi: Gallaudet has been referred as the “Deaf Harvard” whether you agree or disagree with this assessment. As I spent time looking from the outside at the ongoing events at Gallaudet, I am struck by similarities with the way Lawrence Summers was forced to resign as President of Harvard after the faculty had relentlessly criticized him and the ongoing events at Gallaudet.
For a detailed explanation, check this NY Times article (subscription required). For free access, check this article.
At Harvard, in my view, the corporation who runs the university, the students, and the alumni were in support of Summers. The faculty resisted Summer’s attempts to challenge the complacent culture of the university and to prod them in doing more scholarship (i.e., research and teaching) and to end grade inflation for Harvard students. In other words, he wanted to raise academic standards. It was only after several public relations gaffes and his abrasive personality style in his dealings with various people, that the faculty was able to succeed in getting him to resign. Does this part sound familiar?
Are Gallaudet and Harvard representative of what’s going on around the nation? I, for one, am glad to see students and folks stirring up the pot because complacency can hurt us. A friend and I have had many discussions about how Americans in general are apathetic, thus letting Republicans walk all over us.
The Gallaudet faculty has passed several no-confidence votes. Is this similar to Harvard in that this faculty is resistant to Fernandes’ attempts to raise academic standards by demanding more work, being more strict with students, and doing more research? Or is this a case of the faculty thinking that Fernandes has not done enough to help them achieve their goals during her tenure as Provost? Having a few dear friends on the faculty, I have to give them the benefit of the doubt because I know them to be of high integrity.
However, it’s not a good idea for the Board of Trustees to re-open the process. Once you cave in, you grant license to future incidents over issues which may not require such actions. This is not only true for Gallaudet but for any university or organization.
Bobby Cox in his recent blog has said that the onus is on Jane Fernandes to make a decision. I personally would have given her a chance to perform–with a caveat that she deliver results after a certain time of period. But one wonders if she can do so in such a hostile environment and manage to heal the wounds from this controversy?
Summers chose to resign to save the university he loved. Will Jane?
Alok Doshi is in the management program at the National Institutes of Health. A MBA graduate from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, Alok is also a RIT graduate. During his free time, Alok, a D.C. resident, enjoys reading, fantasy football, playing sports and being a Redskins fan.
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What I find interesting (I haven’t read the article yet) is that you mention that the Harvard students and alumni were for Summers. It was a fight led by the faculty.
At Gallaudet, it’s an assault from all sides. Summers cracked under pressure from just the Harvard faculty … will Fernandes be able to not crack?
It’s more complicated just like the Gally situation. :-) Summers had his foot in the mouth once too often but his vison and ideas were supported by everyone except the faculty. For example, he wanted the tenured professors instead of graduate assistants to teach introductory courses to engage and lead the students. They resisted.
… which is a brilliant idea that all Universities should embrace.
Our high schools also stick the youngest, most underdeveloped children with the least qualified, least able educators.
the TA thing is complicated though — it may have meant less funding available to students. so its not as simple as faculty not wanting to teach the courses out of laziness or something like that. a university also shouldnt make this sort of change without reducing the amount of research the teachers are expected to do outside of class for the University’s $$.
And a separate comment:
“A friend and I have had many discussions about how Americans in general are apathetic, thus letting Republicans walk all over us.”
What in the Hell are you talking about?
All those evil republicans are doing what, exactly?
I love how the vast number of registered, voting republicans are simply dismissed out of hand, as well.
Very nice!
The faculty is wrong. They don’t want to admit that they have by large failed at the task that was assigned to them: to broaden and expand the minds of the students that came to the university. It’s not entirely their fault. I often joke that to raise the reading level of your average deaf person, you would only need to invent a time machine that goes back to when they were 2nd graders and just teach them right there. Very rarely will a child that almost exclusively communicates in ASL obtain a very high reading level. I say very rarely, because it has been done, and there are highly intelligent deaf people. But your average deaf person is not. Jane will not quit, she will neither submit nor aqcuiesce to these neer’do’wells who will never find a place for them in the world, other than the deaf world, simply because the language used, English, is not accessible to them. These malcontents need to get used to the idea they will be working in sh*tty jobs for the rest of their lives and are not entitled to one d*mn thing. I’m so sick of deaf people who want the world to bend over backwards just because they are deaf. You will never hear a blind person bitch and moan as much as a deaf person. And they literally never will. It’s why they don’t know! A blind person is disconnected from seeing things but a deaf person is disconnected from understanding… unless they were lucky enough to be born intelligent. You won’t find many at Gallaudet. You will, however, find a glut of overachievers of boderline smarts who choose to attend Gallaudet simply so they could be a big fish in a little pond. These are your protest ringleaders. The rest of the automatons simply go along with whatever looks good.
