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Excellent point.
the protestors have made an enormous mistake. They endeavored to get the world's attention without having first developed an articulate, coherent message.
Now that they have the world's attention, they have nothing to say that makes any sense.
I also point out that equally confusing are their cries of racism. This is simply not credible in light of the fact that none of them raised concerns when Glenn Anderson was not selected for the final three. It was only AFTER the winning candidate was announced, and raised only when people realized their initial comments werent received well (e.g. "She don't say hi!" and "She doesnt sign well!")
I think that everyone knows that this protest wouldnt have happened if one of the other two candidates were selected instead, whom I note are WHITE MALES.
I have not seen credible arguments from anyone supporting the protest (and a close reading of the FSSA website reveals absolutely nothing in the way of facts and specific accusations other than nitpicking on individual actions made by the administration), and in the absence of reasoned, coherent statements backed by facts, I can only conclude that this is simply a popularity contest with one giant axe-grinding party by people with personal agendas.
Hi, Mike....
Well, one way of looking at this is: Back in 1988, IKJ was a dissenter, too and the movement wanting to take the deaf world to a different level, chose him based on his audiogram. Now with Jane, they want something more than just an audiogram; they want a more "complete" person to lead them.
DW, correct.
Tousi, it's possible that many feel this way. Certainly this issue of "not ASL" enough has come up again and again and again. This can be equated as a veiled "not deaf enough" issue.
They have NOT given her a chance and they're making it very clear they are NOT going to give her a chance.
Gallaudet needs to be WIPED off the map.
You are biased. Your information is inaccurate. You have no idea what you're talking about other than your biased opinions.
JKF has to resign for the 'better' of the University. ANYONE with brains can see that.
The intellectually-challenged are the ones who want an education (because they know without an education, they will amount up to nothing -- so instead, obtaining an education gives them some leeway ... a future as a janitor and whatnot).
With Jane as our next president, you can pretty much guarantee those non-intellects will become the next group of janitors ...
WITHOUT Jane as our next president, you can pretty much guarantee the non-intellects will soar and live to their fullest potential.
Biased information ... time to look at this from a different stance.
How many tent cities have been established? How many more are going to be established?
Get your facts straight.
McConnell, it's interesting how some protestors appear very threatened by the possibility of the "intellectually challenged" entering GU. Recently, I saw some questions in a certain person's blog about how a "Special Needs" student was able to enroll. I've seen a few students at GU who have CP, some facial malformations, etc. It seems to me that commentors such as the one above concluded that those students must have mental challenges in addition to their physical differences. I somehow doubt that is true. There is an admission process in place, and applicants are required to demonstrate their qualifications, which includes passing a test. It's sad seeing how some people are so insecure and defensive that they lash out against people whose differences are only on the surface. That commentor must be feeling quite frightened for his or her own future and economic security. As for tent cities, we all know just how effective they are in changing the BoT's minds about JKF being the best choice for GU's next president.
JKF keeps trying to use " not deaf enough " to mislead the public to think that the protest was wrong. Actually, it has nothing to do with her deafness. It s related to flawed process on selecting new president and JKF's history on her performance (one of worst).
Also IKJ used outside agency to do the screening. These people has no knowledge or understanding of deafhood. (Bet it was one of bad intention done by IKJ and JKF). Dr. Anderson was on the list when they started. IKJ wanted to eliminate these qualified people before the 3 finalist to get JKF to win. Dr. Anderson was the chairperson of BOT for many years. He has much experiences in university level. It certainly looked like it was intentionally fixed.
Gunsauls,
Sorry, but what you guys have created was a public relation nightmare.
You guys keep saying "flawed" as your daily talking point but never bothered to list the specifics.
The outside agency were well aware of the cultural attitude of Deaf people.
And lastly, every time you keep coming up with conspiracy theories you keep shooting yourselves in the foot each and every time.
This is what the public is seeing.
FACT #1: Gallaudet University is for deaf and hard of hearing.
FACT #2: JKF was selecte by the BoT to become the 1st deaf woman president of Galluadet University.
FACT #3: The BoTs is made up of mostly Deaf members.
FACT #4: JKF use sign language albeit not fluent ASL.
Put all four together along with the fact that ya'll protesting that you don't like Jane K Fernades, then I certainly CANNOT blame the outside world thinking that you guys are nuts and acting like cry babies. Hence, the "Not Deaf Enough?" title getting splashed across every major news media.
You wanted the spotlight.
You got it.
I strongly believe it wasn't a flawed pprocess. The opponents could demand an independent investigation into the process to see if it was flawed.
The article in Washington Post by JKF was a well written one!
