Gallaudet Protest 2006
In 2006 the Gallaudet University Board of Trustees selected Jane
Fernandes to be the next president of Gallaudet. This action sparked an
outburst at the university. Here's some coverage of that event and its
aftermath.
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Today, Gallaudet University Board of Trustees Chair
Pamela Holmes announced the selection of Robert R. Davila as interim
president of the university.
Dr. Davila, who is deaf, served from 1996-2004 as
vice president for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, one of
seven colleges of Rochester Institute of Technology. In 1989, he began a
four-year appointment as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special
Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education where
he was the federal government’s chief advisor on federal policy
affecting the education and vocational rehabilitation of the nation’s 40
million persons with disabilities.
“Gallaudet is extremely fortunate to have Dr.
Robert Davila as its interim president,” said Ms. Holmes. “He brings a
wealth of experience and knowledge to Gallaudet at a time when the
University faces many opportunities, as well as many challenges.”
Dr. Davila, who holds a Ph.D. in Educational
Technology from Syracuse University, is no stranger to Gallaudet. Not only
is he an alumnus [Class of 1953], but he worked on campus from 1972-1989,
during which time he held progressively more responsible teaching and
administrative positions, including as a member of the university’s
Department of Education faculty, director of the Kendall School, acting
dean of the Model Secondary School for the Deaf and, for eleven years,
vice president of the University’s Pre-College Programs.
“I am honored to once again serve my alma mater,”
Dr. Davila said. “I am fortunate to possess the energy, drive and
dedication that will be required to lead our University over the coming
months. I will seek to bring support and benefit to all constituent groups
on campus and beyond.”
Dr. Davila officially assumes his presidential duties
January 2, 2007.
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December 2006
Gallaudet University will proceed with disciplinary
actions against students who led protests that at times shut down the
nation's top school for the deaf, officials said Friday. Gallaudet's board
of trustees has decided to let the administration move ahead with actions
against the protesters as it normally would deal with infractions. The
protesters were unhappy with the incoming president and succeeded in
forcing the board to revoke her appointment. Full
Story
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December
2006
Disciplinary
action against more than 100 Gallaudet University students could lead to
more protests when school reconvenes next month, according to
demonstration leaders. The board of trustees of the nation's most
prominent school for the deaf agreed last week to go forward with campus
judicial proceedings after placing a monthlong freeze on the process . . .
. . . Student protesters say they hope incoming interim president Robert
Davila will intervene and drop the sanctions. Full
Story
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December
2006
Faculty,
staff, and students of Gallaudet University can spend their holidays in
peace-they appear quite satisfied on December 9 with the selection of
Gallaudet's interim president, Dr. Robert Davila. According to the Board
of Trustees, 13 applications were initially chosen, and then these were
whittled down to five, who were interviewed via videophone. From these
candidates the final three were selected. The two other candidates, who
together with Dr. Davila constituted the three, were Dr. Stephen Weiner
and Dr. William 'Bill' Marshall. Full
Story
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Former
President's Legacy May Not Reflect His Tenure
January
2007
When
I. King Jordan announced in fall 2005 to a hushed and expectant crowd at
Gallaudet University that he would step down as president of the school
for the deaf, people gasped. Many burst into tears. Dozens stood in line
to thank him or to sign "I love you." That was then. In the past
year, he has faced an onslaught of protests over his support for an
unpopular would-be successor, including effigies, a faculty no-confidence
vote, insults and accusations, some lingering bitterly through the end of
his term Dec. 31. At Gallaudet, for going on two decades, Jordan's
presidency inspired an intensity of feeling hard to imagine on any other
campus. He came in as a hero, a charismatic spokesman who told the world,
deaf and hearing, how much was attainable. It has been a painful goodbye. Full
Story
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January 2007
An independent
investigation into an incident at Gallaudet University last fall in which
security officers searched a building occupied by protesting deaf students
concluded that allegations of "excessive force" and the use of
pepper spray by the officers are untrue. The 53-page report also said that
the security officers were insufficiently trained and equipped to enter
the building during the protest Oct. 6 over the selection of a school
president but that for the most part, they "performed well under
difficult circumstances." Full
Story
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By
I. King Jordan
January
2007
Frankly,
what is happening at Gallaudet is a struggle between defining the deaf
community in narrow, exclusive terms or in broad, inclusive terms. There
is a very small but vocal group of deaf people who define the community
narrowly. I call this group the "absolutists." They believe you
are either deaf or you are not. You are either a supporter of ASL or you
are not deaf. You either refuse to consider cochlear implants or you are
not deaf. Many of our students, faculty and alumni who consider themselves
deaf (including some born deaf to deaf families) would not be considered
deaf by the absolutists. Full
Story
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February
2007
The
dust has settled at Galladet over the appointment of Jane Fernandes, and
it seems that everyone is moving on. Here are Jane's thoughts about the
Gallaudet situation and the broader issues now that some time has passed.
