Angela Mccaskill sues MJ Bienvenu, her partner and Gally

This was bound to happen when you have someone go after a person for political and personal reasons in the effort to get the person fired or demoted from her job. A witch hunt that went out of control and smeared a good person's name. Angela Mccaskill is suing for defamation and discrimination.

 http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/10/02/61701.htm

Genie Gertz - new Dean of Gallaudet University College of Arts and Sciences

Congrats to Dr. Genie Gertz on becoming Gallaudet University's next Dean of Gallaudet University College of Arts and Sciences. And I'm sure it's a step closer to her ultimate goal.

Gallaudet University's announcement on the news of hiring Dr. Genie Gertz with all the wonderful plaudits and coverage of her background experience when she was the Dean of the Deaf Studies Division at Ohlone College in Fremont, California. But there's an interesting omission in that announcement. It didn't say the one thing that Dr. Genie Gertz is well known which is her push for "Deafhood." And her strong ties with Ella Mae Lentz and the Deafhood Foundation, a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization (tax identification number is 26-2603125). And in turn Deafhood Foundation's strong ties with DBC and AFA who are basically their "shock troops" in terms of their activism or militancy (i.e. protest) against cochlear implant companies, AG Bell, John Tracy Clinic, Oberkotter Foundation, Hands and Voices, and so on. 

Their background and association:

Lentz and Genie Gertz, dean of the Deaf Studies Division and Special Studies at Ohlone College in Fremont, Calif., have led workshops for deaf adults around the country since 2005. Deafhood Youth Northwest on Tuesday at Mount Tahoma was their first presentation tailored to teenagers.

Tailored only to culturally deaf teenagers is what they meant.

These presentations, workshops or conferences (free or fee) were the "ASL-only" or "Deaf people only" types which meant no voice interpreters or sign language interpreters or any other accommodations provided such as CART. An overt display of practicing segregation, communication discrimination and even indoctrination in some cases. Never taking into account of people new to signing who may have difficulty in understanding in an ASL-only environment, those who may have language processing issues with sign language, or those who are deaf but do not know sign language and want to know more about their presentation but cannot due to communication discrimination. Or even for parents of deaf/hh children who want to understand better so they can make an informed decision regarding their child's education, language development and communication option. What is remarkable is to see how these workshops have practiced segregation and discrimination as you can see with these announcements below.

The flyer (click on pictures below to expand):

More presentation :

More pushing of Paddy Ladd's book and presentation:

More association with Deafhood Foundation.

More announcements:

Most recent flyer this year:

And other spinoffs:

Compare those announcements to that of the HLAA (Hearing Loss Association of America) announcement in the area of communication accommodation.

There are four things here to think about.

1) Indoctrination.
2) Communication discrimination - against those who may have limited sign language skills or have other communication preferences.
3) Segregation.
4) Exclusionary practices.

Dr. Genie Hertz is now working for Gallaudet University but here is a stark reminder for her.

According to Section 504,  Gallaudet University has an obligation to ensure accessibility to students with disabilities, including those with hearing loss and the need for communication accessibility because Gallaudet University is a recipient of Federal financial assistance as a post secondary institution.

An important responsibility of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability against students with disabilities. OCR receives numerous complaints and inquiries in the area of elementary and secondary education involving Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 794 (Section 504). Most of these concern identification of students who are protected by Section 504 and the means to obtain an appropriate education for such students.

Section 504 is a federal law designed to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Section 504 provides: "No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States . . . shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance . . . ."

OCR enforces Section 504 in programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance from ED. Recipients of this Federal financial assistance include public school districts, institutions of higher education, and other state and local education agencies. The regulations implementing Section 504 in the context of educational institutions appear at 34 C.F.R. Part 104.

Services students and staff should be able to request at Gallaudet University:

* American Sign Language Interpreter
* Signed English Interpreter (SEE-Signing Exact English or PSE-Pidgin Sign English)
* FM Systems and Conference Microphones
* Voice interpreter
* CART
* Remote Captioning
* Cued Speech Transiliterator
* I-Communicator
* Typewell/C-Print
* Professional or Volunteer Notetakers
* Tactile communication

Even though Gallaudet University obviously supports ASL many are calling for the exclusive use of ASL for all or ASL at all times. That'd be fine if the educational institution in question became a private educational institution receiving no federal funding then it wouldn't fall under the rules of Section 504.  But since Gallaudet University does receive annual Federal funding for as long as it has been opened it must abide by Section 504 laws.  Section 504 gives the power over to students who may request communication accessibility that fit their communication needs other than just ASL.

That's a stark but humbling reality there.

Since president Hurwitz of Gallaudet University supports the new ICED resolution which does call for pluralism and to "accept and respect all languages and all forms of communication," and that Gallaudet University must follow the laws under Section 504. The question today is will indoctrination continue at Gallaudet University?

Dishonesty or Truth?

Disingenuousness comes in many forms and this is one of them.

Now, if doing the Nazi-style salute is not an issue at all then I dare the Kappa Gamma of today to do another group photo doing the exact same salute as the Kappa Gamma brothers did back in the 1989.  Go ahead and prove me and to the rest of the people out there wrong.

Here's a close up zoom of a Kappa Gamma group doing the Nazi-style salute seen below . Note the deliberate outstretched arm, palm flat facing toward the front that reminiscences Nazi Germany's own Nazi salute ?  They are certainly not waving, Carl.

In Carl's futile effort to rebut my argument on the fraternity Nazi-style salute he had the audacity to use a picture of MLK waving to the crowd (more pictures here) as being the equivalent of a Nazi salute. Completely laughable. Yet note the palm of MLK's right hand is outstretched while his right arm is bent in a relaxed form but not in an attentive form.  Sorry, Carl, it is not the same thing. MLK wouldn't do such a dumb thing as to mimic a Nazi-style salute knowing full well, with him being a highly educated and wise man, knowing the history behind Nazi Germany. The kind of salute that is a reminder of the Holocaust that Nazi Germany atrociously committed during WWII.

Ok. What about the Pope's own salute? A Nazi style salute?

Nope. Not even close. Note the relaxed arm. The spread the of his fingers or outstretched palm. Nothing is indicative of having an attentive form but a person who is obviously waving at people, humbled by their presence.

Ok. What about Obama?

Nope. Again, just like the Pope. He is in a relaxed pose, outstretched arm with outstretched palm where he is obviously waving to his adoring fans before entering on his Air Force 1 jet like he has done many times.

Hmm. What about a cartoon drawing depicting a Nazi-style salute?

Seriously?

Based on a Roman character during Roman times doing their own kind of salute specific to their own time period that *PRE-DATES* Nazi Germany and WWII? Oh, c'mon! Why so desperate, Carl?

