"Not Deaf Enough" - What the World Sees
From day one of the protest I believed it would probably end up going nowhere if protesters wanted the outside world's sympathy on their cause and belief of why protesters were protesting against the selection of Dr. Jane K. Fernandes to be the 9th president of Gallaudet University.
The cold hard reality is that people outside of Gallaudet are getting their news about the protest but will not understand why on earth deaf protesters are against the 1st deaf woman selected to become the 9th president of Gallaudet University by a mostly deaf Board of Trustees at an university for deaf and hard of hearing students. Any other messages will simply be muted against this core fact. This is what the outside world will always see as compared to Deaf President Now of 1988 when it was a hearing person that was selected by a mostly hearing Board of Trustees to become president of Gallaudet University. That, in of itself, never sounded right and the world understood that right away. It was a conceptual understanding by everybody. But this time, it's different. The facts are this:
* A university for deaf and hard of hearing students.
* A deaf woman for president was selected.
* A deaf majority on the Board of Trustee who selected Dr. Jane K. Fernandes.
A case in point.
Now that the protesters have gotten the media attention, nationally, their efforts to get their own message out is now compounded exponentionally, in the worst way, with the media reporting that the selected 9th president isn't "deaf enough" for the deaf protesters.
A double take for all those reading the news on the protest.
Look at what the news media are reporting right now.
On Foxnews they report in big bold letters "Is Gallaudet University's Dean 'Deaf Enough'?"
On ABC News in bold letters "Is Deaf University President Not 'Deaf Enough'?"
And what do you think the question will be on upcoming nightly national news?
Not deaf enough?
The cold hard reality is that people outside of Gallaudet are getting their news about the protest but will not understand why on earth deaf protesters are against the 1st deaf woman selected to become the 9th president of Gallaudet University by a mostly deaf Board of Trustees at an university for deaf and hard of hearing students. Any other messages will simply be muted against this core fact. This is what the outside world will always see as compared to Deaf President Now of 1988 when it was a hearing person that was selected by a mostly hearing Board of Trustees to become president of Gallaudet University. That, in of itself, never sounded right and the world understood that right away. It was a conceptual understanding by everybody. But this time, it's different. The facts are this:
* A university for deaf and hard of hearing students.
* A deaf woman for president was selected.
* A deaf majority on the Board of Trustee who selected Dr. Jane K. Fernandes.
A case in point.
Now that the protesters have gotten the media attention, nationally, their efforts to get their own message out is now compounded exponentionally, in the worst way, with the media reporting that the selected 9th president isn't "deaf enough" for the deaf protesters.
A double take for all those reading the news on the protest.
Look at what the news media are reporting right now.
On Foxnews they report in big bold letters "Is Gallaudet University's Dean 'Deaf Enough'?"
On ABC News in bold letters "Is Deaf University President Not 'Deaf Enough'?"
And what do you think the question will be on upcoming nightly national news?
Not deaf enough?
posted by . | 11:23 AM
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