[WADNet Post] May 8, 2006: Gallaudet University News
- From: WADNet Post Editor <wadneteditor@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: wadnetpost@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 09 May 2006 01:03:35 -0500
Gallaudet University News
-- Notes from Gallaudet Students and Staff
==================================================
Editor's note: All of the following submissions were contributed by Gary
Fitts, GUAA-Wisconsin Chapter except where otherwise noted.
It is important to remember that these were submitted during the last
week while the protest was going on; the most recent submission, dated
May 8th, is at the bottom of this post. Please read through to the bottom.
******
Notes from Gallaudet Students and Staff
Note from Nephew of Gary Fitts, GUAA Wisconsin Chapter member:
Hello!
I attended the rally and I would think it is very successful because a
lot of people came including King, Fernandes, and NAD rep. At the end
King and Fernandes each recieved a letter from the student body which
demanded two things - do the Prez search all over again and no
reprisals. I think King will hand his letter to BOT. There will be
special activities tonight at the front gate like selling foods and
drinks and play games and candle light vigil. Me?? I am ready to go to
bed 'cause I'm tired.
David
******
Subject: Unity for Gallaudet
Hello Gallaudetians-
We have brainstormed and created a long list of activites to keep
everyone busy and spirited throughout the protest.
Our first request for all students, including graduate students and as
well the faculty and staff if they wish, to wear buff and blue colors
tomorrow.
Wear anything that's yellow and blue! Look out for further information
or just drop by at the front gate near the DPS kiosk. If any students
are interested in helping out or get very involved, please page us,
findjct@xxxxxxxxx and weg@xxxxxxxxxx
Thanks and let us all unify for Gallaudet!
Sponsored by SBG
Bleed Buff and Blue,
Jesse Thomas
Megan Malzkuhn
******
Note from the Gallaudet University Public Relations Visitors' Center:
Signature: Gallaudet University - Public Relations/Visitors Center
There are many rumors floating and flying around campus these days. PR
intends to provide the community with facts to counter the
misinformation and falsehoods. The hope is that when thinking people are
presented with the facts they will make decisions that are fair and
informed.
FACT #1: Dr. Jordan was NEVER involved in the Presidential Search
Process. His interviews of the three finalists were at the very end of
the process. A sitting president is often asked to interview
presidential finalists. His or her [the sitting president's] feedback is
an important part of the overall information used by a Board of Trustees
to make their decisions.
FACT #2: Dr. Fernandes has NO INTENTION of punishing staff members for
their involvement in the current protest.
******
Announcement from President I. King Jordan:
May 4, 2006
MEMORANDUM
TO: Campus Community
FR: I. King Jordan
RE: The Gallaudet University Campus IS NOT locked-down
A flyer was distributed on campus today stating that the campus was
under lock-down today. This is absolutely incorrect. It is the
obligation of the administration to ensure the free movement of faculty,
students and staff about campus, as well as on and off campus. Any
disruption of normal campus business will not be tolerated. Anyone who
attempts to disrupt campus business will be subject to legal action.
Also, Celia May Baldwin, Chair of the Board of Trustees, has agreed to
meet with students, faculty, staff and alumni leaders via VP this
evening. She and they will discuss the issues concerning each of those
groups. Ms. Baldwin will send a summary of those conversations out to
the campus community tomorrow.
******
For more information regarding the protest mentioned above, check the
Gallaudet University website at http://www.gallaudet.edu/ and also the
Gallaudet University Alumni website: http://alumni.gallaudet.edu/
******
May 8: New Gallaudet President Draws Protests
New Gallaudet president draws protests
(taken from Associated Press)
WASHINGTON - The newly chosen president for the nation's only liberal
arts college for the deaf has drawn protests from hundreds of students,
who set up a tent city on the lawn by the front gates and blocked entrances.
Last week, Jane K. Fernandes was named to succeed I. King Jordan as
president of Gallaudet University. She insists opposition to her
appointment stems from a cultural debate, but the protesters, who have
refused to go home after their final exams, say the search process was
unfair.
Faculty planned to meet Monday to consider a no-confidence vote against
Fernandes.
"We all know this is wrong," professor E. Lynn Jacobowitz said. "There
might be a few who disagree ... but 99.9 percent of the people here
support this protest."
Fernandes was born deaf but attended mainstream schools and did not
learn American Sign Language as a child. Her opponents believe Jordan,
who became the university's first deaf president in 1988 after the Board
of Trustees gave in to a large student protest movement, influenced the
search process in favor of his hand-picked successor.
The demonstrators want the board to reopen the process and consider a
diverse field of candidates. All the three finalists were white.
They are also seeking intervention from Congress, which includes three
voting trustees: Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Reps. Roy LaHood,
R-Ill., and Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif. Organizers said they have written
letters to every member of Congress and plan to lobby in person this week.
