Sunday night, I sat down to dinner at a Thai restaurant in Eastern Market with two of my friends. The waiter had just served my dinner, a vegetarian glass noodles dish, and I was about to dig in when I felt the vibration of my Sidekick. I’d been waiting for it all day, really all month. The Board of Trustees had just met to decide whether or not to continue supporting their appointment of Dr. Fernandes. I didn’t think it could turn out good. Nothing seemed to get through to them. I didn’t have any hope. From the start of the protest, I was deeply disappointed that no one from the Board or the administration tried to listen to the protesters or even showed the slightest sign of interest. There was madness at Gallaudet and no one seemed to care.
Earlier that morning when I woke up, I had intense feelings of sadness and frustration. My life has been completely disrupted for the last month. I haven’t attended classes regularly. I’ve barely worked more than five hours at my job. I’ve been walking the campus helplessly in a daze. I’ve been checking email, blogs, the news obsessively. I didn’t think anything good would come out of all of this and began wondering if there were any point to it all. How many more buildings would the protesters take over? How many more students would be arrested? How many more would get hurt? How many more negative news reports would I have to read? How many more tents would I have to see on my way through the front gate? How many more conversations would start with “So the protest…”? I couldn’t take much more of it.
When I felt my Sidekick go off at the dinner and I read the statement from the Board of Trustees, “Gallaudet’s Board of Trustees votes to terminate Dr. Jane Fernandes appointment as president,” I didn’t have much hope. I kept thinking “Of course, they’re going to stick by their decision. They won’t let a ‘mob of dissenters’ overtake their decision. They won’t give in.” I had to read the email over and over before the word “terminate” finally sunk in. Jane’s gone? They’ve decided to terminate her? With a spurt of energy, I waved over the waiter and asked for a box for my uneaten vegetarian glass noodles. I wanted to go to Gallaudet and celebrate with everybody else.
On the way over in my friends’ car, I forwarded the announcement to anyone and everyone I could think of. Replies poured in instantaneously. One of my friends responded “Ugh.” I replied, “What do you mean?” He told me, “This protest wasn’t about Jane. While I’m glad she’s out, I have a sinking feeling about what’s gonna happen next.” He’s right in a way. This protest unveiled a great many issues that people are going to need to resolve. A better administration. A more appropriate communication policy. More sensitivity towards diversity and international student issues. It’s not going to be easy. People are already tired from the protest and, like Allison Kaftan said in her recent blog, they want their lives back. Are they going to be able to keep the same fire we’ve seen in the protesters the last few weeks? Are they going to be able to get to what really matters?
When I got to Gallaudet toting my box of vegetarian glass noodles, everyone I encountered gave me a big hug and uttered some exclamation, “Wow!”, “We did it!”, “Yes!”, “Pah!”, “Can you believe it?” The spirit was contagious and I started to feel better. Those feelings of sadness and frustration I had earlier in the morning were being diminished and replaced with hope. It may be silly to give in to such irrational and premature feelings. I’ve seen enough to understand that it’s difficult to change the system, and most people are just too indifferent to try. But I like this feeling of hope, I think I’ll hold onto it.
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I heard you, my fellow linguist. The first thing came to my mind was: My goodness, JKF is going to be our colleague in the field of ASL linguistics. Yes, I got a knot in my stomach. It’s going to be tough, but we must move on. We the linguists pride in our ability to contradict each other. That’s why I love linguists!
Like you, we were in the dark with the feelings of sadness, loss, anxiety, worries, and uncertainty about the future of Gallaudet University. The dark clouds eventually lifted from our minds and lives after the announcement of JKF’s termination. Of course, we are elated with BIIIIGGGGG smiles and feel reinvigorated! I want to thank faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents, protestors and people from all over the world for their hard work to make it happen!! Now it’s time for us to move on, start healing process and work on many issues left behind by those evil administration! Looking forward to a bright future for Gallaudet! :D
BRIGHT FUTURE?! half the students can barely comprehend the english language and the other half can’t see life beyond their nose. you call an educational institute, which is funded by the US government and my fellow taxpayers, that is run by the students, a possibility to a bright future?! I’m sorry, I totally 100% disagree with you.
Punky, I second that!
I, too, agree with you. I know of a lot of private employers who are loath to hire anyone from Gallaudet University because of what you have stated. In fact, a friend of mine who is a HR director said that he would never ever consider a resume from Gallaudet because of “half of the student body cannot understand english language at best!” I couldn’t even refute that because I know that is the truth as some of my professor friends at Gallaudet have shown me some writing samples that their students have written, which greatly alarmed me.
Seriously, Gallaudet has MUCH work to do in this area — but I am afraid Gallaudet doesn’t have the time nor luxury or resources to overcome this deficiency.
It’s interesting how you see that Gallaudet University is responsible for teaching literacy to its Deaf students. I think two important points are overlooked here..
