The irony is that Bridgetta Bourne-Firl (sister of Julie Bourne who was one of the editors that wrote the article above) was one of the four Deaf President Now (DPN1) protest leaders in 1988 who mentioned in 2006 that it was time to have someone with a "strong deaf center" (i.e. "Deaf enough" or "Deaf-centric"). That was the general mindset on Gallaudet University campus prior to and during the DPN2 protest. The end result was the protesters got what they wanted, a president who is "Deaf-centric." And that was Dr. Alan Hurwitz. Although he was not the first "Deaf-centric" president to operate Gallaudet University. That distinction belongs to Dr. Davila who was the ongoing interim president for the next two years until the Board of Trustees could "properly" and officially select their next "Deaf-center" president.
On December 10, 2006, the Board of Trustees announced that Robert Davila would serve as interim president for a period of up to two years.[34] He was formally installed on May 9, 2007, during a ceremony that included a speech by D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who spoke positively of the 2006 protest.[35] He stepped down on December 31, 2009.
On June 29, 2007, in the aftermath of the controversy over the university's presidency, Gallaudet was temporarily placed on probation by its accreditation organization, the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.[36] It was also reported that in 2006, the Office of Management and Budget had found that "Gallaudet failed to meet its goals or showed declining performance in key areas, including the number of students who stay in school, graduate and either pursue graduate degrees or find jobs upon graduation."[37] In January 2007, former president Jordan wrote an editorial on the topic that appeared in the Washington Post.[34] The Middle States Commission later reaffirmed Gallaudet's accreditation on June 27, 2008.[38]
On October 18, 2009, the Board of Trustees announced that Gallaudet's tenth president will be Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz. He began his tenure on January 1, 2010.
Many considered the 2006 DPN2 protest as an "unity" moment when unity wasn't really the case although many vehemently disagrees. Ok. If that's' the case then why not Gallaudet University help recognize and celebrate annually the "Unity for Gallaudet Movement"? A watershed moment when a deaf person who was "sufficiently Deaf enough" became the next Gallaudet University president?
Another irony or twist to this is that the celebrating and recognizing DPN with their first deaf president, I. King Jordan (a late-deafened person who lost his hearing in his early 20s after a motorcycle accident), wasn't considered to be "sufficiently Deaf-centric" enough by their standards. Although I.King Jordan during the DPN2 protest was sufficiently demonized and hated by many protesters.
What was shocking in this day and age was that DPN2 was also seen as racist moment when leaders and protesters of DPN2 shifted away from recognizing and supporting Dr. Glenn Anderson as the only African American to be selected as one of the 6 six semifinalists but was not the 3 semifinalists during the week of April 9th through 15th of 2006 for the president position.
Oh, absolutely. I’m guilty of being oppressive and part of that is taking ownership and responsibility. Back in May, when I told a specific group of people that they couldn’t speak in front of the student body [during the initial protests against Fernandes]. It was the black group of students who wanted to speak. …That wasn’t the best decision I’ve ever made, so I’m definitely guilty of that oppression. At the time my thinking was that I didn’t want to have a message that was confusing.
Many students of color objected to the whole selection process, not just the appointment of Fernandes. Did they get much help from the other protesters?
The white students didn’t do anything to support students of color and work together. [The black students] wrote a very powerful letter, and the board didn’t respond, and the SBG didn’t support them in this process.But that's another story for another time just to give you the idea the whole supposedly "unity" of this DPN2 protest.
The big question.
When will Gallaudet University publicly celebrate the victory of DPN2 (Unity for Gallaudet University) on the proper selection of a president that is "sufficiently Deaf centric" on the same level as Deaf President Now (1988)? Isn't rather curious that this is kept at a much lower profile than DPN1 when I. King Jordan wasn't really "sufficiently Deaf centric" enough for many of them but enough to get the ball rolling? Isn't it curious that Gallaudet University has a dedicated page on DPN1 outlining the protest leaders, history and timeline but not DPN2 (Unity for Gallaudet University)? Why is DPN2 not important enough for Gallaudet University to recognize another watershed supposedly student-led protest moment?