Excuse me?
The reason why so many D/deaf’s English skills SUCK is because the people who were teaching them couldn’t sign their way out of a paper bag!
Not only that, but many of our parents often don’t bother learning ASL. If they DO learn sign, it’s usually a version of SEE, and that is NOT a language. So, a lot of us basically grew up without a language. The schools blame the parents. The parents blame the schools. Personally, I think it’s both of their fault.
Harlan Lane, Tom Humphries, Carol Padden and numerous others have written on this exact subject. Do your research.
As for the protest ringleaders, I don’t like them, and I question some of their true motiviations for this protest, but they’re not stupid. Having a poor understanding on how politics and how the media works is drastically different than being stupid!
As a Deaf person, I don’t expect the world to bend backwards for me. But I have the right to the equal opportunity for an education, a job and equal access to emergency services, housing, health care, television, public venues such as movie theatres, public transportation and the right to pursue liberty and happiness as long it does not interfere with someone else’s. I will be pissed off if someone tries to deny me those things which are afforded to everyone else!
I grew up learning SEE. And I am currently working for a large computer corporation with a six figure salary.
Without a language? I am sorry, but ASL is not a written language. Neither is SEE. They have little direct correlation with the written word.
Face it, our deaf educators have a mental bias to degrade our education level simply because we are ‘not capable.’
I succeeded. So can anyone who worked at it. I had great parents, and great teachers. They opened my world with the written word. It does not matter who sign in whatever form.
SEE does have a direct correlation with the ‘written word’. It’s a manual version of English. ASL and SEE has been extensively researched by linguists, and it has been proven that SEE is NOT a language, whereas ASL is.
And so what if ASL isn’t a written language? That doesn’t make any difference.
You’re different because by your own words, you had great parents and great teachers. Which indicates to me, you were immersed in SEE. Some DO succeed by that method, just like some succeed via the Oralism method or the Cued-Speech method.
The majority do not however. I grew up using ASL, and I was in an environment where my parents used ASL, had interpreters who used it, and I socialized with Deaf who used it. That makes a huge difference. Most D/deaf people do not have that advantage.
I mistook your stance that indicate that deaf students are without a language, when you were more likely stating that they are not given their own native (and visual) language.
I agree that anyone who mastered ASL are also capable of mastering English, along with just about any other languages.
It is our educators and parents that are holding back our boundless minds, and this needs to be corrected immediately.
I am deaf, and I know I am not quite immersed within the culture due to my lifestyle. But I strongly believe in accepting and embracing everyone who wishes to learn and be involved, both deaf and hearing.
This is why this protest really pains me. The truth came out, and was hastly covered up - it was not Unity they seeks, it is Division from those who walk the line between the deaf world and the hearing world.
Please stop the hate.
A voice…
Voice - as luck would have it, your cyberidentity came up in conversation at dinner tonight with a lady friend. Inquiring minds want to know - are you single and available? :-)
Hahaha. Too bad my e-mail is not visible here, and I don’t have my own blog.
It is appreciated, though. :-)
I agree with the assessment that it appears that many faculty members at Gallaudet are using the current protest as a way to “get” Fernandes. For what it is worth, she has not been a popular Provost. However, I have not seen exact details of what she did or did not do while she was a Provost.
While we’re on the same subject, I have not seen a fair assessment of exactly what the BoT did to make the search process inclusive. Judging from a fairly cursory glance, it looks like at least the BoT attempted to include everyone. Weren’t there at least two student representatives in the search process? If so, where are they now? And if there is so much rejection of Fernandes, why wasn’t this brought up during the search process? It was widely known that several candidates, including Fernandes, were being considered. To protest at this point strikes me as a “do over” moment. The Gallaudet community either was asleep at the switch or simply not engaged in the search.
If I had been a gallaudet student I would have done a lot more research. Interviewed teachers and faculty and staff, gotten documentation, and followed up on that PART report. However it’s my understanding the Media dept was closed, so maybe there was nobody to teach or learn these skills.
