I’ll be honest here. Before I read Ruiz’s article and the long line of comments that followed, I didn’t have a particularly strong opinion on this topic. Should we recognize Gallaudet as the Mecca of deaf people, a place where we can be the majority for once, and create rules of how, when, and where it would be unacceptable to speak rather than sign? Or should we stop battling the hearing students who come here to learn ASL and about deaf culture and treat them like the allies that they should be for us?
However, now I realize that every perspective is valuable to this discussion. I also realize that the demographics of Gallaudet is changing; we can not continue to demonstrate a militant attitude that causes new signers or hearing students feel excluded and in return, causes the deaf community to be a small and exclusive group. We must work together to expand our community by welcoming all kinds of members, regardless of their signing abilities, if we want to survive. This does not mean that we should hold ASL at a lesser value. Rather, this means that dialogues that involve the entire campus are necessary in order to understand one another and to agree on how we want to deal with this issue as a community.Is she speaking for all of Gallaudet university? It is interesting when she said "we" as in "we cannot can not continue to demonstrate a militant attitude that causes new signers or hearing students feel excluded and in return causes the deaf community to be a small and exclusive group." Is Hanaumi saying that militancy was and continues to be a problem on the campus of Gallaudet University that have caused new signers to feel excluded? Something like the Charles Wirick's case where he may have been a case of him getting "ganged up" on campus, so to speak? Also interesting is the latest poll result on whether people felt that Charles Wirick was bullied or not. Some 53% said 'yes' he was bullied versus 15% of those who said 'no.' Interesting poll result so far.
In Ruiz's article in the Buff and Blue it takes on different flavor that comes with a sense of an ultimatum to it:
Thus, a language policy must be accepted. ASL at all times. Language immersion at all times. Cultural representation at all times. No more wasting time coddling the hearing students or the Deaf students victimized by the hearing system who are not yet fluent users of ASL. It is time to rise up and unite, to recreate Gallaudet as a deaf embodiment.Wouldn't this "ASL at all times" help create and foster more militant attitudes on campus? After all, questions remain on whether Charles Wirick was a victim of "militant attitudes" on campus.
Sprouse described Wirick in frank terms. “He was raised oral without much exposure to Deaf culture and community—and here at Gallaudet he, for the most part, was an outcast. Wirick vented to me before about deaf-to-deaf audism, which enraged him. He didn’t like how Gallaudet treated him and didn’t know how to fit in the university.”Not exactly what pluralism ought to be about on campus if students are routinely faced what Charles Wirick faced when it came to communication issues and acceptance. How many students left Gallaudet University because they could not "fit in" or that they felt they were not welcomed? The idea on pluralism for Gallaudet University might prove to be a conundrum for president Hurwitz since he was elated about the rejection of the ICED Milan decision. The conundrum would lie in the acceptance of a new ICED resolution, a global call to "accept and respect all languages and all forms of communication" in the education of deaf people. Remember, all forms of communication, and not just languages only.
Let me illustrate exactly why this might be a conundrum for president Hurwitz and Gallaudet University. I'll repeat what Joseph P. Rioto said earlier in Deaf Echo regarding pluralism and the ICED resolution and what it may mean for Gallaudet University in the very near future.
I would suggest that the university takes a hard look at the concept of pluralism. Although the word is not mentioned explicitly, the concept of pluralism is very obvious in the resolution that was adopted by the International Congress on Education of the Deaf (ICED) 2010 last summer. The resolution says to respect all languages and forms of communication. I do not need to elaborate the possible consequences if the university chooses not to abide by the resolution. Some of the arguments that I have seen apparently want to reject or greatly restrict the resolution and that is a serious matter.In other words on "all forms of communication" they include CUED speech, SEE, PSE, and even oral (speech) to go along with ASL that must respected and accepted, and not restricted. Since president Hurwitz was elated about the rejection of the ICED Milan decision will he now support and embrace the new ICED resolution to respect all languages and all forms of communication at Gallaudet University and see that pluralism flourish on campus? Will he call for the end of militant ASL attitudes on campus? Will he support or be cool about "ASL at all times"? How about a call to end "hearing spaces" or a call to support it? Will president Hurwitz find a way to help end bullying on campus against those who do not "fit in"? Will he open up the Charles Wirick's case and order an in depth investigation to see whether Wirick was a victim of bullying or militant attitudes levied against him on campus? And see whether a one-year suspension against him was justified or not since bias appeared to have been against Wirick all along leading to his one year Gallaudet University suspension? Or will Gallaudet University turn a cold shoulder on the new ICED resolution calling for the concept of pluralism as implied in the resolution that was adopted by the International Congress on Education of the Deaf (ICED) 2010 last summer"?