This next drawing suggested by Carl seen below certainly cannot be compared to the Kappa Gamma's 20th century Nazi-style salutes because that salute in the picture scene depicts an era that, again, pre-dates Nazi Germany and WWII by a few thousand years.

The point of this has to do with after the fact when it was Germany who made their Nazi salutes recognizable around the world and is correlated strongly with the history of their atrocious mass killings of several million Jewish people in Europe.   Anybody who attempt to use salute examples that predates Nazi Germany in an effort to rebut an argument about KG's own Nazi-style salute as being warranted and justified is simply missing the point in a totally disingenuous and dishonest way.

But, you know what's funny, Carl?  When you produced a picture seen below in the effort to rebut my argument it has backfired on you. Why? Simply because the young man with the tattoos doing the salute was a 20 year old professional soccer player who did the Nazi salute at a soccer game that got him booted for life.

The Hellenic Football Federation met Sunday in response to the incident and decided to ban the player, who has previously captained the national team in youth competitions. “The player’s action to salute to spectators in a Nazi manner is a severe provocation, insults all the victims of Nazi barbarity and injures the deeply pacifist and human character of the game,” the federation said as Greece marked the 70th anniversary of the deportation of thousands of Greek Jews to Nazi death camps.

Katidis, who initially claimed that he was not saluting but pointing at a friend in the stands, said later that he had no idea what the gesture meant. In an apology issued after the ban, he called his salute “totally unacceptable,” adding, “I feel terrible for those I upset with the stupidity of my act.”

Video and photographs of the incident showed that while several members of the club’s support staff celebrated with the player, others looked disturbed by the gesture, and at least one older man tried to pull his arm down.

Bold emphasis is mine.

The big difference with the 20 year old professional soccer player who did the salute is that he profusely apologized to the public for something that he was not aware of that it was in bad form and an insult to do such a salute. He acknowledged the stupidity of doing that salute. Did the Gamma do that? Nah. Never apologized to the public. Not once. In fact, we got people like Carl to help sweep it under the rug, because, you know, doing Nazi-style salute isn't hurting anyone. Right?

Here's another incident of two girls from a girls basketball team doing the Nazi salute that got them in hot water this year.

Remember, what we have is a *GROUP* photo of KG brothers doing exactly the same Nazi-style salute that took place in 1989, well before the era of the internet. It was a salute that looks exactly like this:

But knowing the history behind the people who did the saluting were the ones who supported and obeyed Hitler and his regime would understand that a Nazi style salute reminds people of this:

And, Carl, since you emigrated from Netherlands to the United States as a little boy and your continued refusal to acknowledge the seriousness of Kappa Gamma's own Nazi-style salute disrespects and insults the memories of those who died at those Holocaust camps, the Netherland Jews who suffered at the hands of German Nazis.

After the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, a civil administration was installed under SS auspices. Arthur Seyss-Inquart was appointed Reich Commissar. He presided over a German administration that included many Austrian-born Nazis. They in turn supervised the Dutch civil service. This arrangement was to prove fateful for the Jews of the Netherlands.

During 1940, the German occupation authorities banned Jews from the civil service and required Jews to register the assets of their business enterprises. In January 1941, the German authorities required all Jews to register themselves as Jews. A total of 159,806 persons registered, including 19,561 persons born of mixed marriages. The total included some 25,000 Jewish refugees from the German Reich. A Jewish council was established in February 1941.

The arrests of several hundred young Jews (sent to the Buchenwald and Mauthausen concentration camps) led to a general strike by Dutch workers on February 25, 1941, and a hardening of Nazi policy. The German authorities and their Dutch collaborators segregated Jews from the general Dutch population, and incarcerated 15,000 Jews in German-administered forced-labor camps. The Germans then ordered the concentration of Jews in Amsterdam and sent foreign and stateless Jews to the Westerbork transit camp in the northeast part of the country. Some of the remaining provincial Jews were sent to the Vught camp. As of April 29, 1942, Jews were required to wear a yellow Star of David on their clothing.

Deportations of Jews from the Netherlands began in the summer of 1942. The last train left Westerbork for Auschwitz on September 3, 1944. During these two years, the Germans and their Dutch collaborators deported 107,000 Jews, mostly to Auschwitz and Sobibor, where they were murdered. Only 5,200 survived. In addition, 25,000-30,000 Jews went into hiding, assisted by the Dutch underground. Two-thirds of Dutch Jews in hiding managed to survive.

The geography of the Netherlands made escape difficult. The ruthless efficiency of the German administration and the willing cooperation of Dutch administrators and policemen doomed the Jews of the Netherlands. Less than 25 percent of Dutch Jewry survived the Holocaust.

Carl, by sweeping under the rug what your own Kappa Gamma brothers did you manage to disrespect the memory of your own motherland by making light of it. Out of the 107,000 Netherland Jews that were sent to concentration camps, only 5,200 survived. But you insist the KG's salute was nothing.

Carl, you managed to defile the memory of your motherland and your Netherland ancestors in one full sweep by essentially laughing about the KG's Nazi-style salute.

Here are some pictures to make you laugh! We the Kappa Gamma Brothers do have our own salution–a gesture of our own that is as ancient as it is modern! It is an incognito salution–I shall never tell you our secret!

A load of bull, Carl. Completely dishonest and disingenuous regarding this salutation. Just like that young soccer pro at age 20 who did the Nazi salute in full public view, he didn't understand the gravity of doing that.  Others around him were visibly disturbed by his saluting out on the soccer field. He continued to do that even while an older and wise man tried to pull his arm down to get him to stop doing the stupid Nazi-style salute. The young soccer pro was completely clueless and didn't understand the seriousness of doing that Nazi salute. Neither did the group of 35 young, Kappa Gamma men in their early 20s, who didn't understand the folly and seriousness of doing a Nazi-style salute in a group photo, too. Otherwise, if that salute is not a big deal, then I challenge you and all the KG brothers to do another group photo doing the exact same salute that was done in 1989.

But you and your KG brothers will never, ever do that in a million years because you and they KNOW it is not right. You know it is not right to do that in public or in private within the confines of the KG's fraternity walls. Your recent comment is a startling revelation because you appear or seem to imply that this type of Nazi-style salute is done all the time within the confines of the KG's private areas? And that KG brothers are required to do that kind of salute to each other? Just like Hitler's troops and officers who were required to do that back during pre-WWII and during WWII?  Are you saying that KG is still secretly doing that type of Nazi-style salute today??

Utterly unreal, Carl.

Keep digging. Keep going to bat for them, Carl.  I'd would rather see a much better and improved Kappa Gamma fraternity for them to own up to their own history and move forward and finally deserve the respect and recognizance. You're not helping, Carl.

