Students at Gallaudet University, the nation's premier exclusively deaf college, have protested the selection of Jane Fernandes as their new president. I have tried to understand what the student's principle objections to her are and have come away scratching my head.
These paragraphs from today's Post are the most cogent:
Okay -- but she's not in control yet...how can they blame her for this?Fernandes promotes inclusiveness and is working on a diversity initiative, but her critics point out that there are few black or Hispanic professors or administrators at Gallaudet.
Some critics have said that her actions since May have widened the divide at the school. For example, when Fernandes defined the controversy as a question of whether she was "deaf enough," the protesters -- who insisted that was not the reason for their opposition -- compared it to playing "the race card."
But this "deaf enough" reason...or being the "wrong" kind of deaf person -- she didn't learn ASL until she was an adult -- does seem to be the reason...see below:
So is that it...Fernandes wants to open Gallaudet to "all types of deafness" and the students want to keep it narrowed to only those deaf persons who rely soley on ASL to communicate? Once again, everyone's for diversity and inclusiveness as long the right people are being included. If this is the case, the kids hardly have the moral high ground.Technology, such as cochlear implants, has made it increasingly easy for deaf students to communicate with hearing people, rather than immersing themselves in the deaf community.
Fernandes has said that she has deep respect for sign language and wants to preserve it but that the school's future depends on welcoming students with all types of deafness and means of communicating.
It seems unlikely Fernandes will take her office in January...which means mob rule takes the day at Gallaudet.
1 comment:
Scott, I'm trying to understand the protesters' problems with the president-elect too. However, this is my take based on some history one of my readers told me about. Maybe it is some of both the deaf issue and the failure to get the "wisdom of community" behind the president-elect. It seems from what I can discern that many in the community had serious problems with the way in which JKF was selected. Many didn't like her administrative style. They didn't like a candidate who was hand-picked.
Despite those who say a university is a business and should be run in a business-like manner, I say that a university is more. If a new administration fails to get the stakeholders or whatever you want to call them (I prefer community myself) behind a candidate, there's going to be trouble sooner or later. And unlike a business, you can't fire all of the disgruntled. Of course, the Board of Trustees needs a person it can work with. More important though, is a person who has the support of faculty, students and alumni. I don't believe this to be the case with Gallaudet.
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