Stinky and Bystander bring up valid points in their own colorful way. I have wondered about the pool of applicants for the President and why they tend to have PhD in ASL or education (no offense). Are there biologists, mathematicans, engineers in the pool? Summers had a PhD in economics and Alan Hurwitz of NTID has a masters in engineering.
I have also advocated mandatory 2 years of math, science, reading, and writing skills for all college students regardless of major (that include liberal arts) - not my idea - Bill Gates proposed this to deal with this crazy changing world. The purpose is to prepare the deaf kids for the real world - after all, is that why Gallaudet exists?
After all of this controversy settles down, will people walk the walk and actually work TWICE as hard to raise the academic standards at Gallaudet? I would hope so.
Please bring on more comments - I would love to read them.
Ladybug- Nice to know you’re doing very well!
Not only academic standards need to be raised, recruitment of high quality DHH students currently in mainstream institutions of higher learning need to be stepped up.
Alok — This is exactly what is required for a bachelor degree from RIT. Not only that, I have been told by several of my former peers who are now teachers at NTID that there are deep resistance by legacy teachers there on raising the minimal education standard for entering deaf students. When I attended college, students with a 4th grade reading level were admitted. Recently, I believe that standard was raised to at least 8th grade reading level.
It is appalling how difficult it is to even IM deaf people. I found a greater ease in communicating with deaf people from Philiphines and Peru than those from this country!
This needs to end. IM is a wonderful medium that equalizes everyone — I use it extensively at work with my co-workers, and I have been far more productive than I could ever be.
We need to get our deaf kids to outperform us by a long shot. Deaf Culture can include High Quality Education.
A “Deaf Harvard”? Please. There is NO comparison between Gallaudet and Harvard when it comes to education. It’s time to raise the bar on requirements to enter Gallaudet. Include a SAT requirement. Raise the bar on English requirement, and math, too. Increase the GPA requirement anywhere from 2.75 to 3.0. Etc…etc…
If you’re going to call this university a “Deaf Harvard” then you better dang well raise that bar when it comes to education. Otherwise, knock it off with that Harvard thing.
Mcconnell, We are getting extremely tired of your comments. Please be respectful.
Alok, we appreciate all of your comments.
I guess I’m not seeing how McConnell’s conversation isn’t respectful? Gallaudet is not Harvard. As a Gally grad I know I could not have gotten in to Harvard with my grades and test scores. Harvard is extremely competetive.
Look, I don’t agree with McConnell on a lot of what he says, but I find him more respectful than some on here…and, ps, I’m not really tired of **his** comments…some others, yeah…
cheers.
Where I have not been respectful? It is in my opinion that Gallaudet is NOT a “Deaf Harvard.” That’s being disrespectful? No. That’s being a realist.
i think there’s a little misunderstanding here. the phrase “Deaf Harvard” is not referring to education, but rather the level of protests after a President was chosen.
Amanda, it was concocted after DPN to glorify Gallaudet’s position in the deaf education world as the “Deaf Harvard.” It is a misnomer altogether and it need not to be repeated again and again. Just as many would hope to enter an ivy league university…so would the many deaf/hh would want to someday enter Gallaudet. But really….a “Deaf Harvard”?
Get rid of it.
That’s not what Alok is referring to regardless.
I’ve visited Gallaudet and believe me… there is nothing “Harvard” about it.
hahahahahahahaha!!!!!! Gallaudet is a day care center for miscreants, malcontents, and retards.
I would have used a few “different” negatively discriptive nouns up there but, I really don’t want to offend some of my fellow Deafies/deafies… As for the rest, I don’t give a hoot! Gallaudet has some fine history but… I reckon I had best step down off my soapbox now.
I believe those are adjectives, you moron. Your 4th grade reading level is really paying off, eh?
Actually, those can be used as adjectives or nouns. For example, in this situation the writer is using them in a manner that would be considered a noun. Now if they were to be considered adjectives they would have to be “modifying” a noun. Since a noun is not present, ie. students, humans, kids, people, etc., then the adjectives present themselves as nouns which contain its own modifyers/adjectives. This particular situation can be very confusing to anyone, even someone who has a degree in English. Now on to the most important rant…..please don’t insult each other as this just takes away from any unity that the Deaf community has since without unity the hearies will have more power over us.