Paddling is hazing no matter how you try and minimize it

In the Greek fraternity business, the use of a paddle represents hazing. It represents the degradation of your fellow human beings. It represents power and abuse over those who are powerless and seeking acceptance in a group that wielded power on the campus of Gallaudet University.

And yet paddles are still proudly displayed on the fraternity walls like past trophies on the unknown number buttocks they have paddled and caused pain, injury, and suffering.

Carl Schroeder is a Kappa Gamma brother of the 79th Congregation. In his recent blog last month he attempted to minimize Kappa Gamma's use of their paddles on pledges as inconsequential and harmless and by his own admission revealed that paddling was a common practice in Kappa Gamma during his time.

The odd thing about this fraternity pledgehood was its initiation which was, to me, “the battle of wills and wits–alienation and accommodation, as well as affirmation.” I went through a battery of social tests, mental challenges, and physical tolerances. They were well-planned, well-programmed, and well-delivered, and my ego was never in bruise. Yes, I got tired and angry, and, yes, I was made to laugh at times throughout my Fraternity probation–the trial of my character. You can check with my beloved Brother Gary Malkowski of Toronto, Canada, because, as the pledges, we laughed together in public.

Now here are a few words about paddling. The Fraternity paddles were properly introduced to us the pledges. We were asked to accept them as very much a big part of the Kappa Gamma Fraternity. There was one member in our Congregation who did not so he left, for which I am always saddened by his own decision. Paddling itself was never crazy, absurd, or senseless; it was always foretold, explained, and interpreted. We were never subject to humiliation or abusive tricks, and we were never harassed with disagreeable tasks.

Meaning and understanding of the Kappa Gamma Fraternity are socially determined that casts light on the examination of the experience to elucidate these concepts, generating many different things. If one is not a full-fledged Kappa Gamma Brother, he cannot have a multiple concept of this prestigious fraternity, period! For me, as the Kappa Gamma Fraternity Merit Key holder, I am proud to be “the Fraternity man,” especially from Gallaudet University.

My baby brother Gerhard (Olgar) and our father George were also initiated as Kappa Gamma Brothers. It was very cultural for us. I first learned about this precious Fraternity when I was young in the middle school at the Maryland School for the Deaf. After I became initiated into the Blue Brotherhood, I confess to have since been “true to Gallaudet.”

Carl is proud to be a Kappa Gamma brother? He's proud of the fact that his Greek fraternity organization at Gallaudet University was caught hazing and suspended numerous times? Even racism was a factor for one of that fraternity suspension? Proud of the fact that Kappa Gamma brothers did a Nazi-like salute in a group photo, by which he continues to remain silent about?  Proud of the fact of how Kevin Clark (a former Kappa Gamma pledge who took Gallaudet University and Kappa Gamma to court for hazing) was dumped at a children's hospital in D.C. after sustaining injuries that night of hazing from paddling causing bruising and bleeding to his buttock? Proud of the fact that Kappa Gamma never publicly apologized for their past hazing practices to all the past pledges (those who made it or opted out)?  Proud of the fact that Kappa Gamma never publicly apologized for the Nazi-like salute group photo to the public and to president Hurwitz who is Jewish?  That sure is a long list of stuff to be proud of, Carl. Yet you opted to sidestep the issue or keep quiet about it. Quite curious how you avoided the KG Nazi-like group photo in your blogs but didn't mind discussing the paddling aspect of it one month after I did a few KG blog pieces on paddling and hazing, and the KG group photo.

Paddling is paddling and that is part of hazing no matter how much you try and minimize that, Carl. Every time someone sees a paddle hanging proudly on a fraternity wall means that fraternity has not learned anything about paddling and hazing.  Why are you still covering them, and making excuses for them?

From the wise words of a Kappa Sigma brother seen in the 1990 Tower Clock Gallaudet University Yearbook, page 324:

The benefits they had to offer, frankly, were unequaled by any other organization I knew of and the concept of a warm, strong brotherhood that these men had shared caught my fancy.  another valuable plus about them: they don't haze.   Their stand against hazing and the belief that pledging should be any enrichness and education of character rather than abuse and strict "training and re-education" of minds and bodies only served to further reinforce my initial hunch that this fraternity was the one for me.

Carl, you do not need paddling or hazing in order to have a strong brotherhood. A paddle need not be a big part of a fraternity. That kind of mindset is absolutely warped and sickening. Take the example of Kappa Sigma, a Greek fraternity that does not haze. Paddling has never been a part of their tradition. Compare that to Kappa Gamma when their tradition was obviously steeped with paddling. One thing though, do they still hang their KG paddles on their fraternity walls? If paddles still on their walls mean they still secretly embraced their past tradition of hazing.

Carl, the only way to ease your burdensome thought and embarrassment about Kappa Gamma is to be fully honest about the whole thing.  Reach out to those who have been wronged in the past. Minimizing the whole paddling and hazing history and practices is an attempt to hide the real truth of what really went on. The only way to right a wronged history is to be forthcoming about it honestly and truthfully. Only then will Kappa Gamma come out better and brighter in the future.

Untold history of DPN, it almost collapsed!

The 7 Ducks (name was given from their first meeting at a duck pin bowling alley) were behind the Deaf President Now rally movement that took place on March 1, 1988.  They were primarily responsible in selecting the "Gallaudet Four" leaders to lead the DPN protest. The 7 Ducks consisted of Gallaudet University alumni were:

- Dwight Benedict (Gallaudet's dean of student affairs),  
- Michael O'Donnell (professor in American Sign Language and Deaf Culture at George Washington University, Washington D.C.),
- Stephen Hlibok, (financial advisor for Merrill Lynch),
- Jeff Rosen (ZVRS general counsel),
-Fred Weiner, (Gallaudet's assistant vice president for administration),
- James Tucker (superintendent of Maryland School for the Deaf-Frederick),
- Paul Singleton (Purple Video Relay Services' director of government and strategic accounts).

What's interesting in this case is that all of them are bonafide Kappa Gamma brothers. No Kappa Sigma brothers. No Alpha Sigma Pi brothers.  No independents. Why is that? Once the DPN protest began the Seven Ducks dissolved and was replaced by the DPN Committee since the protest became a student-driven protest.

One little bit of interesting tidbit of unknown history was that DPN came close to collapsing very early in the protest.  

In the beginning prior to the DPN rally, which began on March 1, 1989 in support of electing a deaf president, the story goes that "Seven Ducks" asked many Gallaudet University students (including Tim Raurus and Greg Hlibok) if any of them would be willing to lead the DPN rally, a potentially sticky job. They all turned it down. The "Seven Ducks" finally approached Jerry Covell to see if he could do the job. Jerry agreed to take up the responsibility since he had nothing to lose.