1) Literacy is accomplished from lifelong training and encouragement. People must have the basis of a fully acquired language (be it signed or spoken) before they can begin to learn secondary systems like writing. If signed or spoken language is not acquired early enough (or exposure is not constant enough), then achieving literacy is pretty impossible and this has consequences for everything else (education, employment, awareness of legal rights, etc…). Most Deaf children do not have the advantage of a fully accessible language early enough and this has serious ramifications for the rest of their lives. College, which is supposed to be a four-year experience, can do little to alleviate such damage.
2) College is usually where people go to be trained for future careers. Basic skills such as reading, writing, computing, and so forth are not supposed to be included in the curriculum. It’s already assumed that students have come prepared with these skills from elementary and secondary school.
If you feel that Deaf students from Gallaudet University are not literate nor are they able to graduate, then I ask you to look at the whole picture and then consider how much Gallaudet is a factor of all this.
Julie, I really do appreciate your optimistism on this issue. No really, I do. However, there’s something that you left off in your two points. As much as it looks good in pixels (or ‘on paper’) and I sure do wish the world was fair and open minded, unfortunately that is not the case. we cannot prove that any employer treated a resume or candidate fairly and unbiased. the only images they could envision from the words “Gallaudet University” are low english skills and instability. This is cold hard reality I’m talking about. It pains me that these students, so many of them who have astounding potential to make a life for themselves, yet the few handful of them can ruin all that in a moment.
now that being said, I really hope someday the quaility of education and guidance in prepratory educational systems improve so the deaf students of the future will have a much better chance to make something of themselves. the government won’t always be able to afford to guide them financially throughout their lives.
I didn’t express any optimism in my comment (but now I think about it, you may have been talking about my blog). Anyway, that wasn’t the point of my comment. I was trying to shed light on the false relationship between illiteracy and Gallaudet.
You may have a point about employers not wanting to hire students who are from Gallaudet. But is it really all Gallaudet? Is this opinion based on your experience? While your experience is valid, it is not exactly representative of the bigger picture.
This question requires a long and deep look at all the issues involved. The “cold, hard reality” isn’t as simple as it seems. It requires further examination by way of surveys, statistic analyses, and so forth.
(The point of my blog was that all these issues need to be addressed and hopefully everyone will have enough drive to start asking serious questions and start doing something.)
thank you for responding quickly. =)
first off, I can admit wholeheartingly that a lot of my reserves about Gallaudet are, in fact, from personal experience. And I can not say that my experiences were pleasant. The teachers I had the pleasure of meeting and opportunity to learn from were frustrated as well. at this point, it’s difficult to see the future of the school, but i’m sure that may change.
I hate to say it, but the reality is there, without “further examination by the way of survey’s blah blah.” it’s going to take me more than 6 months, which is the average, to find a job and fight through the stereotypes. It sucks but that’s the way it is. I wish I could put away the pessimism but right now it’s just too hard. making lemonade from rancid lemon’s won’t sell very well from this current Lemonade stand.
I’m sorry your experiences have been so negative. I hope you’re able to find another lemonade stand where you can make some decent lemonade. Meanwhile hopefully we’ll be able to work quickly enough to assess the situation and get started.
I think what needs to happen here is for Gallaudet to stop accepting those students in the first place. Why in the world would an *university* accept basically illiterate students?
In that regard, I can how Gallaudet’s policies would have a ripple effect nationally. That would force the mainstreamed programs and the state schools of the deaf to raise their standards if they wanted to be able to say, ‘Our students go to college after graduation!’
By accepting those students, Gallaudet is not only enabling the perputation of the deleterious education given to the deaf, but they’re also tacitly condoning the whole thing.
I think if Gallaudet raises its standards, it would also lead many of us to become more proactive about our local educational system. It would give us more of an incentive to go out there and demand higher standards and accountability from the public schools, whether it be the state school of the deaf, or the mainstreamed programs. I don’t really see much activism in that regard. And when there IS activism, it’s done horribly, in my opinion. I think it’s time for *everyone* to step up to the plate and start fixing this mess.
~ Deaf Pundit
Maybe some students can’t fully understnd the English language, but you will be there to teach them to understand,..won’t you?
And if some students are blinded beyond the end of their noses,..then you must guide them to a spot in which they can see what must be learned and teach them their legal rights and give them hope as a people that they, too, count in this world.
Each voice counts.
can’t do a thing if I’m going to be afraid to upset the “Students” they might protest that i shouldnt’ be a teacher since i have a cochlear implant.
i am 100% ashamed and embarrased by the community i used to call my own and I will not participate in it’s downfall.
Wow! The Public Relations office did a number on you. There are plenty of CI students at Gallaudet, and they were part of the protest as well.
This was the only chance to bring back Gallaudet to the first line of higher education: Kelleher had to go. With her, only further disaster would have been possible. Without her, progress will be possible. Finally. That is why we protested and won in the first place!!!
I would question whether the Board of Trustees has failed its fiduciary duties in capitulating to the student demands that Fernandes step down. I note that several of the trustees were treated as rock stars when they visited the student protesters after the announcement that Fernandes stepped down. Trustees, by definition, are supposed to look at the big picture and not make decisions for immediate gratification, whether social or personal.