REGARDLESS OF CONTEXT OF THIS ISSUE I THINK YOU SHOULDN’T FORGET THAT PRESIDENT I. KING JORDAN REMARKED IN THE OPEN ON TELEVISION OR A FORM OF MEDIA IMPLYING THAT GALLAUDET UNIVERSITY IS THE HARVARD UNIVERSITY AND PRINCE GEORGES COMMUNITY COLLEGE (PGCC) OF DEAF EDUCATION. OBVIOUSLY, WE KNOW ABOUT HARVARD BUT PRINCE GEORGES COMMUNITY COLLEGE IS RIGHT OUTSIDE OF D.C., AND IS URBAN BLIGHTED! IKJ IS THE SAME MANY OF YOU ROOTED FOR! GO FIGURE! GALLAUDET UNIVERSITY DOESN’T EVEN DESERVE EQUIVALENCIES TO HARVARD AND PROBABLY NOT EVEN THAT PGCC.
Why has nobody mentioned American University?
With American, the President Benjamin Larder was forced to resign by their Board of Trustees after a investigation of his personal/travel expenses. They did a audit of the accounting there and it didn’t look good for him. Should we get a full audit of Gallaudet? :-)
Yeah - it was more of embezzlement to afford his expensive lifestyle. Completely different story.
Not a “completely” different story. Corruption was the central issue, and it is also a main issue for many protestors who feel that there was something fishy about the selection process. Mind you, I’m not endorsing any particular views, but I do see many similarites between AU and GU. And yes, an open audit should be conducted as it should be for many other organizations I have in mind.
True urban blight is a problem especially in the US Captial. Many times Washington D.C. is on the top 10 list for murders and etc….It should be the responsiblity of the US Government to make the city clean and safe. Harvard is in a beautiful area and so is Brown University in Providence, RI…if these 2 great school can have a great surrounding area then so can the great Gallaudet, but alas most don’t care about the Deaf until its re-election time :( .
I don’t think Alok was not trying to equate Gallaudet with Harvard in terms of their academic reputation - since we all know that both are pale in comparison anyway. He was just trying to explain how the resignation of the president after clashing with university standards is similar to Fernandes’ fate as the next president. So, let’s stick to the point here.
Was Summers the one who was criticized for saying that women has no place in the science fields? If so, that was a dumbass thing to say - especially for an Ivy League representative. A powerful statement like this can not only turn female applicants away, but easily create a permanent rift among the faculty, alumnis, and benefactors.
So, how is this similar to Fernandes? All I read was that her approach in changing the academic curriculums in MSSD and Kendall was a disaster since both schools went back to their old curriculums after she became Provost. I keep asking this question: how effective or ineffective was Fernandes as Provost? That should be the center of this whole argument. Other questions include - is she responsible for the declining graduating rates at Gallaudet? I don’t have the statistics, but someone mentioned that it is under 50%. If it is true, then what are the reasons? Is it the lack of quality of its programs or are students not being challenged? Of course, there would be a farrago of myths and facts to these questions, but if it was the Provost’s duties to address these problems, then that could be our defense here.
Surely, I can understand the fear and doubt of the students and faculty about her ability to lead Gallaudet and that she would use the same approach when she steps into Jordan’s shoes in January. Now, will there be a Board of Trustees meeting this Thursday? If so, does anyone know anything about it?
Oops - I said the exact same things you did - I would love data and facts as well.
Two major reasons for the decline. The thousands of babies affected during the Rubella outbreak of the 1964 and 1965 (over 12 million cases of the Rubella virus outbreak) and ADA laws allowing many students to go to other colleges and universities.
================
SHAPIRO: Today, Gallaudet has 1,700 undergrad and grad students. That’s 20 percent fewer than in 1988.
One reason is that there were more deaf college students back then. They included thousands of children who became deaf when in the 1960s their pregnant mothers got rubella.
But another reason is simply that it’s easier now to go to other colleges, thanks to the Americans with Disabilities Act. It led other schools to provide sign language interpreters.
The ADA is the civil rights law that bars discrimination against people with disabilities. Congress passed it two years after the Gallaudet protests. Some historians credit Gallaudet, because it made Americans see for the first time that deaf people and others with disabilities faced discrimination.
http://www.npr.org/templates/s.....Id=5369960
The change in technology in allowing greater independence for deaf people is already at our fingertips. And this will only get better allowing deaf people to go to other colleges or universities other than Gallaudet.