The rally started with Jerry Covell standing on a large wooden box in front of a TV in the student cafeteria (wooden box was used by students to stand on so they can change the TV channels or use it to stand on to present short speeches or quick announcements). He was able to get the attention of students in the cafeteria with him waving his arms and explain to the students why they should support of the DPN rally.   From the 1994 book "The Deaf Way," Jerry Covell mused over his experience leading up to the DPN protest.

"When our former president, Dr. Lee, decided to resign his position to work for the company of one of the members of the Board of Trustees, we students had never really thought about having a deaf president. Though there was some talk among ourselves, we didn't seriously consider the possibility until December 1987 or January 1988. At that time, a group called "The Ducks" was formed. This was a group of seven or eight men, most from Gallaudet or formerly from  Gallaudet, who were all strong leaders in the deaf community. They decided that it was important, in fact key, to get the students involved in having a deaf president. So in January  they started planning for a rally the following March, March 1st. They asked students to participate, and I agreed.  

I can recall going to the cafeteria to talk to the students, saying that we must have a deaf president. The students said that a deaf person could not be president of the University because the president has to use the phone and deal with Congress. If Gallaudet were to survive, they said, we must have a hearing president: There was no way a deaf person could be president of Gallaudet if the University were to continue.  When I saw that I thought, "can't...." and I wondered. And of course I felt hurt because I thought a deaf person could do the job. So I continued to go to the cafeteria.  

By the way, the reason I went to the cafeteria was that it is the best place on campus to reach a large number of students. The academic buildings are too spread out. The cafeteria is the one place where I could talk to most of the student body. it's the place to share information and ideas. For weeks I talked, and there was a promotion stressing the importance of having a deaf president.  

The rally drew near. The Board of Trustees was considering six candidates for the position of president, three hearing and three deaf. We were ecstatic - three deaf people had made the final cut. So let's say there were ten hearing applicants and five deaf applicants, and the list was narrowed down to three deaf and three hearing finalists. It showed that deaf people could make it that far. It meant we could do more.  

The last week of February, the Board of Trustees announced that there were three finalists for the position, and surprisingly, two of them were deaf. So we all felt fairly sure that there would be a deaf president for the University. It would happen. We were all very sure that we couldn't lose.  

Then came March 1, the day of the rally. Everyone turned out, students, faculty, and staff. No one was in a teaching mood that day. All came to see what would be said. Speakers from all over the country stressed the importance of having a deaf president.  One presenter - I can't remember who it was - said, "This is Gallaudet, a school for deaf people, the only one in the world. Yet in the buildings here the public phones are not accessible to deaf people. You have to go to an office and plead to borrow one- and hope that it's not broken - and search around to find a TTY you can use.  That's outrageous! If we had a deaf president, he would make sure that all the phones in the buildings were accessible to deaf people." 

I'll always remember that day. We had high hopes. We felt positive we would win.  Then on Sunday, March 6th, the shock came. The Board of Trustees announced that Dr. Elisabeth Ann Zinser, a hearing person, had been selected as president of the University. The news came in the form of a press release that read, "Gallaudet University is proud to announce the appointment of the first woman president in the history of the University. 

Now I'll be honest with you. I've got nothing against women. I think highly of women. But Jesus! Why not a deaf president instead of a woman president?  We asked for a deaf president; we never asked for a woman. To make things worse, she was hearing. That was it! We really blew up. The crowd went wild and marched to the Mayflower Hotel, where the Board of Trustees was staying. As soon as we read that paper, we hit the streets.

The four student leaders in the DPN protest weren't the official leaders during the first march to the Mayflower Hotel. Just that Jerry Covell was the only recognized DPN rally leader of which he became the de factor leader in the DPN protest. The selection for official student leaders was done after the fact in order to pool crucial resources from a variety of people and organizations. The four DPN leaders were selected after the first march on March 6, the day of the announcement when Zinser was selected to be the president of Gallaudet University. The ad hoc protest group marched towards the Mayflower Hotel by marching illegally on the streets of Washington D.C. without a permit. In the photo below shows Jerry Covell leading the protest down the street (click on picture to enlarge it).  In the photo below Jerry Covell is in the middle of the front protest line with his horizontal stripped shirt and famous trademarked denim jacket.

Perhaps the reason Greg Hlibok (brother of Nancy Hlibok Amman who is a Phi Kappa Zeta sorority sister who is also deeply involved in the latest power struggle at the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind) and others who joined later as leaders of the protest because it was then deemed "safe" to step up seeing the large turn out and the near unanimous support from the deaf community as they rallied around the cause for a deaf president. Tim Raurus was a former SBG President at the time while Greg was the new SBG President for only a few weeks before the protest began. Bridgetta was considered by some people as the "token" female leader not knowing exactly why she was selected. I would surmise that Greg Hlibok or Tim Rarus didn't want to get in trouble with the Gallaudet University administration by getting their hands "dirty" and instead took a "wait-and-see" approach before risking their academic careers.  It was Jerry Covell who actually did the "dirty work" in the beginning to try and get the students' support for DPN rally leading up to that fateful day on March 6, 1988. He took tremendous academic risk for stepping up to become the first leader of the DPN rally. He prevailed. The rest is history.

The four student leaders of DPN appointed for the protest were Greg Hlibok (Kappa Gamma and chief of the Disability Rights Office at the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C), Jim Rarus (Kappa Gamma and senior vice president of sales at ZVRS), Bridgetta Bourne (supervisor of career center and transition services at California School for the Deaf-Fremont), and Jerry Covell (Kappa Sigma  and coordinator of the Interpreter Preparation Program (American Sign Language) at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Ill).  Jerry Covell was a natural leader of the protest. He had a knack in getting people fired up and was able to get his ideas across using fiery and inspirational words.  The other two male leaders, Greg Hlibok and Tim Rarus, had their own strengths and weaknesses. Bridgetta Bourne was the fourth one installed to help round out the mostly male DPN leaders and put an inspirational female face on the DPN protest.  

Once the leaders were selected the story goes that in the first few days into the protest it almost came to a halt with Jerry Covell threatening to leave the "Gallaudet Four" in the face of some of the DPN Committee members. It was believed his threat to leave had to do with the motives and agenda of Kappa Gamma brothers that Jerry found unpalatable.

The DPN Committee was responsible for the operational functions of the protest such as security, public relations, morale, etc. and consisted of Gallaudet students, alumni, faculty and staff members. Each of the four DPN leaders chose their own group of DPN Committee members. Both Tim Raurus and Greg Hlibok are Kappa Gamma members with Bridgetta Bourne-Firl who is a Phi Kappa Zeta sorority sister (note: PKZ considers Kappa Gamma fraternity as their "brother" group and Kappa Gamma sees PKZ as their "sister" group who some say they share the same zealotry on power and control, or so they say, and Bridgetta even married to Leslie Trosky Firl who became the Grand Rajah of the Kappa Gamma for the 1987 - 1988 school year). Jerry chose a more diversified group of people in his group. It wasn't long until Jerry's people quickly realized how they were out-leveraged by other people who had their own motives. The potential meltdown of DPN came in the first few days of the protest stemming from fraternity brothers and sorority sisters who wore their own Greek shirts. An effort to increase the visibility and advertisement of their own fraternity and sorority to try and inspire students who may want to join their Greek organization. Jerry knew it was a publicity stunt. Kappa Gamma Greek shirts worn were designed to be used as subliminal messages to the press and community.  Kappa Gamma has an obsession about capturing leadership positions in various organization on Gallaudet campus.