All interesting stuff here. But will we witness president Hurwitz shoot himself in the foot soon?
14 comments:
As you have said, Wirick was suspended for threatening fellow students and talking about shooting. Even if he had difficulties fitting in socially, as many students do, his threat puts him in a whole other category.
I agree that we should do more to integrate students into campus life and especially to make cultural outsiders feel welcome.
However, we are talking about two different things: language use and social adjustment.
People like Wirick were indeed learning signs and he was using them effectively as we saw with his clearly understood threats. Language was not his primary problem; it was anger about being accepted. Fair enough, up to a point: threats have to be treated seriously. Fortunately, this kind of problem is extremely rare.
Not all people feel accepted socially--some because of social deviance, psychological problems, some because of shyness, some experience cultural shock, so the appropriate focus for them is achieving good social adjustment. This is a more common problem and deserves its share of attention.
Focusing on Gallaudet being a monolingual, bilingual, or even a free-for-all campus where any communication is accepted, one has to simplify things. It would be impractical to attempt to serve all communication needs in our fragmented community.
Thanks to various experiments in modifying sign languages, a Tower of Babel was coming into campus. In spite of this, we arrived at a general PSE that served its purpose in education.
Then hiring of teachers without any knowledge of sign language compounded the problem. Adding interpreters to classrooms. Overlooking effectiveness of teaching in favor of technical knowledge. Understandably, the campus tension increased--imagine trying for good grades when one doesn't understand the professor half the time.
As if that wasn't bad enough, we are focusing on oral/HOH/CI students who came not knowing sign language and becoming worried that we should be focusing on their unique communication needs.
Should we be introducing oral interpreters, expanded audiological services and enhanced loop systems? At what point does this focus take away from the Gallaudet objective of a visually accessible education?
Some direction and restructuring of priorities is needed, along with implementing it in user friendly ways. This is a campus intended for visually oriented people, after all. Let's not forget that.
dianrez,
He was suspended for the shooting threat rumor. There's no indication that he was suspended for threatening students per se, just the rumor itself that a shooting would happen to a particular group. This is where gets all confusing.
Wirick came up to Sprouse and his friends (how many) at Carlin Hall where they were already in discussion when Wirick chimed in. There were at least two people who had the opportunity to spread the rumor of what Wirick said. What about Sprouse's friends that day? The BnB said "friends" so at 2 friends were with Sprouse that day. How many? 2? 3? 4? 5 of his friends were with him that day who went their own way that day and began recounting what Wirick said to other people. We already say how rumor got out of hand saying that Wirick had a gun in his dorm, etc. What I'm saying is who else were involved with this rumor that got out of control?
Gallaudet University's goal is not a visually accessible campus that's the goal but a goal of a completely accessible communication access for everybody. There are many deaf-blind students so the goal is more in line about communication needs while incorporating a visual environment that supports that. Nothing said about ASL only. Many sign in PSE and not really in pure ASL in the first place.
Dianrez, knock it off repeating the official Gallaudet line about Charles Wirick.
Do you work for Gallaudet? Are you involved in any way the investigation regarding Charles Wirick? Do you have access to the evidences supporting Gallaudet case against Wirick? No?
Please read McConnell's blogs more carefully. "As you have said...". He never said Wirick was suspended for threatening students. He stated that Wirick was suspended for the shooting rumor based on what was reported, and pointed out there are inconsistencies in reporting and handling the Wirick case by BnB and Gallaudet school officials. Wirick was railroaded out of Gallaudet because of his background and poor signing, even though he did poorly in conducting himself with Sprouse and others. He should have gone straight to the school officials and express concerns about shooting rumors instead to Sprouse and others. Sprouse took Wirick's words out of proportion and it went spiraled out of control much to Wirick's disadvantage.
dianrez...
"People like Wirick were indeed learning signs and he was using them effectively as we saw with his clearly understood threats. Language was not his primary problem; it was anger about being accepted."