How can you address that change and compete for enrollments?
McConnell: I’m a fan! I love your posts and check your blog several times a day. Are YOU single and available???
seriously now: I attended a large hearing university for my BA with interpreters, and got my MA from Gallaudet. For elem through HS, I was mainstreamed without services. I’ve worked in a mainstreamed deaf program, and I now work for a school for the deaf. So I’ve seen the entire spectrum of deaf education firsthand from both sides of the classroom. The reason for going to Gallaudet, instead of other colleges, is simple. Direct communication, that’s what. An interpreter is no substitute for direction communication with one’s teachers. It made a world of difference in how I responded to my education.
I believe your world and many others in a similar position as you have been in will alterably be changed this coming August when it comes to communication. Won’t say what. But watch my blogging.
Thanks for the kind compliments. You’re not the first. ;-)
Sorry…married. 3 kids and flip 600lbs tires as a hobby. :)
600 lb. tires? oooh, baby.
Its true that the ADA has helped us, especially with access to education. I am enrolled at Community College of Rhode Island and if it was not for interpreters and CART…it would be difficult to finish one class by just “lipreading”. Unless the teacher just swears in class or keeps asking “do you lipread”, I would be at a loss. Currently, with tuition/books I am paying $1,400 dollars for a semester…the school itself will be paying an extra 16,000-18,000 dollars for this semester for the interpreters and CART. Now both these accomadations do make it easier for me to attend a non-Deaf school but at the same time I am quite isolated. It would be easier for me and cheaper for the state to send me to live at Gallaudet or NTID. I would jump at the chance to go to either school, for succeeding at school, but at the same time being isolated makes for sour chocolate cake.
If you are worried about the success rate for graduation………sorry to say that is a problem with many colleges/universities. In Rhode Island, I understand the University of Rhode Island has a graduation rate of around 55 pct (+/- 5pct) so yes it should be a concern.
Alok, You couldn’t have said it better. Interesting comparison between these two universities. We’ll see who comes out with a victory.
If the bloggers, protesters, and dissident faculty members have their way, it will be Gallaudet that will come out the loser. Having their way means conceding that Gallaudet is reserved only for the top 10 percent, culturally deaf, Deaf of Deaf, etc. This means excluding the lowercase “d”, oral deaf, and HoH, unless the same individuals are useful idiots, i.e. temporary allies. Giving in will also make Congress wonder why it is giving federal money to an institution that is monopolized by such a small group instead of an inclusive institution by and for all deaf individuals. Jordan was good at enunciating such a vision of inclusion — bloggers like Ridor, Elisa, FSSA, Mowl, etc. have not stated such a vision other than bleating “Unity.”
If Fernandes has really been an incompetent individual, this should have been brought up before the Board of Trustees before the fact and not after the fact. To whinge afterwards about an unfair selection process implies that you were either uninformed, uninvolved, or apathetic in the first place. The protests should have taken place beforehand when it was known that she was among the finalists being considered. As it is now, it is simply gratuitous protest. And there is a very strong implication that the faculty are simply being political by handing her a vote of no confidence as payback for the times she’s given them grief in the last several years.
Finally, there is the academic factor to be considered. Giving in to the 10 percenters means conceding effectively that Gallaudet is a place only for individuals with a fourth — or is it eighth — grade education. Protesting an individual like Fernandes that threatens to increase academic standards only serves to highlight the mediocrity at Gallaudet. The same academic mediocrity as well as the intolerant atmosphere found at Gallaudet is the reason why enrollment is declining as the deaf individuals that are not “D” deaf find other collegiate atmospheres far more congenial and less political and more academic. Again, Congress will have to wonder why it is funding such an institution that cannot come to a grip with the dysfunctional academics — and with a shrinking pool of students, there appears to be a declining need for the academics… the same academics that gave the individual that threatened to raise standards a no confidence vote….
No one has clean hands in this, but I’d say that faculty has the least clean hands in this since theyr’e whipping up things for their own vested interest. Unfortunately, the present state of affairs at Gallaudet cannot continue and this is what, perhaps, the BoT saw when it selected Fernandes.
You may be right - I have had the same thoughts. However, FSSA claims to have documentation that shows Fernandes has not performed up to excellence in her position as Provost and the White House report gave me pause as to the declining graduation and job placement rates the past 5 years. Is this due to Fernandes or the faculty or the whole culture of the institution itself? I still am struggling with this question and wish FSSA could “speak with one voice” instead of multiple blogs and people and present evidence.