It was the kind action and attitude that disappointed and dismayed Jerry Covell. He threatened to leave the group. Jerry flipped his two birds at the DPN Committee famously captured in a photo seen in Jack Gannon's book "THE WEEK THE WORLD HEARD GALLAUDET" which can be found on the top of page 55 in the book. Jerry was ready to walk out after flipping the birds at the DPN committee which probably occurred on the third day of the DPN protest at a time when there was a lot of media frenzy covering the DPN protest and people were getting national coverage. It must have been one heck of a serious conversation because everybody's face seen in the picture looked serious. This was in a roomful of Kappa Gamma brothers (click on picture to expand) who were a part of the DPN Committee. I'm sure some people will try and deny that the incident ever happened and the real reason why Jerry flipped them off.

Leaving the newly formed "Gallaudet Four" so early into the protest would have undoubtedly put the kibosh on the whole DPN protest and in danger of collapsing had Kappa Gamma brothers and Phi Kappa Zeta sisters insisted on wearing their Greek shirts during the protest period. The protest, as it was explained, was an opportunity for all of the deaf and hard of hearing people at Gallaudet University to come together as one "loud voice," and not about an opportunity to advertise their own fraternity or sorority. The DPN Committee relented and agreed to Covell's demand (or so the story is told). And the rest is history.

Jerry Covell at one time did not belong to any fraternity. He actually tried to join Kappa Gamma and was a Kappa Gamma pledge in his first week of probation. But that didn't last long since he walked out on them. It was said that he was disgusted with what he saw going on inside during the pledging process. He wasn't afraid of Kappa Gamma as you can see with him giving Kappa Gamma brothers who were a part of the DPN Committee the bird. The following year after trying to join Kappa Gamma, he joined Kappa Sigma. At the time of the protest in March of 1988 Covell was the Grand Procurator of Kappa Sigma and in the Fall of 1989 became the Grand Master. One of the big reason why he joined the Kappa Sigma fraternity was because the fraternity never supported hazing from the very beginning. They believe in the simple honor and respect of their fellow human beings. From the 1990 Tower Clock Gallaudet University Yearbook, page 324, on Kappa Sigma:

The benefits they had to offer, frankly, were unequaled by any other organization I knew of and the concept of a warm, strong brotherhood that these men had shared caught my fancy.  Another valuable plus about them: they don't haze.   Their stand against hazing and the belief that pledging should be any enrichness and education of character rather than abuse and strict "training and re-education" of minds and bodies only served to further reinforce my initial hunch that this fraternity was the one for me.

It was an open secret when it came to which fraternity did the hazing and which did not. But notice the power structure at the time. The Seven Ducks were all Kappa Gamma brothers. Two of the four DPN leaders are Kappa Gamma brothers with the third being a Phi Kappa Zeta sorority sister. PKZ is considered to be the sister Greek organization of Kappa Gamma who share the same ideals as Kappa Gamma.

In the 1989 Gallaudet University yearbook (1988 - 1989 school year) Tim Rarus was like all other Kappa Gamma brothers holding no title other than being a Kappa Gamma brother. In the next following 1989 - 1990 school year after the DPN protest was over and the first deaf president was finally put in place Tim Rarus suddently became the Grand Rajah of Kappa Gamma. Tim never held previously the Kamoos, Tahdheed, Mukhtar, Abbah Tekoth or Abbah Ganesa Kappa Gamma title.  Though not to mean holding a certain title is a pre-requisite to become the Grand Rajah.

The power structure of Kappa Gamma during the mid to late 1980s was a crucial period in gaining the necessary influence within the community of Gallaudet University and the Student Body Government whose elected top SBG officials were mostly Kappa Gamma brothers. All of which coincided with the DPN protest in March of 1988 and the eventual success that sealed their power base, influence and authority. That is until charges of hazing and racism within their organization leading to suspension of their organization multiple times in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the unfortunate Nazi-like salute in the 1989 group photo which shifted more of their influence and respect away from them.

What is interesting is to see the make-up of the Student Body Government during the 1980s and 1990s.  In the 1987/1988 SBG adminstration school year was led by Tim Rarus, president of SBG, and Hector Brual, vice president, who were Kappa Gamma brothers at the time. During the 1988/1989 SBG administration period they had Greg Hlibok, president, and Roger Kraft, vice-presiden, both were Kappa Gamma brothers at the time who just came off of the successful DPN protest several months earlier in March of 1988. For the 1989/1990 SBG Administration year Terry Wilding was the president while Roger Kraft became the vice-president, both were Kappa Gamma brothers at the time. Successive years with Kappa Gamma brothers holding top influential positions. The names and Greek organization can be verified in Gallaudet University's yearbooks.

Here's an example of the SBG make up during the 1987/1988 SBG administration year.

- Tim Rarus, President (Kappa Gamma)
- Hector Brual, Vice-president (Kappa Gamma)
- Debbie Trapani, Assistant to President (Phi Kappa Zeta)
- Heidi MacGlaughlin, Assistant to Vice-president
- U. Sung Chung, Special Assistant to President (Kappa Gamma)
- Stevie Gemmil, Secretary to Special Assistant
- Jolene Whaley, Administrative Secretary
- Craig Hanrahan,  Business Manager (Kappa Gamma)
- Paul Rutowski, Assistant Business Manager (Kappa Gamma)
- Jennifer Nasukiewicz, Special Assistant to Business Manager
- William Millios,  Director of Academic Affairs (Kappa Gamma)
- Ted Baldwin, Director of Athletic Affairs
- Jeff Bravin, Director of Public Relations (became a Kappa Gamma the following year post DPN)
- Liz Walker, Director of Student Relations
- Cayetano Adamo, Direct of Student Welfare
- Joe Hartung, Assistant Direct of Student Welfare (Kappa Gamma)
- Colleen Smith, Director of Housing Affairs
- Janet Etkie, Assistant of Housing Affairs
- Tade Cross, Director of Social & Cultural Affairs
- Missy Kaler, Assistant Director of Social & Cultural Affairs
- Ginger Smith, Assistant Director of Social & Cultural Affairs
- Debbie Burnaman, Director of Student Media
- Mary Chimelak, Assistant Director of Student Media
- Jennifer Cooper, Publicity Director
- Andrew Byrne, Proofreader
- Menchu Sanchez, Typist
- Christine Beckwith, Chief Justice (Phi Kappa Zeta)
- Terry Wilding, Student Congress Speaker (Kappa Gamma)
- Christine Ehrlich, Student Congress Vice-Speaker (Phi Kappa Zeta)
- Maureen Behrens, Student Congress Secretary
- Petra Horn, Parliamentarian
- Mario Hernadez, Sargeant-at-Arms
- Carl Schroeder, Advisor (Kappa Gamma )

As you can see in this example most of the males in the SBG were Kappa Gamma brothers holding top positions of influence and power. A pattern repeated throughout the rest of the 1980s and early 1990s. Much of these power and influence have gone beyond the confines of Gallaudet University into the field of education, technology, and social politics.  That's another story, another time.

