Press Release from Gallaudet University FSSA Coalition

WASHINGTON, DC - For the past three weeks Gallaudet University faculty, staff, students, and alumni have been holding protests demanding that Jane Fernandes resign or be removed and that the search process for university president be reopened. Instead of showing leadership in this time of crisis the university administration has hired costly public relations and lobbying firms. "There are hunger strikers literally putting their lives on the line, and the administration doesn't step in to resolve this crisis, instead they spend millions of dollars to try and make students, faculty, staff, alumni, and deaf people all over the world look bad in the media, and to lobby members of Congress. But they can spend all the money in the world, and it won't change the fact that Jane Fernandes is not capable of leading Gallaudet," says Richard Lytle, a professor in the education department at Gallaudet.

Protesters also are concerned that the university has retained a lobbying firm that also represents tobacco and alcohol companies; the firm is Dickstein Shapiro, which also counts Lorillard Tobacco, the Cigar Association of America, and Miller Brewing Company as clients. "It's bad enough that they are focusing on media and lobbying instead of being accountable to the Gallaudet community, but now they are using a firm that also represents companies who make products that hurt members of our communities. Although it makes sense in a way, since like tobacco and alcohol companies, the administration is needs a prominent lobbying firm to cover up the fact that the bottom line is that they do not care about peoples' safety," says Andrew Lange, president of the Gallaudet University Alumni Association.

"We are also worried because the administration has said that they are not spending federal money to pay for this lobbying firm, but we want to know where the money they are spending is coming from. Is it money that we have paid in tuition to attend Gallaudet?" asks Delia Lozano-Martinez.

Most members of the Gallaudet community say they are deeply concerned by administration's lack of concern for the safety of students. They say that the administration originally showed a lack of concern about the future of Gallaudet by appointing someone who already ha d a failed history at Gallaudet to be the next president; a government report shows a decline in academic standards during the time that Jane Fernandes was provost and current employees at the K-12 program (Clerc Center) at Gallaudet say that created an atmosphere of distrust and fear and damaged the infrastructure of the program, and ignored teachers and staff.

"Now they have taken it a step further. They are not only showing that not only do they not care about the future of Gallaudet, but also that they do not care about the safety of the students here," says the FSSA coalition. The students on hunger strike are in grave danger, with one student having been on hunger strike for two weeks, and yesterday university administration authorized the bulldozing of a blockade at a gate here in which several students sustained injuries. In both cases the university has tried to spin the situation, instead of addressing the fact that the bottom line is that there are students in grave danger here, and that there are students who were injured because of what they authorized.

"This is a failure in leadership from out administration, and a failure their ethical responsibility to the Gallaudet community. It is not ok for our leaders to tell the media that it is ok that students have not had good in two weeks because they think they have gotten Ensure, or worse yet for the administration to tell the that students weren't injured when there students who required medical attention. Student safety should be more important to our leaders than spin and lobbying," says the FSSA coalition.