October 2006
Scores of student protesters shut down Gallaudet University early today,
surprising university officials who had thought they were making progress in
negotiating with the young demonstrators. Starting about 4 a.m., students
used vehicles and their own bodies to barricade entrances to the leafy,
Northeast Washington campus, which houses the nation's premier college for
the deaf. "Until further notice, Gallaudet University is closed and all
gates are blocked," the students said in a statement. Two smaller schools
located on the campus -- Model Secondary School for the Deaf, a boarding
school, and Kendall Demonstration Elementary School -- would be closed today
as well, school officials and Gallaudet students said.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 2006
This story first came to light last May when the Jane Fernandes was
selected as Gallaudet University's next President. There were peaceful
protests for a couple of weeks, and then the school year ended, students
dispersed for the summer, and the whole thing seemed to be forgotten.
I was half expecting a resumption of the protests when students
returned last September, and I was pleasantly surprised when that didn't
happen. I assumed that the Gallaudet community had finally accepted Jane
Fernandes as the next president.
What reignited the protests was the meeting of the Gallaudet Board of
Trustees last week. As that meeting approached, student leaders began
organizing protests. They began peacefully enough, but soon escalated as
students took over one of the main buildings on campus, an event that
disrupted classes in the middle of midterm exams.
A couple of days later, the students shut down the campus, blocking all
entrances. This action had the effect of shutting down not only Gallaudet
University, but also the elementary school (Kendall Demonstration
Elementary School) and high school (Model Secondary School for the Deaf),
both of which are located on the University campus.
Negotiations continued, but soon reached an impasse. Students are
demanding that Fernandes step down and that the search process begin anew;
administrators maintain that those are the two things that are not
negotiable. Prospects to at least reopen the school brightened on
Thursday, when the administration and student leaders signed an agreement
that would allow that to happen. But a student leader withdrew his
support, and the agreement disintegrated.
Washington DC police have taken up positions outside the campus. They
are viewing the protest as a University matter and say they will intervene
only in the event of property damage or threats to people's safety.
And the Gallaudet community waits . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Campus
Shut Down; Arrests Threatened
October
2006
Protests
over the next president at Gallaudet University intensified yesterday when
the football team decided after midnight to join the demonstrations by
blocking the campus gates, shutting down the school for the deaf. As
faculty pressure tightened on incoming president Jane K. Fernandes to
resign before she takes office in January, she repeated her refusal to do
so. Students angrily confronted longtime President I. King Jordan, alumni
flocked to the campus and a counter-protest movement grew during a day of
upheaval. Full
Story