Now you know the interesting and yet unknown part of DPN history and the important role Kappa Gamma played in. Not to mention Jerry Covell's courage in helping set the DPN path in the right direction.

Video: Deaf Athletes doing the Nazi Salute at Summer Deaf Olympic Games

Here's a shocking video with picture stills (see below) of deaf athletes parading around on the White City Olympic stadia oval track doing the Nazi salute at the Summer Deaf Olympic Games or known as the International Games for the Deaf  at White City, London in 1935. Twelve countries and 221 deaf athletes participated in that event. One picture still from the video you can clearly see a deaf team from Great Britain doing the Nazi salute. Of course, the deaf German team was expected to do the Nazi salute while flying their Nazi Germany's Swastika flag. It's a grim look into the past seeing deaf non-German athletes "forced" to do the Nazi salute not knowing in a few years many of their deaf brethens in other countries and deaf Jews would be persecuted and/or exterminated during the horrors of WWII Holocaust by Nazi Germany.

Click here for video

How ironic on finding this video while the Deaflympic Games is taking place presently in Sofia, Bulgaria, too.

Click here for video

 

 

It's no fun seeing deaf people running around mimicking the Nazi-like salute whether intentional or not just like what the 35 brothers of Kappa Gamma of Gallaudet University did in a 1989 group photo shot.

It's quite shocking that in 1989 Kappa Gamma brothers did not have enough intelligence to not incorporate their Nazi-like salute into their fraternity claiming it to be a type of a "secret handshake." This is a salute which can only be construed, as anybody would, as nothing but a Nazi-salute. There is no excuse for what Kappa Gamma brothers did when you factor in the horror and history of the Holocaust in WWII. And by saying that let's take a closer look at the history of 1935 Deaf Olympics and what the Holocaust did on deaf Jews in Germany.

We need research taking a look at what was going on with the so-called Deaf Olympics. There were international games for the deaf in Stockholm throughout the 1920s but in particular in 1935, and then in 1939 after there was almost a boycott of the regular Olympics in 1936, yet deaf people throughout the world participated in the Olympics in Stockholm. And of course, the Germans sent a team. There were no Jews, there were no Jews on the team but there was a team that went to the games in Stockholm, and of course, as you can imagine, the Germans won the most medals.  

I apologize to the interpreters, that was a long aside.  

If it’s difficult to determine precise figures for the number of deaf people the Nazis sterilized, as Dr. Heberer indicated, it is impossible to know exactly how many deaf people were murdered in the T-4 program. As she mentioned some of the records of this operation were destroyed, but even if there were complete documentation, gleaning the number of deaf victims from the files would be a delicate operation. Deaf people were never officially designated as subjects in the Euthanasia Pro... project, yet we know from Friedlander and Biesold that deaf infants, children, and adults were murdered in the asylums. Some were surely misdiagnosed as schizophrenic, cognitively disabled, sometimes as a result of staff failure to properly communicate with deaf people in sign language or in appropriate written German, and sometimes as the tragic result of societal prejudice about the intelligence of anyone who is deaf. When we recall that a patient’s dossier from an asylum often received only a cursory glance from the doctor, who could sign a death warrant, it’s clear that the diagnoses were often meaningless. Perhaps only a painstaking examination of extant hospital and asylum files, records from schools for the deaf, and the state-run killing centers will elucidate the treatment of deaf people in the T-4 program. The fate of deaf Jews in Germany, in Nazi-occupied Europe, is a story of tragic discrimination and heroic survival. There were very few deaf Jewish survivors from Germany.

Regardless, the Holocaust is a known history that took place during WWII where 5 to 6 million people were murdered in extermination Nazi camps. What might be surprising with the group photo circulating the internet is that the current president of Gallaudet University is a deaf Jewish person with a strong Jewish heritage. In fact, president Hurwitz became the first deaf Jewish person to become president of Gallaudet University in its 145 year history. Also, in 1983 he was awarded as an honorary Kappa Gamma brother by Kappa Gamma. How will president Hurwitz and Kappa Gamma's own history of hazing where the Greek fraternity was suspended three times in 1980s and 1990s be able to rectify the Nazi salute photo to the American public? Can president Hurwitz explain away with a straight face to deaf Jewish people everywhere that the Kappa Gamma salute in the group photo is not a Nazi-style salute? But merely a type of a "secret handshake?" Will president Hurwitz continue to align himself with the Kappa Gamma fraternity as an honorary Kappa Gamma brother knowing their hazing past and their Nazi-like salute taken 1989 while continuing to attend Kappa Gamma's annual Grand March seen in this video here? 

How will Kappa Gamma and president Hurwitz of Gallaudet University rectify these problems that have come to light recently? Why would anyone want to join a fraternity who have refused to publicly apologize for their past behaviors and hazing practices on former pledges and who may still be suffering mentally and emotionally? Who will take the lead to rectify these past mistakes? President Hurwitz? The leaders of Kappa Gamma, current and past?

Keeping quiet is not the answer.

Who will have the balls and leadership to step forward and do the right thing?  Why continue to ignore the whole Nazi salute snafu as if nothing happened, president Hurwitz? I'm sure the Jewish Deaf community and the deaf community as a whole would like know. Why continue to ignore the past persecution and murder against deaf people by Nazi Germany? Why continue the association with Kappa Gamma if they are unwilling to publicly apologize for their past hazing transgressions against deaf pledges and their careless indifference about the Holocaust history by doing the Nazi salute while their official Kappa Gamma robes are the blue hooded garments with human skulls on them?

Simon J. Carmel’s lecture, “Silent No More: Testimonies of Deaf Holocaust Survivors” related the unheard stories of the persecuted deaf Jewish during World War II.

What would deaf Holocaust survivors say to you, president Hurwitz? Kappa Gamma? Will you honor the memories of deaf Holocaust survivors and those who never made it out alive in WWII?