One more thing -
Larry Summers faced pressure only from one group - Jane is facing it from all sides. BoT like the Harvard Corporation cannot be seen as backing down because that sets an bad example. Instead they nudged and negotiated a full university professorship for Summers to teach in any department. Will this happen with Jane?
Interesting to watch over next few days and the rest to come.
Alok (BTW, I remember you when you were a RA at TA. Good times) –
I am VERY interested in hearing more about Fernades’s performance as a Provost, as this have a direct correlation on whether or not she is qualified for the job.
Please do share when you get more information. Thanks.
Exactly. As I have been saying all week…unity for whom?
http://kokonutpundits.blogspot.....-whom.html
I want to point out that there is a major flaw with your arguement. The faculty at Harvard were not resisting his movement to change academics at Harvard, they were simply poucing in Summer’s weakness. He made that stupid statement about women and after a few months of reminding him about what he had said, he went down. Like they say, beat up a man when he is down. That is exactly what happened here.
There is no way to compare the situation at Harvard to Gallaudet. Summers was very qualified, heck he helped write that finance package that bailed out the Americas back in the 1994 monetary crisis that took down Mexico’s currency. And he headed economics in the White House and then at the Treasury? A guy who had to put together plans that would satisfy a major of the 535 Congressmembers on the other side of Penn Ave? He simply got pushed to the ground for a few months and then when it was convient he was whacked for dead.
Jane could see the same thing happen to her if the protests persist until the Fall and somehow someone comes along and whacks her because she will be on the ground come this Fall semester if she does not announce a new Provost by then that satisifies a lot of students (et al Black Provost or Ron Stern).
We will see.
By increasing the academic standard we then can give a better chance to the graduating pool to obtain better employment with more satisfied employers. If the quality of education is lacking, how do you expect to compete the job market nowadays? The ever increasing competition is a concern.
Baldwin resigned from the board, citing threats made against her. That will really bring people over to your side, Big D. Here’s a haiku:
Baldwin resigned
Someone threatened her life
Deaf are psycho?
Ah, we do not know if Deaf people threatened her life. We do not know if the protestors are the ones who she was threatened by. Her letter merely said she received threats. I wonder if those were not from her superiors and others forcing her to vote for a babbling fool?
The Washington Post article this morning makes it clear that she got threats before and after the announcement. This is, indeed, a black mark against the protesters and their cohorts. As McConnell keeps on saying — Unity for whom?
Incidents like this keeps on happening and the protesters and their cohorts act surprised and say this is not the message we’re sending. A few repetitions of this makes me disbelieve that statement.
Like someone said in a comment somewhere in these blogs:
FSSA doesn’t have a leader or a face where everyone can look up to and follow the example. That leader could have summarized all the issues concerning them and present hard cold facts and data - such as statistics of JK’s performance, evidence of discriminatory hiring practices, and so forth. I would like to have seen that on their web site.
Yes, there is a severe paucity of hard, cold facts about Fernandes. I take it that the BoT considered her tenure as Provost before it picked her. This probably means that the BoT considered her performance to be at least adequate. This isn’t being addressed anywhere.
According to the BoT’s presentation at Gallaudet (which I attended) they did not consider past performance when selecting the next President. I think they said something along the lines that their process was not performance-oriented.
So, no, they didn’t consider Jane’s past performance as Provost. That’s what it seemed they were saying. When you apply for a job, they look at your past experience, not past performance. Unfortunately in this case, more research should have been done on past performance.
in this particular case, thats rather disturbing. there are certain jobs where they do look at your past performance. directors of development for instace?? my mom’s just got a new job and she had to explain how much she was able to raise at her former workplace and how she did so.
I have to agree here. Not taking in account JKF’s past performance was and still is, a HUGE mistake on the part of BoT. That is just mind-boggling to me. Any high-level position, I would think requires assessments of past conduct and so forth!
Yes. Very clear. Threats from who? You do understand they could be from anyone, right? *rolling eyes*
Given the Board of Trustee’s stance on Fernandes, I think it’s a reasonable conclusion that the threats — coming from the West Coast as per the FSSA Web site — were anti-Fernandes. To try to dismiss the threats as coming from supporters of the protesters is naive at best.
