Gallaudet's Fernandes wants all state deaf schools closed down, protesters say
 (Part 6)

Editor: The selection of Jane Fernandes as the next president of Gallaudet caused quite a ruckus a couple of months ago, but the controversy seemed to die down as students dispersed for the summer. But the protestors haven't gone away. Here's the latest press release from a group that is trying to convince the Gallaudet Board to withdraw Fernandes' nomination.

This is part six of six parts.

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At Gallaudet University, the world's only university for the deaf, in Washington DC, the president-elect, Jane Fernandes, who is scheduled to take office on Jan. 1, 2007, harbors a dangerous anti-philosophy of education, which is harmful to the emotional and intellectual well being of deaf students. Protesters are continuing in their two demands that she either step down or have her appointment rescinded, and that no reprisals be administered to the protesters.

(PressMethod) - Not honest enough

It is clear that both Jordan and Fernandes are projecting their own psychologies onto the situation by characterizing the current protest movement as being a question of whether or not Fernandes is "deaf enough" (i.e., whether or not she is accepted as a person or as President-elect of Gallaudet because of the fact that she first started learning sign language when she was an adult.)

Fernandes has continued with this viciously false rhetoric, in spite of very clear denunciations from the protesters who rightly point out that she is attempting to drive a stake through the heart of the deaf community. She is fanning the flames of animosity that exist within the imagination of many of those deaf students who were subjected to a purely oral approach in their education who have not yet learned that they are very welcome to join deaf culture and learn American Sign Language.

She knows it's false rhetoric. We know it. Everyone knows it. The whole history of Gallaudet proves that it is fals e.

A bleak future for Gallaudet under a Fernandes administration

With Gallaudet University no longer carrying civilization's torch, in the form of being the center of the worldwide Deaf Culture Movement, state lawmakers will no longer be able to justify providing funding for the residential schools, since those schools will no longer be outposts of the Deaf Culture Movement and they will offer nothing that the students won't be able to obtain in their hometown schools.

Of course Jordan and Fernandes will issue vehement denials as to the intended consequences of their policies, or even try to deny that they are the authors of Gallaudet's current policies, but they have in fact laid out a course which (to whatever extent they consciously realize) spells the demise of and ultimately the permanent closure of all of the state-sponsored residential elementary and secondary schools for the deaf in the 47 states where they exist, including Puerto Rico a nd the District of Columbia.

Most likely these policies will also eventually lead to the permanent closure of Gallaudet University, for the same reasoning as given above.

Now is the time for members of the Deaf Culture Movement and their supporters everywhere in the United States and abroad to take action to prevent the further hijacking of the movement and to prevent the death of what has been so effective a method of promoting culture, knowledge and achievement.

We must all write our Congressmen, especially key subcommittee chairmen and members in the House of Representatives such as Rep. Ralph Regula (2306 Rayburn HOB, Washington DC 20515), Rep. Steny Hoyer (1705 Longworth HOB, Washington, DC 20515), Rep. Ric Keller (419 Cannon HOB, Washington, D.C. 20515) and other influential congressmen whose official responsibility it is to oversee Gallaudet, such as the members of the House Appropriations Committee (especially the members of the Subcommi ttee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies), and also the members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce (especially the members of the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness).

We should also communicate our grievances to key committee chairmen in the U.S. Senate, including Sen. Arlen Specter (711 Hart Building, Washington, DC 20510), Sen. Tom Harkin (531 Hart SOB Washington, DC 20510) and Sen. Lamar Alexander (302 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510). Let's also write to senators on the committees and subcommittees that oversee Gallaudet, including members of the Senate Committee on Appropriations (especially the members of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies), as well as members of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (and especially the members of the Subcommittee on Education and Early Childhood Development).

It's also i mportant to write the official patron of Gallaudet University, namely, the President of the United States, and we should also remember to write the Vice President of the U.S. and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.

Above all, let us not forget to communicate our grievances to the three congressionally appointed members of Gallaudet's Board of Trustees: The Honorable Ray LaHood of Illinois (1424 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515), The Honorable John McCain of Arizona (241 Russell Bldg, Washington DC 20510), and The Honorable Lynn Woolsey of California (2263 Rayburn HOB, Washington, D.C. 20515).

We must stop Jane Fernandes from becoming the next president of Gallaudet University. We must save the state residential schools for the deaf from being closed down and we must save Gallaudet University. The Deaf Culture Movement is a wonderful part of Western Civilization and it should be properly understood, valued and given th e high esteem that it deserves.

As Irving K. Jordan himself stated to the Washington Post last May: "The protests are about much more than Jane Fernandes...It's about what it means to be deaf in the 21st Century."

It should be abundantly clear that Jordan, in that statement and in other statements he has made, is saying that he believes that Gallaudet's historic role as the center of the Deaf Culture Movement should be changed and that it should no longer be accepted as being the unique nature of Gallaudet University, contrary to its long and esteemed history and contrary to the tremendous results that have been achieved by the development and spread the use of American Sign Language.

We must not allow incompetent administrators who have a history of possessing very deficient interpersonal and communicative skills to take over the leadership of Gallaudet University, one of the greatest institutions in the history of the United States and the wor ld.

The Deaf Culture Movement represents civilization in its highest form. We must not allow it to be destroyed by a handful of incompetent opportunists who misunderstand its role in the history of civilized man and also attempt to mischaracterize its nature and its supremely beneficial effects.

We must save the historic Deaf Culture Movement, and thereby also support the profound values of Western Civilization, which were initiated by the ancient Greeks.

(End)

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