DPN1 vs DPN2

What's the difference between Deaf President Now 2 (Unity for Gallaudet Movement, 2006) protest that began on May 1, 2006 and Deaf President Now 1 that began on March 6, 1988? The difference is that Gallaudet University celebrates and remembers DPN1 every year but hardly even celebrates or remembers DPN2 (Unity for Gallaudet Movement, 2006) anniversary. Why is that? If DPN2 was such a "unity" protest that sought to have a truly, proper Deaf president, the native born kind that many wanted to see ended up getting a "Deaf-centric" president after all but not publicly celebrated each year? A Gallaudet University president who fit the bill as a "strong Deaf center" as Bridgetta Bourne-Firl once said per the screen capture from the Deaf Professional Network website (now defunct) article "Chronicles of Deaf Higher Education: Search for the Next Gallaudet President" written by Alison Aubrecht and Julie Bourne (posted on April 30, 2006 - full copy of the article is available):

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.

Agree with us.....or else mentality.

Such an atmosphere seems to pervade at Gallaudet University and elsewhere amongst some bloggers and vloggers. Case in point, a "Deafhood? No Thanks" Facebook group which is open to the public was formed on May 18, 2010. It's a safe-haven for those who favor open society approaches such as equality for all deaf people regardless of their backgrounds, communication methods and technology options. All without the need to adhere to any singular mindset thinking the solution is a one-size fits all. That Facebook group is an exercise on the free expression rather than to adhere to a political correctness mindset that pervades in certain groups in the culturally deaf community. And because many of us favor the approach on allowing the free exchange of important information and ideas regarding communication choices, educational choices, technological choices and parental rights for them to make informed decisions we have learned that it's better than forcing parents with limited choices. A limited choice foisted upon people with an an attitude of, for example, "your-children-belong-to-us-and-not-to-you-so-you-better-do-as-we-say." That has the "agree with us or else" mentality mindset. And if you don't agree then the name callings come raining down.  Something that the public will continue to witness time and time again. Something that Dr. Ron Stearn has warned about on focusing too much on being a closed group. Diversity is key. Respect is key.

The AB2072 issue is a good example of the "agree with us or else" mentality whenever bloggers presented their own alternative opinions about the subject not popular to some people.  Those who vehemently disagreed would actually contact a blogger's employer or make the threat of contacting their employers which is very much in line with the "agree with us or else" approach mentality. Candy, a well known culturally deaf blogger, experienced exactly that first hand for simply disagreeing or for having alternative opinions not popular with certain factions in the culturally deaf community. And because of that known culturally deaf people contacted her employer hoping to get her into trouble and perhaps fired.

Another notable culturally deaf blogger (name withheld) experienced first hand the bullying approach "agree with us or else" mentality with threats to contact the blogger's employer to make known the blogger's online activities. That was enough to make a trip to the emergency room for a mental breakdown.

The "agree with us or else" mentality is sometimes manifested in various ways like wishing the death of a toddler baby boy just because they do not like the boy's deaf father or use some other fantasy excuse as justification for making those wishes. Or you have bloggers who blog in such a way to encourage readers to do their dirty work, whether intentionally or not, to out people who blog anonymously by encouraging them to dig for more information. Why?

Despite that you can have anonymous commenters or bloggers who can still make great and credible arguments without the need to go to the extreme for those who disagree. Who says anonymous people have to identify themselves whenever they make cogent arguments? It's just simply better to agree to disagree rather than to make online threats veiled or otherwise to out people and such.

All this brings me to this new drama unfolding and how it's becoming a McCaskill vs Gallaudet University vs Bienvenu vs McCaskill. A sinkhole that guarantees to get bigger if things do not resolve quickly. All it took was one selfish act in the effort to publicly "expose" McCaskill which quickly escalated into its own growing sinkhole at this moment. It would have been better to confer privately behind closed doors to understand what the issues are in a show of respect and decorum. Instead people succumbed to this "agree with us or else" mentality which was presented to president Hurwitz of Gallaudet University. He became an unwitting pawn in this whole scheme to get Dr. Angela McCaskill fired purely out of selfishness.  This is the kind of sinkhole that could put Gallaudet University in danger of being swallowed financially with potentially more lawsuits from more than one person and even Congress may look into it. All this has the making of a public relation nightmare at the national level for Gallaudet University.  A level that could easily clip all other dramas to date including DPN1 and DPN2 protests with the Dr. J.K. Fernandes in 2006 brouhaha should this new drama spiral out of control.  This isn't about "social justice" but purely a witch hunt gone awry. This is also about "deafhoodism" exposed in its rawest form with the mentality of agree with us...or else in order to to get people to "fit in"  rather than accept diversity for what it is.

But we say, no thanks. We'd rather agree to disagree.

We can do better as a community of fellows with many commonalities and shared experiences, and not about political correctness. We see people as equals whether hearing, hard of hearing, or deaf. Whether they know sign language or not. Whether they prefer to speak or not. It doesn't matter. What matters is the respect for our fellow human beings. What happened that day wasn't about respect but pure selfishness.

UPDATE: Check out the latest interview with McCaskill.