“On Sunday night, some trustees were treated like rock stars when they returned to campus. After talks with protest leaders in the “war room” inside Fowler Hall, the board members who had pushed for a change emerged one by one through the door as the crowd screamed approval.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....374_2.html
The additional impression given by the sudden capitulation is that the board did not think out its initial decision to pick Fernandes and did not think out its decision to terminate her. This is the very portrayal of a dysfunctional board. I have nothing but contempt toward a board that is either unable to fully investigate the choices presented before it (as in the presidential selections) or to stand by its own decisions once it is made. I think that by and large the board members need to resign for the good of Gallaudet. If they want to dedicate their lives toward immediate social gratification, by all means, let them do so, but not taxpayer dollars.
Also, this editorial by the Washington Post sums it all up for a lot of hearing people as well as outside observers with respect to the Gallaudet situation. I think a lot of members of Congress will share the same views.
“The protesters were promoting a university that celebrates what they call Deaf (with a capital D) culture, prescribes American Sign Language as the only acceptable medium of communication and relates with suspicion to deaf people who choose to function in the hearing world. To the extent the latter vision won out, it does not bode well for Gallaudet’s future.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....00977.html
The Board did not capitulate, but completed its fiduciary responsibility when unanimously removed Kelleher. She herself dug her own grave when she resorted to blackmail the Board into conceding to her presidency and to her sicko ideology of ‘new order of Deaf people’. What was she thinking?
Investigative reporters of leading news media found unduly influences from technology vendors on Kelleher. The Big Money looks like had a grab on her, and through her on Gallaudet University. They say Kelleher wanted to eradicate Deaf culture in a sense, by making ASL needless.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/n.....ndes_x.htm
This raises the issue of legal responsibility of Kelleher and warrants further investigation against her past practices.
Also, the Kelleher Gang at Gallaudet University — that is still holding many powerful posts throughout the campus — should be broken down, and its power figures should be demolished from decision making positions. Kelleher-contaminated staff and faculty persons should be demoted and placed into other important but lower ranking positions. A tight kernel of female power-grabbers, all related to Kelleher’s former regime, should be identified and neutralized. Leaving them in leading positions would be a recipe for the same kinds of disasters Kelleher caused during her tenure.
No further progress is possible if the wrongs committed by Kelleher and her Gang of Oppression during her reign as Vice President and Provost are not righted. An honest assessment should be prepared about the damages her regime inflicted upon human resources of the university. Victims of her MBI practices should be identified and compensated.
Kelleher is not a victim, don’t shed any drop of tear for her. Rather, shed the tears for her victims whom she mercilessly butchered during the time of her uncontrolled power and insane oppression. They are the ones who deserve our sympathy and not the oppressor.
http://www.insidehighered.com/.....0/31/davis
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10.....ref=slogin
My Summary-
The issues of the protest were not trivial at all. The philosophical argument of how big D evolves is a fair one. And one in which I believe students were willing participants.
However, the adminstration attempted an end-around the students by shoving a trojan horse onto campus in the form of Ms. Fernandes. The students were entirely too savvy to accept philosophical change in this form.
The administration was cowardly in attempting to modify policy through the appointment, disappearing while allowing Ms. Fernandes to fend for herself, and in its capitulation in the end. Their one concession, that individuals will be ‘held accountable’, is laughable as Ms. Plummer matter-of-factly said that it amounted to something like writing essays.
Ms. Fernandes performed quite well. She put herself in a position to either stay at Gallaudet as tenured professor or in the hearing world as a leader with principles. It was no accident that she spoke of her prior success in working in hearing society.
As the administration looks at their smoldering wreck, it’s a mistake to fear the future of Gallaudet. People will adjust. Some students may transfer. High-school students, influenced by events, will either choose to enroll or not. Perhaps a little unsettling, but hardly hardships.
And someday, when the adminstration chooses to properly include Gallaudet students, alumni and faculty in philosophical debates of big D future, perhaps they will facillitate a movement for the whole community.
Thanks,
Ron
Hey Ron, your last name wouldn’t be Stern, would it?
If so, what would you do in light of the damage the students and the Board of Trustees have done to Gallaudet? I’d be willing to wager that a lot of deaf students and their hearing parents will be less willing to consider going to Gallaudet in the first place, thus contributing to the declining enrollment problem.
Another thing I’d like to ask you is what, if any, role should Gallaudet have in maintaining educational standards in the deaf state institutions that are dominantly populated by Deaf individuals? Should Gallaudet undergo an aggressive mentoring program so as to raise the educational level of *those* schools since its remedial program has so clearly failed on the college level? If you don’t think that is the role of Gallaudet, do you have any particular vision as to how Gallaudet is going to recruit talented students — the very same students probably turned off by the protests and attracted by the opportunities offered by hearing institutions with terps and other support services?
These are all questions that the board of trustees need to ask prospective candidates and educational pablum just won’t cut the mustard.
I’m sure others can ask more pointed questions but that is what everybody should be contributing to — the list of questions and the vision that the president should have.
Ahhhhh :)
Missed reading your outstanding writing voice- may i say again- YOU ROCK! Thanks for bringing a fresh perspective on all the hoopla thats been going on. Thank god its basically over, so I’ll be seeing more of you on campus! ;)
thanks!