Gallaudet: Protest shows that deaf people can be as prejudiced and dumb as those with hearing
Students and faculty at Gallaudet University are protesting the appointment of university provost Dr. Jane K. Fernandes. They claim that the hiring of the new president, though considered qualified by the selection committee, is a form of “oppression” and “discrimination” because, while deaf, she is not deaf enough. By most definitions, their stance is the worst kind of discrimination.
Here are the things the protesters claim being attributed to the protesters that make the incoming provost unfit for the job:
She is not “deaf enough”
“She was raised mostly around hearing people”
She has said that the university should include “all kinds of deaf people”
But there’s more. According to the Times, the protesters said that “university officials were slow to provide them with interpreters, making it difficult for students to communicate with the press.”
Yes, the people who are shutting down the school because of their own biases are upset that the school didn’t provide interpreters to help them convey their prejudices to the media. It appears that this extreme element of “deaf culture” is actually a “culture of entitlement.”
It’s really too bad. At a time when the deaf have won an important and hard fought victory in the courts (that being the right for deaf UPS workers to become delivery drivers), the hard core deaf zealots at Gallaudet University are projecting an image of intolerance, bigotry, pettiness and entitlement.
Think we’re wrong? Look at what this deaf culture blog has to say about the board of trustees at Gallaudet:
There is a special circle in hell reserved for these men. They have cut themselves off from their personal and cultural history in an effort to escape the pain of the past. They’re deaf, but not deaf in the sense of you or me.
Yes, according to that poster deaf people who succeed in the non-deaf world are destined to Hell. That’s real progressive.
Hopefully, the attitudes above are not representative of real deaf culture and the opposition to Fernandes has absolutely nothing to do with her level of deafness or around whom she was raised.
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October 13th, 2006 at 2:03 pm
you are very wrong about the issues related to gallaudet’s protests. first of all, we are protesting because the search process was not fair and was arguably rigged in favor of the outgoing president’s handpicked successor. one of the biggest clues came when the outgoing president i king jordan said “please welcome the new president… oops i mean, the provost jane fernandes” at his retirement announcement. the search process also smacked of racism when one of the strongest canidates, a black man with PHD and long history of higher ed experience was eliminated in favor of a white man with only a MA and no higher ed experience. the three finalists were all white even though many diverse canidates could have had a chance.
dr jane fernandes is responsible for much of damage done to gallaudet university in her six years as the provost, and the community at gallaudet clearly recognize that she is not fit to lead gallaudet into the future. who would know better than the students and faculty who were directly affected by her leadership during her time as provost?
dr jane fernandes used to be director of the clerc center at gallaudet university. this clerc center oversees one elmentary school and one high school. she made many changes during her leadership as head of the clerc center that badly damaged clerc center and fired many hardworking, important people for no reason. the clerc center has submitted a letter asking for her resignation as the president designate of gallaudet university.
worse, what ultimately proves that fernandes is not the right person for gallaudet university was her use of the gallaudet university’s public relations department to promote her own personal agenda. she has repeatedly told all major media outlets that this protest is about her not being “deaf enough,” portraying the protestors as “dissenters” and basically making those who protest for very valid reason look stupid, petty, and immature.
first of all, included with the protestors are university professors and department chairs who have authored books and lectured to other university audiences and have PHDs themselves. secondly, the world should praise the such fercociousness that the protestors wage their war. every hearing person has a vast amount of choice when it comes to university education; every single deaf person has only one liberal arts university for the deaf. this is what makes many faculty, students, staff, and alumni hold galllaudet university so dear to their hearts. it is worth it to fight this hard for gallaudet university to those protestors and all jane fernandes has done is insult their integrity and audacity. she cannot become the next president of gallaudet university, period.
even more, the protest has earned the public support of student body government presidents from such respected universities as University of Maryland, George Washington University, George Mason University, and more. would you also call those sbg presidents prejudiced and dumb? i don’t think so.
you are writing this blog and you are accomplishing exactly what jane fernandes’ public relations war agenda has been trying to accomplish. please go visit www.gufssa.com and www.elisawrites.com to get your facts straight. do not listen to the lies fed to the media by gallaudet university’s public relations department.
October 13th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
Dang. I just realized why I was never able to get my band any gigs at Gallaudet.
October 13th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Rachel, thank you for the thoughtful response.
The “oppression” quote was a direct quote from Ryan Commerson, one of the protesters.
The issue regarding the entitlement to be provided interpreters by the very university the protesters were shutting down came from the LA Times. It did not name a source but appears to have come from a protester and not from the administration.
You are correct that the offensive and inflamatory “deaf enough” comment came from Fernandes. For your sake, I hope that it is unsubstantiated.
October 23rd, 2006 at 9:51 am
I have been following this protest of late.
It seems that the “deaf enough” comment has been attributed in the media to several different protestors themselves, not Fernandes.