Jordan said the board's choice for president is "not the winner of the
popularity contest" and that this movement should not be compared to the
one that swept him into office. If the board gives in, he said, it would
be dangerous for the future governance of the school.
ON THE NET
Gallaudet University: http://www.gallaudet.edu/
Unity For Gallaudet: http://www.gallyfssa.org/
******
GALLAUDET UNIVERSITY
Faculty Prepare to Take Sides on New President
By Susan Kinzie
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 8, 2006; Page B04
The campus was supposed to have emptied out by now, with exams over at
Gallaudet University.
But the lawn by the front gates is still packed with tents as students
continue to camp out, protesting the selection of the new president.
Some alumni have come from elsewhere in the country -- including leaders
of the 1988 protests that forced the Board of Trustees to choose a deaf
president and created a civil-rights rallying cry for the deaf. They
have joined a coalition of students, staff, faculty and other alumni
wearing blue "Unity for Gallaudet" T-shirts and
demanding that the search process be reopened.
Today, the faculty will meet to consider no-confidence motions on
president-elect Jane K. Fernandes, on the Board of Trustees that chose
her and on the search process that some say lacked diversity and fairness.
"We all know this is wrong," professor E. Lynn Jacobowitz said. "There
might be a few who disagree . . . but 99.9 percent of the people here
support this protest."
Fernandes has said that the outcry is about something much bigger than
just her; it's about cultural conflicts, she said, with some people
wanting the president of Gallaudet to define the identity of the deaf
community.
It is an emotional issue as more people get cochlear implants, which
allow them to hear and speak more easily, and go to mainstream public
schools rather than schools for the deaf and hard of hearing. Some
wonder what will happen to deaf culture, and to Gallaudet.
On Friday, nine professors with backgrounds similar to Fernandes's --
they grew up speaking, went to public schools and didn't learn American
Sign Language or immerse themselves in the deaf community until later in
life -- wrote her an open letter saying she had misunderstood the
reasons for the opposition. The real issues, they wrote, are about a
flawed search process and ineffective leadership.
I. King Jordan, the longtime president who plans to work with Fernandes
for the next eight months and then step down, said recently that the
board selected an academician with vision for the future of the
university, "not the winner of the popularity contest." The board can't
give the decision over to protesters, he said, without long-term
implications for the governance of the school. It's not, he said,
another "Deaf President Now," the movement that vaulted him into the
presidency.
Jane Norman, a professor who was one of Fernandes's references, sent a
widely distributed e-mail saying that protesters were pressuring others
to join them. "We are going through a very difficult time but we will
emerge as an inclusive university," she wrote. "Gallaudet is for all.
Dr. Jane Fernandes has worked long and hard on diversity. Dr. Fernandes
is our 9th president and will lead us into the 21st century."
After protesters shut down all entrances to the campus one day last
week, two trustees agreed to come to campus to talk with them Friday
evening. Hundreds waited outside, including a dog wearing a "Pet me to
reopen the search process" T-shirt, wagging its tail in the crowd.
The 750-seat auditorium was full to overflowing, mostly with students,
and the crowd soon turned angry as people stood on stage to sign
questions to board members Celia May L. Baldwin, interim chairman, and
Tom Humphries, who emphasized that they have heard the concerns but that
the board will not change its decision.
"I beg of you," Baldwin signed, "to put your trust in us. Give us a
chance. Give us an opportunity to prove to you that the selection was
accurate."
People in the audience shouted "No!" over and over, waving arms in the
air and signing. The meeting ended with people walking out, just as they
had when Fernandes's appointment was announced last Monday.
Many students went home for the summer, but protests and meetings
continued over the weekend, and people began sending letters to members
of Congress asking for intervention. Three trustees serve in Congress.
Several faculty members said they had been told in meetings by
administrators to support Fernandes and to try to calm the dissent,
suggestions that offended some as heavy-handed and oppressive.
Some have long-standing concerns about academic and recruitment issues.
The math department passed a resolution last week asking the board to
choose a president who will enhance academic standards at Gallaudet.
Some faculty are worried about the way Fernandes was initially appointed
to the provost position -- which sparked no-confidence resolutions from
the faculty in 2000 -- and granted tenure, questioning whether official
procedures were followed.
And everyone is hoping for a resolution soon.
"This whole situation is a tragedy," professor Marshall Wick said in an
e-mail to The Washington Post, "and will become worse if the Board gives
in."
******
Check this links.... there's protest going on at Gallaudet University...
www.ridorlive.com
www.xanga.com/elisa_abenchuchan
www.joeybaer.com
www.gallyfssa.org
(Contributed by SLAD Club)
******
Leslie Riggs
WADNet Post Editor & Listserv Administrator
Wisconsin Association of the Deaf
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