President Hurwitz, it's time to be "silent no more" and help preserve the institution's integrity, the Deaf Jewish community relationship and make a stronger and more respectful fraternity organization. It's time to be on the victim's side of history and do the ultimate mea culpa in public.

They are waiting.

UPDATE: What I have should have done was put into a pre-Nazi historical context with the salute. Prior to 1942 the Nazi-like salute was actually done in the United States as part of the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. This was called the Bellamy Salute, something that I discussed in an earlier blog in reference to the 1989 group photo.  "It was actually the official American salute (in the Pledge of Allegiance) and then it became the official Olympic salute before it became the gesture of German socialism (see the new book "Pledge of Allegiance + Swastika Secrets" by Ian Tinny explaining the work of the historian Dr. Rex Curry). The Pledge of Allegiance was the origin of the Nazi salute and Nazi behavior. So, at the old olympic games there were more than just Germans doing the gesture. and the 1989 youngsters might have known more about the gestures roots in the USA and in the Olympics then those around them." Hat tip - Daniel Ruth. 

Yet, it is still a shocking vid seeing them doing a Nazi-like salute even though that salute was invented around 1892 but 7 years later in 1942 Congress out of act of embarrassment and preservation out of the fact that Nazi Germany stole the United States' salute changed their salute to hand over the heart whenever we do the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. 

"Gallaudet Student Alleges Hitlerite Hazing"

Sticky: For those coming in here from ASL Dragon going by on what Carl commented about PKZ go here because I don't mention PKZ in this blog piece. But continue reading below about how KG did the Nazi salute with a picture as proof.  


The title of my blog comes from an article in Legal Times (June 6, 1994, Vol. XVII, No. 3, page 6) entitled "Gallaudet Student Alleges Hitlerite Hazing" discusses the "Fuhrer Furor" regarding a former student who alleged that Gallaudet University tolerated a supposedly neo-Nazi style fraternity environment promoted by Kappa Gamma. In the article, it has a group photo taken during 1989 the 35 Kappa Gamma brothers doing what it appears to be a Nazi-type salute.

The first impression can be a good or bad one. Doing a salute that looks exactly like a Nazi salute is first and foremost a really bad impression, especially in the age of the internet, for Kappa Gamma and Gallaudet University as a whole.

Say it ain't so with a straight face to the American public.

The current president of Gallaudet University is Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz. He became the tenth president of Gallaudet University on January 1, 2010. He also became the first Jewish person to head the institution in its 145-year history. He is also an honorary Kappa Gamma brother in 1983. And he has a big impact on the Kappa Gamma fraternity in his support of it.

President Hurwitz can be seen attending the 2011 Fall Kappa Gamma march in this video here.

The 1994 Legal Times article is a case dissection of Kevin Clark's lawsuit against Gallaudet University for the 1993 hazing claim against them that has caused him to suffer a "post-traumatic stress syndrome." The article also provided an incredible revelation of a defense response from the university's legal officer about the Kappa Gamma group photo doing what appears to be a Nazi-like salute. Michael Levy who was a partner at D.C.'s Freer and McGarry law firm said he was able to obtain,

a 1989 group photograph of the Kappa Gamma fraternity members engaging in what appears to be a Nazi-style salute. Although the picture is almost 5 years old, Levy says, it shows two of the defendants in the suit apparently saluting. Yet Kelly, the university's legal officer, says that Levy has misinterpreted the photo.  

What the picture shows, Kelly says, is a group of fraternity brothers holding their arms erect in "the equivalent of a secret handshake."  

Besides, Kelly says, several of the fraternity brothers are Jewish, and some are African and Asian-Americans. "It doesn't make sense that these students would be idolizing Adolf Hitler," Kelly says.  

Tessier, the Kappa Gamma member, echoes that sentiment, calling the notion that blacks and Jews would join a neo-Nazi fraternity "ridiculous."

Below is a color group photo but have chosen to cover their faces but not their shirts this time. Their shirts clearly show the Greek letters Kappa Gamma.

The galling claim by Mr. Kelly was that the salute is the equivalent of their "secret handshake" just goes beyond credulity. Why on earth have that kind of salute within a fraternity circle? Something that is instantly recognizable by everybody as nothing more than a Nazi salute using the right arm outstretched, above the shoulder with palm open and flat while facing down just like a Nazi soldier would do using the exact same right arm?

If it's like a "secret handshake" and it's not really an issue then I suppose the Kappa Gamma fraternity as a whole, the 1989 fraternity brothers in the photo, Gallaudet University and president Hurwitz wouldn't be embarrassed about it and would without a second thought allow the photo to be publicly displayed in full? Can president Hurwitz accept Mr. Kelly's claim with a straight face while trying to explain to the American public that it's not a Nazi-style salute but the equivalency of some "super-secret handshake" type of thing? Can you even buy that without shaking your head? Would the American public ever buy that? It's not about the fact that Kappa Gamma doesn't idolize Hitler or that it's not a neo-Nazi type fraternity, that makes sense.  The fraternity is clearly not like that. The problem is how the public sees the photo. Would they see the 35 salutes with arms outstretched and not the fraternity brothers' skin color or their last names based on their Jewish, European, African, or Asian-American descent? Would that salute instantly remind people of the horrors of the Holocaust created by the Nazi and Stalinist parties (which one was worst?)? A time during WWII where millions of innocent people from babies, young children, teens, adults, the elderly, and those with various disabilities, even deaf people, were brutally killed in the planned machinery of mass genocide aimed at Jewish and Polish people, and many others. It was all about race supremacy and maintaining the nth generation bloodline of the "purest of the pure."

Perception and having the first impression is everything.

Another revelation in the Legal Times article was the allegation that,

former student alleges he was blindfolded and forced to endure three hours of  taunts, nazi sloganeering, and wild spatial disorientation in a "confined and overheated" portion of a basement in a university building.   Because he is deaf, Clark says in the complaint, being blindfolded meant being deprived of his crucial remaining sensory ability.  That deprivation, he says, combined with the excruciatingly loud screaming from the fraternity members, contributed to his trauma. Levy says that while his client could not actually hear the loud screams, the noises created vibrations distressing to him.

Nazi sloganeering? Exactly what went on in the Kappa Gamma's? Did they force pledges to do the Nazi-like salute to their brother superiors whenever they were around? Did they say "Heil XXXXX" to one of their higher-ranked brothers while saluting him? Was it a requirement to salute to each other or to higher ranking brothers? What did or did not happen in the stuffy Kappa Gamma basement of hell back in those days? Did the Kappa Gamma brothers continue to experience hazing (probably on a much lower scale and intensity) soon after becoming a brother, too? What's more important is whether that sort of nonsense is occurring today despite Kappa Gamma's strong anti-hazing support.