One student also said that Fernandes’ unwillingness to embrace her deafness was evidenced by the fact that she married a hearing man.
The fact that these quotes have been attributed to the students themselves and not some Gallaudet PR hack *does* demonstrate intolerance, discrimination, contempt and racism amongst the deaf community.
I don’t believe that it’s a PR spin. I myself am profoundly deaf, but I’m oral, know very little sign-not for lack of trying to improve it-married a hearing woman, I have a PhD and I work in medical research. I (and others like myself) have been subject to the worst kind of discrimination amongst the deaf community. We have been referred to as “heafies” or the disabled equivalents of Oreo cookies (you know, deaf on the outside, hearing on the inside-this was attributed to a deaf politician from Canada). To paraphrase GW Bush, the Deaf community’s attitude is “you’re either like us or you’re against us”.
OK, fine, if the students *really* believe that she is a bad leader because of what’s been quoted above by Rachel, that’s fine. Those are perfectly valid statements. But why aren’t the *students* saying this? Why are they coming up with these irrational arguments?
Stuff like that makes my blood boil, it really does. I’ve worked hard to get to where I am and I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished. But why should I be made to feel like a second-class citizen amongst the Deaf community?
October 25th, 2006 at 12:01 am
andrew,
i am always proud of every deaf person who rises above and succeeds in both the hearing and deaf world. remember, it was our very own I King Jordan who said “Deaf people can do anything but hear” during the student protest that (actually closed down school for one week) put him into the president’s office.
Its painful for so many people to realize that Jordan’s hubris has become so vast that his leadership has turned from a inspiring, successful tenure into one that is explemified by management by intimidation, embezzlement, and lack of shared governance. one of the biggest negative symbols of his administration’s troubled last few years (which included the Goalpost fiasco in where DC police were called but no interpreters were provided. this seriously escalated the situation and later, the administration blamed the students for misbehavoring rather than admitting that they had made a mistake by not calling in the interpreters) is - Dr. Jane Fernandes.
I recommend you to go to www.gufssa.com and check out the Letter from Clerc Center under MUST READ archives. This will explain to you the style of Fernandes’ leadership and why students, faculty, staff, and alumni geniunely do not want her to lead Gallaudet University.
You said you’ve been a victim of discrimination by deaf people. I understand what you mean and I’m saddened by that because I’ve been a victim just as well of that kind of prejudice. However, the “deaf enough” comment was intitated by Fernandes and relentlessely pushed by the Gallaudet University’s public relations department hard enough to the point where the university’s official website actually advertises and elaborates upon this argument rather than presenting a balanced overview of the situation occuring at Gallaudet. They also have some students on their side who are pushing this card, too. Some of those students actually do have that attlitude towards people like you and me and it makes me angry because it hurts the protest. Just because few captial D deaf people fell for that. Just because few Fernandes supporters knew it would hurt our cause to say certain volatile things to the media.
Don’t forget that majority of the faculty at Gallaudet is also hearing and they voted for Fernandes to resign or be removed by 82 percent.
This protest was never about the “not deaf enough” issue. Susan Kinzie wrote an excellent article in Washington Post: “Source of Turmoil Up for Debate” that shows a better, balanced overview of the protest coverage.
Yes, I feel your pain about the discrimination experienced. But that wasn’t the issue and it was never the issue at Gallaudet protests. Fernandes chose to play that card to subvert real issues at Gallaudet concerning shared governance and leadership failures into volatile cultural debate that really has nothing to do with the political climate at Gallaudet. This is what makes me bitter - that a deaf person would have such a high level of disregard for vast majority of her own constituencies. What a way to make the deaf population look bad. We don’t need that - you or me.
October 26th, 2006 at 10:25 am
I’m not as eloquent as you two are, but this is what I have to say. At first I supported Board of Trustee’s decision - I even went as far to say that it was embarrasing to see students protesting on basis of “not deaf enough”. However, facts poured forth - particularly damaging remarks from Clerc’s people. What drove the stake to the heart was JF taking advantage of the situation (Rachel explained that very well) where she could have stood by honorable principles. Not only that, with her intellect, she knew what she was doing and deliberately did so to make herself look good.
It is now gotten to the point that I am embarrased at obstinancy of JF, Jordan, and BOT chair to remain steadfast their position. It has gotten to the point where even if JF becomes president, it will be a lame duck presidency and I’m convinced also Gallaudet will suffer greatly under her reign. 82% of vote of no confidence from Gally faculty speaks loudly and clearly.
I was under the impression that Gallaudet University have for number of years accepted all kinds of people, including hard of hearing, oralist, cochlear implants, etc. My wife is an oralist who went to Gallaudet University (graduated in 70’s), and she has nothing but gratitude for Gally. She is now a professor at an University. So all this remarks that Gallaudet is only for signing Deaf people, I think, is inaccurate.
No, JF needs to resign and soon, too. Common sense and decency screams for that.
October 29th, 2006 at 11:41 am
jonny