I question the tactic by protesters who have hijacked Hall Memorial Building (HMB) on the campus of Gallaudet University. If this hijacking continues into this upcoming week this means many of the classes may be cancelled or moved elsewhere. Also, many of the staff and faculty offices are located in HMB where they have their computers, letters, books, gradings and files and they have no way of getting to them while protesters man the entrances.
The list below are classes and offices in HMB:
ASL and Deaf Studies
Biology
Chemistry and Physics
CLAST Academic Departments
Client and Multimedia Services
College of Liberal Arts, Sciences and Technologies
English
Family and Child Studies
Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Gallaudet Research Institute
Genetics Clinic
Government and History
Graduate Education and Extended Learning
Graduate School and Professional Programs
International Programs and Services
Math and Computer Science
Office of the Provost
Philosophy and Religion
Psychology
Social Work
Sociology
Student Body Government
Summer & Enrichment Programs
There are equipments and computers that are essential in many of the classroom activities when it come to teaching students.
But what might be disturbing to some people is to see that the Office of the Provost is located in HMB. That would be Dr. Jane K. Fernandes' (old) office. Will student protesters holed up in HMB try and gain access to any those rooms? Especially Dr. Jane K. Fernandes' office? I'm sure this has crossed a few minds of those protesters holed up in HMB. If not that, will vandalism be the case as frustration by those inside HMB continues to mount? Only time will tell and hope that none of this will be the case but one couldn't help and wonder about this possibility.
This is a tactic approved by the FSSA for protesters to hijack HMB, forcing a "mini-shutdown" of the school's everyday activities.
Take a poll and see whether you approve this protest or not.
UPDATE: Though JKF office is no longer at the Office of the Provost since she resigned that position after being selected to be the 9th president of Gallaudet University this May. It is however unclear as to whether her items, files or belongings are still at the office. Michael Moore is the current interim provost but it is unclear whether he is using the current Office of the Provost in HMB.
UPDATE II: From a Gallaudet University employee:
JKF is no longer provost at Gallaudet University. Currently, Dr. Michael Moore serves as our interim provost. I do not know whether he took over the provost's office, or stayed at his old office, but this should be checked before we all start speculating about possible vandalism.
That said, given how high tempers run right now, and given the actions of the protesters in the past few days, I am concerned about vandalism and other issues. All the computer equipment that I use for my work is at HMB, and I have a deadline coming up in less than two months for a major conference, with an insane amount of work left to do. In my field, whole careers depend on publishing at conferences like these.
My computer at home is not powerful enough to allow me to continue my work elsewhere, so for me personally the lockdown is more than just an inconvenience or an excuse to take several days off. This period of inaction is going to make itself felt in a month from now.
Thankfully, my boss already approved the purchase of some equipment as a stopgap measure, although it is still much slower and much more limited than what I use at my office.
I am torn about this. On the one hand I would love to charge the equipment costs to the blockaders in some way. Whatever the cause, I do not believe that disrupting academic activities is appropriate or called for. On the other hand, the way things have been going, I am very concerned about where this all will lead. In my view, every side has to give everything possible, and beyond, to defuse the situation, or this can only end badly for everyone.
Start negotiating, and show some flexibility, people! That means everyone involved, not just one side alone.
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