No. The Buff and Blue story reported a "MISUNDERSTANDING" between Sprouse and Wirick and you are implicitly blaming ONLY Wirick for the MISUNDERSTANDING. Wirick attempted to clarify the "MISUNDERSTANDING" with Sprouse but was rebuffed.
It was Michael Sprouse's friend, Justin McDorman, who was "angry" as per the Bnb article.
From Bnb: "Justin was mad [about a Resident Advisor’s rule] and he said that’s why shootings happen."
Wirick seems to have agreed with Justin, and the "MISUNDERSTANDING" may have been caused by Wirick adding to Justin's statement that specific cliques on campus would be targeted, and from there, Sprouse went into hyperdrive trying to "alert" as many people about his supposed fears of a "shooting threat."
Sprouse went on a mission between Monday and Tuesday to "alert" as many people as possible: he contacted several school officials, DPS three times, and even talked to his friends outside the Marketplace about the rumor, which Sprouse admitted.
Wirick made no threat and was not considered a threat to the campus. The "shooting threat" was created by Sprouse based on his assumptions of Wirick and his background, and less so based on Wirick's opinion, which he tried to clarify with Sprouse at least ONCE between Sunday and Tuesday.
Wirick was railroaded out of Gallaudet. All young college kids make mistakes but the school doesn't need to compound their mistakes by creating witch-hunts based on assumptions made by students who seem paranoid such as Sprouse.
rob...
You raised a good point with your comment, "He should have gone straight to the school officials and express concerns about shooting rumors instead to Sprouse and others."
Absolutely. Any possibilities on why Wirick didn't? The question is not designed to minimize or reduce Wirick's responsibilities as you stated above, but rather, to ask why he didn't reach out to school officials.
rob...
One other point: the Bnb story did not offer any evidence of Wirick contacting school officials, therefore, the story infers Wirick did not make any attempt to reach out to school officials.
Based on the Bnb story, it seems Wirick did not contact school officials, therefore, the question of why he might not have contacted school officials remains an important question.
Dianrez, you said "imagine trying for good grades when one doesn't understand the professor half the time."
Does that mean Gally students cannot understand the interpreter assigned to the Professor? I used interpreters for my college classes. That's not a problem.
Or are you implying Gally students cannot understand hearing Professors who perhaps teach at a different level than the deaf Professors at Gally?
Fellows, apparently we have different viewpoints on the Wirick affair. One says he was misunderstood and railroaded; the other (Gallaudet) says he was problematic and making specific threats. I read both and chose to believe the on-campus students' version as reported in the Buff and Blue. No, I have no connection with Gallaudet other than having graduated there many years ago. But, yes, I feel Gallaudet may have overlooked important needs so agree with both sides.
This blog seems to focus on how horrible and rumor-mongering Gallaudet students can be and thus ruined the life of a student. That is also possible. Again, it is the responsibility of Gallaudet to sort that out and settle it, not outsiders. Who at Gallaudet? Administrators and students, both.
My viewpoint is influenced by past experience with a few Deaf individuals (out of hundreds and hundreds) who blew off steam threatening to shoot various persons, including the Prime Minister of the country. Yes, people get upset, and yes, all of these individuals were only blowing steam. The way it was handled was to thoroughly discuss it, warn of the consequences of threats, and determine that it wasn't to be taken seriously.
Now, with contained communities such as the Columbine high school, the Virginia Tech college, and others, administrators have a profound responsibility to make no guesses and to play it safe. It has to be a judgment call of many people involved and enlisting the cooperation of many people, even DPS doing a room search for weapons. As we have seen with airport TSA searches, people today are not trusting to peoples' good natures.
Much as I sympathize with people who make threats or even sound like they are angry, there has to be a limit these days. Gallaudet is no exception. Three past murders will put any school on guard.
Dianrez,
Again, one of the focus is the rumor mongering and how it was spread. There is no information on how many of Sprouse's friends were there after Wirick showed up and whether they went off and helped the rumor. BnB coverage of the story was marginal and painted Wirick as a nut. We still do not know exactly what the context and nature of these conversations and how they went.
There is the issue of Wirick's signing ability and whether the words/signs he chose was misunderstood or not when he first met Sprouse and his friends at Carlin dormitory. After all, it was Sprouse's contention that Wirick was never exposed to Deaf culture which raises the question of Wirick's knowledge of ASL and signing ability.