You can read Jane's answers to these questions:
Q:
Tell us about your experiences growing up with hearing loss.
Q:
Talk about your career and how you came to work at Gallaudet. What are
your greatest career accomplishments?
Q:
What changes do you see happening in the Deaf Culture? Is there a
particular structure to the deaf community?
Q:
How are cochlear implants changing the deaf community?
Q:
Were you surprised by the student protests after you were named president?
What do you feel are the real reasons behind the protests?
Q:
What do you see as the next step for you in your career?
Full
story
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February 2007
Gallaudet University said yesterday that it would not
take disciplinary action against students arrested in protests that forced
the ouster of its chosen president last October. "No student who was
arrested will receive additional punishment in any way or form,” said
Robert R. Davila, the university's interim president, in a video message
posted yesterday on the university's Web site. But those students might
face job-related consequences if t hey work at the Clerc Center, where
Gallaudet helps develop teaching strategies for deaf children, said Mercy
H. Coogan, a university spokeswoman. Mr. Davila's announcement also does
not preclude the possibility of university-related sanctions against
students who might have been involved in the protests and were not
arrested, Ms. Coogan said.
Full
Story
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April 2007
Reports of the poisonous atmosphere at Gallaudet
during the demonstrations were so alarming that in early January a team
from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the regional
accrediting agency for colleges in the Mid-Atlantic area, visited
Gallaudet and issued a report warning of "dire consequences in terms
of accreditation" if the events of September and October 2006 were to
be repeated. . . . . This was an unspoken truth that was talked about
within the inner confines of the Deaf community but not to the general
public. For the past 18 years, the Deaf community has played a façade of
accepting Dr. Jordan as one of their own, when in reality he was not. He
was simply a caretaker until the appointment of a true Deaf individual as
president. Then, and only then, would the movement for a Deaf President
Now that began in 1988 be complete. Full
Story
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October 2007
Last October, angry protesters shut down the
internationally known school for the deaf, throwing it into chaos, forcing
out an incoming president and intensifying scrutiny from accreditors. Things
have calmed and the mood on campus is upbeat, but Gallaudet is at a
crossroads. Accreditors have put the school on probation, and undergraduate
enrollment has dropped by 120 students, or 10 percent, since admissions were
tightened to boost academic quality. The past year has been spent
stabilizing leadership, calming tensions, rebuilding a fractured community
and working at a breakneck pace to attack the shortcomings flagged by the
Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Whether all the changes forced
the school to the brink of collapse -- or saved it just in time from
deep-rooted problems and complacency, creating a stronger, more unified
place -- is up for debate.
Full Story
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October 2008
Rather than cloistering itself from the rest of the
community, Gallaudet for the first time is designing a streetscape and
architecture to bring together deaf and hearing people. The changes will be
made on two spacious parcels where the university is designing a mix of
housing, offices, retail, restaurants and cultural attractions . . . . . But
the school intends to begin removing those barriers in part because of
recruiting challenges and a younger generation that desires more integration
into the broader world . . . . . . Gallaudet officials say they need
restaurants and other attractions to help make their campus more of a draw.
In the past five years, undergraduate enrollment has declined from about
1,400 to just under 1,000.
Full Story