As for blood-curdling screams they were supposedly heard by a hearing student staying in Krug Hall while attending Gallaudet University to major in Sign Language Interpreting. A claim that lends credence to the allegation of "excruciatingly loud screaming" that went on in the basement of the Kappa Gamma fraternity organization. 

In the face of these new revelations of old, how will president Hurwitz, who is of a strong Jewish heritage, and Kappa Gamma's own history of hazing be able to rectify the group picture Nazi-like salute to the American public? Can president Hurwitz explain that with a straight face to the Jewish people everywhere that the salute in the picture is not a Nazi-style salute? Just a type of a "secret handshake." No harm. No foul. Right? Will president Hurwitz continue to align himself with the Kappa Gamma fraternity as an honorary brother knowing their past?  How will Kappa Gamma rectify their past hazing practices on former pledges and those who didn't make it may still be suffering deserve an apology from them? Who will take the lead? President Hurwitz? The leaders of Kappa Gamma, current and past? Who will have the balls and leadership quality to step forward and do the right thing?

Hazing supposedly ended in 1993 the year when Gallaudet University suspended Kappa Gamma for four years for violating the university's strict anti-hazing policy which began in 1909. Although they were suspended in 1990 for hazing violations and again in 1992 due to accusation by a black pledge of racism, supposedly so if that was really indeed the case. Would performing racist acts to a black pledge be considered a form of hazing?  By pre-emptively suspending the fraternity in 1993 Gallaudet University essentially admitted that hazing did in fact take place in 1993, again, before the lawsuit was ever to begin in court.

Perhaps the best chance for a plaintiff, Fioravanti says, is to prove that the university assumed a duty toward its students by attempting to regulate hazing and then did so negligently. In Clark's case, he alleges that the university knew of the fraternity's hazing and had previously barred the group from campus.

The suit was settled out of court before it ever began which scuttled the chance to explain the pledge's horrors he had to endure. Otherwise had the lawsuit gone through the court process more revelations may have been revealed as part of the whole discovery process legally required of Kappa Gamma and the university to divulge for the plaintiff to have. Suspending Kappa Gamma for hazing before the court proceeding had even started was an interesting way of admitting or acknowledging on what took place. It was better for them to settle out of court than not, and maintain the secrecy in an institution run by many Kappa Gamma brothers in high ranking administrative and staff positions. Kevin Clark did the right thing by taking Kappa Gamma to court. He was a courageous man for doing so and helped open the eyes of the public and gave an extra voice to all of the pledges in all fraternities who were afraid to stand up for themselves.

It's time to clean the gutters of the past and make a better and more respectful Kappa Gamma fraternity and Gallaudet University. Sweeping it under the rug will not help. Do something that will inspire and encourage the public and the deaf community.

UPDATE: Video of deaf athletes doing the "Nazi salute".

In bowels of the Kappa Gamma dungeon

I'm not sure where the main lair of the Kappa Gamma (K7) took place as their official headquarter over the years but I'm sure it has moved a few times. I believe College Hall was a previous K7 headquarter. What would be interesting if not shocking is where did some of the hazing take place under the auspice of Kappa Gamma where in two cases the organization got suspended as a result? One "dungeon" would be the Krug Hall basement. If initiation did take place then hearing people living or visiting the dormitory hall would have certainly heard the blood curdling screams and cries emanating from deep below in the basement of Krug Hall.

K7 had (not sure where they are situated now) their headquarter in Krug Hall back in the 80's and there was one hearing student majoring in Interpreting who lived in Krug. I happen to know him very well. He would tell me how he could hear horrible sounds coming from the basement of Krug. This happened often. As a result, he was scared because he knew they knew he was hearing and could hear stuffs. His words: "The screams were blood curdling screams."

Blood curdling screams? Maybe they were screams of pain while pledges got their bottom paddled? Was the basement of Krug Hall the only place of meeting? Maybe they took place in underground tunnels under the campus of Gallaudet University to ensure their cries would be muffled or simply dared K7 to leave their K7 graffiti symbol?

I worked at PPD as Electrician maintenance. I confirm 100% I witnessed and visited all Gallaudet Tunels [sic]. The very most tunel [sic] I used to use was the one connecting MSSD to Gallaudet President's house. The Entrance in MSSD down basement near electrical or gas and heater machine. Another tunnel I secondly used connect MSSD-HMB-SAC. I confirm that I have visited all off the Gallaudet Secrete societies and fratenities organization room located in ELY building. I saw some of the simbole [sic]  from those secretes societies gratified [sic] in the tunnels.

Who knows where these hazing events took place? But their history betrays them that the "dungeon" appears to be their preferred choice. From the 1945 Buff and Blue newspaper:

Kappa Gamma Taps 10 Candidates From out the flaming vortex of the swirling and turbulent river, Styx, looms Kaoosa, the Scourgo of Probation. Unleashing one of the earliest probations in years, the Kappa Gamma Fraternity has surrendered to the stern hands of the Tetrad Terrible Four, eleven untried and trembling candidates for admission into its subterranean and rubicund portals:  

Herman Johnson, '46; Edmund Witczak, '46; Joseph Broz, '48; Carl Barber, '48; Michael Cherniawski, '48; Myron Lee, '48; Darwin Younggren, '48; Gwendel Butler, '49; Mark Carter, '49 and Delbert Erickson, '49.  

Alumni Brethren who desire to pay homage to VISHNU are welcome at any time to view the neophytes as they undergo the trials and tribulations under the drudgery of the Pawheeves, and await the taciturn and austere judgment of SHIV on the terrible DAY OF DAYS. Remember the date and place where, O Beloved Brethren, we are to gambol en masse with those who have successfully defied the tortures of the Underground.

And exactly what did those tortures entail? Who knows? Only the victims and brothers of power know.

What about hazing through the forcing of drugs? Alcohol? Cocaine? Marijuana? Pills? Did drugs play an important role in the hazing process? Does the fraternity atmosphere promote or encourage misogynistic attitudes toward women? Did it ever manifest into the form of rape? Did anyone commit crimes that people in high places were able to protect them from the finality of judicial reviews by escaping punishment with some of their brothers sitting in the seats? Who knows?  There are all kinds of questions about influence and power.

Who knows what happened in the past in the bowels of the Kappa Gamma dungeons? The pledge victims whether they made it through the initiation rites or not will continue to suffer until one day they will have the courage to speak out about the pain and travesty that shames their own organization for their past, cruel transgressions who are unwilling to apologize for what had happened in the past in the bowels of the dungeon of their K7 lair. Sometimes all it takes is for one brave and courageous brother to apologize and the rest will follow.

All it take is just one.

When will the victims get their day? When will they get their dignity back? It may never happen unless somebody stand up for once and all and help end the misery of the past. Not just for one victim's peace of mind but for the many others who are kept silent out of fear may someday see an opportunity.