Dr. Angela McCaskill: "I quickly looked back to the protest of 2006 (see video on Unity for Gallaudet with MJ Bienvenu in it). Several radical people pushed the students to the front to debate student's agenda. It was not the student's agenda. It was not student's agenda back then and it is not student's agenda now."
Why does Gallaudet University not recognize "Unity for Gallaudet Movement" as another watershed moment when a "sufficiently Deaf centric" president was officially and "properly" selected? Why not have a dedicated website for DPN2 like DPN1? Did you notice that 3 days ago marked the 25th anniversary of the DPN protest movement?
Happy 25th anniversary DPN!
I was there, too. But that's another story, too.
4 comments:
There are many factors about DPN2. I was "The Planner" as no one knew who started it.
DPN2 was planned 5 years before the DPN2 occurred. I finally changed the Gallaudet University System. They did not change since 1953 and finally it was changed 5 years before DPN2. But ASL had not still changed like ASLPI and it had not been recognize.
Most students wanted Stern to be president, but he did not have Ph.D. I believe Ph.D should not require, but in the universities' views are yes.
JK is the woman. Now most universities' goal is to hire woman to be president. But students did not like her at all.
During DPN2, I informed the leaders after few days that students had tents inside the HMB. I told them before the HMB; best started at the College Hall building because I followed UMass' protest plan. Later, they protested around the College Hall; then in the next day, the Board decided to terminate JK. During the protest at the College Hall, the president of SBG told me, "Finally it reached my dream."
MJ is the "Black Apple" of the DPN2 because of her narcissism causing a lot of problem. Now, many students realize that MJ is "revenger" that does not help Gallaudet depsite of her sponsorship.
MJ was rejected to be the President in the first round.
The Motto for DPN2 should be "Fair is Fair!"
New process at Gallaudet in the future is like one year plan to pick a new President.
I notice the best to pick the new Gallaudet President who is from the outsider like not working in Gallaudet University.
Now day, deaf people ask who is the new president for their deaf schools. New President but qualify? Unlike DPN1, New President but Deaf?
Anony @ 8:53AM,
Not sure how one can "plan" 5 years in advance a protest that occurred in 2006 and not know who the nominees are or know what the political atmosphere would be like or even know when IKJ would step down and retire.
The BOT selection occurred in 2006. IJK announced his retirement in 2005 after realizing that he could not meet the long committment to meet Gallaudet's eight new strategic goals by the BOT to guide its vision for the future that were adopted in May of 2005. It would require leadership for a sustained period of 5 to 10 years. IKJ was already 17 years into his leadership as president of Gallaudet University.
So, I doubt you had any "planning" of DPN2 in the sense on how the next protest would be done the next time out. In other words, you are claiming that you helped "plan" this DPN2 back in 2001? Either you are not explaining it very well or you're taking credit when none exist. Especially coming from an anonymous person such as yourself which gives you zero credibility at this point.
Mike, you're correct. Anonymous #1 is delusional. I was a student in 2006 and can say the protest erupted spontaneously. A lot of mishaps happened in the beginning were due to lack of planning.
To answer your questions, only protests that have larger social themes are celebrated over time. The 2006 protests didn't have a single clarifying theme because it was about an individual.
About your other comments, sure, some found JKF unacceptable because they wanted a culturally deaf president. But you have forgotten, or are not aware, that 2/3 of the faculty (which had contained only a handful culturally deaf members) polled considered her unacceptable even before she was selected and the protests started.
Of course, it was a spontaneous protest.
I think a lot of it has to do with her not being culturally deaf enough to them whether they admit it or not. It is one of the driving factor. I even caught Joey B. in a 2006 video mocking IKJ's somewhat stilted/plain signing style while comparing to the fluid signing ASL style of Greg Hlibok. That video came on a few days into the protest. He took it down quickly after that. That video of his offered me a huge insight into his mind and attitude when it came to native signers and non-native signers. It had everything to do with signing like a native signer and IKJ and JKF did not fit the bill.
Actually it was 2/3 of the faculty and graduate students that were polled. Not just the faculty.
As for the poll, how was the poll worded? Unacceptable? Based on 188 people that were polled?
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