As for incidents, I don’t see that these incidents came from a group of 2 or 3 rabid Deaf people who are doing this. Being the way how many Deaf people cherish and protect Deaf culture, which is fine. I’d say these incidents could be from a larger group of Deaf people and by saying so they relate to the fact that one of the larger issue, if not the largest, is really all about Deaf culture. That’s the continual status quo on the campus of Gallaudet University ever since even before I became a student in 1988. Their goal has always been to have a “D”eaf president and not a “d”eaf president which will complete the picture of Gallaudet University as being the “D”eaf Mecca to the world. Nothing’s changed. This is where they want to go. Yet they continue to deny that this whole protest doesn’t have anything to do with Deaf culture (as well as ASL only). But with the vlogs, blogs, and letters, the internal messages tell a different story. That is the impresssion of what many people see this as. It may not be the exact reason for the protest but certainly it is a part of the reason for the protest in way or another.
correction - “…reason for the protest in one way or another”
Reading up these blog are starting to make me sick in the stomach. I see everyone points about Gally, SEE, ASL and deaf culture. Its all about poltics here. I believe there should be a deaf president because majority of the student populations are deaf. It is like forming their own “nation-states”, you can’t argue with that. If a hearing person is unwilling to give us a job, then do not step up the plate. Just has having a black president on a black college campus. We need true leadership, someone that can relates to our culture and history. I became deaf at age of three. My parents put me thru oral school then they switched me to Total Communications. My parents still do not know sign language. Of, course I blame them. I still love my parents anyway. Making friends was much harder for me because I didn’t sign that well. I always did hate ASL because its not “true english” language. ASL makes me feel like a dummy or a retard beause of the frusuration to get others to understand the convo between us. (Personal choice! and yes peace please!) I like SEE or PSL but Cued would have been better. Deaf politics is not me. (I hope not!) I have many hearing friends but a few deaf friends. Is it based on my signing skills? Are the ASL deafies discriminates those who can’t sign ASL because other deaf were raised in a hearing culture? Or should we create three nation-states for the ASL, SEE and Cued?
Obviously, I can’t list all of the reasons why you don’t have many deaf friends, since I’ve never met you, but from reading your post, I can surmise one reason is because of your attitude towards ASL and them.
This is becoming old. The protestors do NOT represent Deaf culture as a whole. There are many capital D deaf who disagree with what they’re doing.
Bashing ASL and Deaf culture just because of the actions of some protestors is NOT cool. When will people start to realize that this whole discrimination thing is a two-way street? Both sides are guilty of it! Heck, I’m guilty sometimes!
Sheesh, people…
Everyone discriminates everywhere. Tell you the truth, I hate this action. And I agree with you that this discrimo is a two-way street. In regards to your comments, do u really think I want to hate ASL culture? I am deaf or HOH or whatever they want to call it. Its not just that I hate it but its based on how I was raised and influence by a hearing society. Sorry if you think Im bashing on comments on ASL and deaf culture. Just expressing my opinion here.
Well, let’s say it this way. If someone wants to get past their acknowledged prejudices, then they’ll have to make a honest effort to see the other side, instead of just staying mired in it.
Harlan Lane’s book, “The Mask of Benevolence” is a good starting point for information on ASL and Deaf culture. If that’s too weighty, then Oliver Sacks’ book, “Seeing Voices” is a good one. If you don’t like those two, then I recommend the book, “A Journey into the Deaf-World” by Harlan Lane, Robert Hoffmeister and Ben Bahan. That book is the easiest to read.
Thank you. I read a sneak preview at Amazon.com on the three books you recommended. You are a very intellectual person. I give up too easily. Let not say that I was forced to believe that we can’t not function well but I happened to adapted to a different society for a very long time. Therefore, I missed out alot about deaf pride.
Please don’t recommend Lane, ever. He’s a paranoid kook who doesn’t believe there’s other methods besides ASL and was very rude to me.
Once Lane is mentioned in a discussion favourably, it brings the level of discourse down.
Z,
I met him and spoke with him. He seemed very nice. We spoke on a variety of issues. He knows some BSL as well as ASL, French and English, so I’m pretty sure he comes from a multilingual perspective. I recommend both of his books, but not as primary sources - people should do more research there.
Once people start using rudeness as an excuse (hey, he’s French) to stop reading, THAT brings the level of discourse down. Imagine what you’d say about Jean-Paul Sartre…