Lastly, the BnB is the end all be all piece of article that will have answered/confirmed all of your questions. It hasn't. In fact, it has made things worse and raised even more questions than it did answering them. The BnB's article was almost like a mini-hit piece against Wirick. Not much in the way of investigative journalism.
All this brings up the ongoing problems of militancy (per the Hanaumi's article) and attitudes at Gallaudet University that may be the heart of the problem for many students like Wirick who must contend with those people on a daily basis.
dianrez....
"One says he was misunderstood and railroaded; the other (Gallaudet) says he was problematic and making specific threats."
No. The Bnb writer did not state Wirick was "problematic and making specific threats." Gallaudet did not make an official statement that Wirick was "problematic and making specific threats."
Those are your words.
Please do not confuse yourself.
"a few Deaf individuals (out of hundreds and hundreds) who blew off steam threatening to shoot various persons."
No. Please do not make excuses for people who make threats "to shoot various persons." It is a felony to make a threat to the president of the United States, whether or not the person was "blowing off steam."
"The way it was handled was to thoroughly discuss it, warn of the consequences of threats, and determine that it wasn't to be taken seriously."
Yes. Why didn't the Dean of Student Affairs do such a thing? Why did the Dean "prompt" Sprouse to contact DPS?
Mike,
Interesting article. Thanks to JPR's astute observation, the Deaf ICED 2010 resolution which calls for respect of all languages and forms of communication presents something of a conundrum for Gally. The resolution is a two-edged sword. It renounced the 1880 Milan conference's oralism manifesto, yet it calls for respect of the various forms of communication and languages that d/Deaf ppl use. That also includes spoken English that oral deaf use-- it's a language, too. That also includes PSE, SEE, etc, other communication methods of sign language as well as ASL.
Gallaudet is a microcosm of the deaf community. I wouldn't call the university "the deaf community" as Hanaumi did. The deaf community is nation-wide and covers a wide range of d/Deaf ppl. The demographics have been changing there first before it rippled toward Gally, a fact that Hanaumi has acknowledged.
Elena Ruiz may not have acknowledged the changing demographics, but apparently she has observed such. Why else the ultimatum for ASL environment only at Gally, why else the sink-or-swim sign language approach to those coming from mainstream settings and coming late to sign language?
Gally has been described by many alumni as an eye-opening and warmly inclusive environment for d/Deaf ppl. The same should apply for those who wear CI's or HA's and have oral backgrounds, who speak or not.
Tolerance and inclusivity opens doors and in turn, those who come from oral backgrounds will embrace Gally and the deaf community at large, when they graduate. They will contribute more to the deaf community instead of to the hearing world. Think "allies, allies, and allies", like realtors who say, "location, location, and location". Such a policy will help Gally and the deaf community thrive.
I realize there may be heavy skepticism at Gally towards the oral deaf students, but to practice tolerance and inclusivity (not to mention loads of patience) can pay immense dividends for the college and the deaf community beyond. Dividends like pride in the accomplishments of all d/Deaf ppl, no matter their background and communication/ language preference, accelerated cooperation in dealing with communication issues of all d/Deaf ppl, and a more concerted advocacy effort on behalf of all d/Deaf ppl.
It has to start with Gallaudet.
Ann_C
To Anonymous at 10:07 am: The question is not designed to minimize or reduce Wirick's responsibilities as you stated above, but rather, to ask why he didn't reach out to school officials.
It may be that Wirick did not know how to approach this to the school officials.
Which school official? Like the Dean? maybe Wirick knew Dwight Benedict is a Kappa Gamma and that it would have made no difference, so he tried to quell the ridiculous rumors by attempting to clarify the situation among the other students.
In this particular situation, I am certain the Dean is the person to go to. (correct me if I'm wrong.)
These BnB reporters would do well to ask Dwight a few questions. I bet they're afraid. Besides, Dwight's two girls are on the BnB staff. So, it may be that we'll never know the real story.
candy....
"Which school official? Like the Dean? maybe Wirick knew Dwight Benedict is a Kappa Gamma and that it would have made no difference"
Good possibility. The issue of lack of communication between departments was raised by the Bnb writer.
From Bnb: "The lack of communication between the departments on campus affected the faculty as well. Faculty members learned about the threat from students rather from officials on campus."
Perhaps Charles Wirick was a victim of the same lack of communication between the administration, faculty, and students?
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