Jane is for diversity and the Deaf opponents are not for diversity. In that article, Jane clearly knows the cause of the protest. She just happened to be standing so close to the volcano.
Go read the article.
On a different note, I am culturally Deaf whose parents graudated from Gallaudet in the early sixties. There are several culturally Deaf people who do not support the protest. Just please do not categorize all of the culturally Deaf as Deafists or Deaf militants. I am far from being one.
The administration already signaled their assent to an independent investigation of the search process, most recently Dr. Jane Fernandes herself in a conversation with some of us. It just needs to be put officially on the table in negotiations, whenever they happen. Oh yeah, it also would help if protesters did not renege on a signed agreement (which they have done no less than three times by now in this standoff).
But..but...Alison says "No Way!" They didn't renege on the signed agreement.
Why didn't Dr. Rosen and Dr. Anderson, who have better qualification than the 2 other finalist, make the 3-4 finalist? Mr. Stern and other finalist (I cant recall the name)dont have the PH.d so therefore, the BOT would be subtly forced to appoint JKF who has better qualification out of the finalists.I would think that it's too obvious!!
It's only "obvious" to you because you'd rather have one of the other two candidates (or 5 in this case with Anderson).
The Admin already agreed to an internal and independent investigation of the search process.
Mike, where does Allison say that they did not renege?
I asked a student point blank a few days ago, why SBG reneged on the agreement, and his answer was that the SBG president signed the agreement "under duress," and got chewed out for it by the protesters afterward.
Let me get this straight: either he did not get the consent of his fellow protesters before signing the agreement, or the protesters flat out reneged. In either case, he should not have signed the agreement at all. Signing something and then withdrawing the agreement later ist just plain bad.
Maybe I should put *sarcasm* in next time. I was agreeing with you.
Allison..
Let me get it...
http://www.elisawrites.com/?p=218
I agree with your sentiments. I was at a baby shower today for my sister and my parents and relatives, all folks who have a pretty good understanding of how deaf culture stands apart from any other "culture" in the US, didn't understand why the protesters were shutting down the college.
Worse still, *I* couldn't explain why either.
In other words, they are shooting themselves in the foot with this thing. There is no clear message unlike DPN.
who will be doing the investigation?
Yes, it's a PR nightmare. At this point, what Mike is discussing in this entry is NOT the facts of the protest but the PERCEPTION of the protest.
For every event, there are two things that go with it: its actual facts and its perception of its existence.
Quite often, it will be the perception and not the facts that carry at the end of the day. So it's imperative to consider the perception to any public event.
I've seen more than enough documentation and such to conclude that the facts of the case are such that JKF is not qualified to lead the university, that the process of choosing her has every appearance of having been orchestrated, her record as Provost, especially corroborated by the Clerc letter, and so on.
But. The perception that I am continually getting, that seeps through on virtually every blog, most certainly in any cascade of comments, is that the issue is indeed one of "Not Deaf Enough." I reached this conclusion *without* having read any of JKF's press releases.
As a born-deaf person who functions orally and does not know ASL, I am fundamentally offended throughout all this. It's very very important that the protesters understand that. Some seem to do so, but not enough to control or change the public perception of their protest.
I wish them well. I even wish them success. But whether they succeed or fail, their next task will be healing the division within the ranks of the deaf. It will be a considerable challenge.
I really hope they'll hustle and hurry up with the independent investigation. The sooner GU can put to rest the fears and conspiracies, the better for everyone. I'm still stunned how anyone, after 18 successful and productive years, could think that IKJ wasn't completely above-board in everything he said and did regarding his role in the presidential search. He's certainly had the microscope on him long enough.
Don't know, Gunsauls. What and see what the Admin say when school starts up next week.
Anon, what "documentation" would that be? It may not be, per se, a "not deaf enough" issue but it is without a doubt a not "ASL-enough" issue. That's getting pretty close.
If you believe that the general public does not understand the real issues behind the protests at Gally, then you would do the protestors a real favor by telling the world what you think what the real issues are. So far you've been successful in tsking-tsking the protestors.
I have. Look again.
A little bit about my background: I was a grad student for six years, and I have worked at a university for a total of 15 years. I know how universities work.
The students protesting was one thing. But even then, when you read through all the blog entries (I'm not going to do that again) there were several very consistent issues, such as refusing to meet students, refusing to follow through on stated objectives. But as with anything, that could have been due to any number of factors.
What made me sit up and pay attention was the staff and faculty that started listing problems as well.
The other thing that became very interesting was reading the blogging where the students would discuss negotiations underway and report on the progress (or not) and then the official press releases by both IJK and JKF would diverge widely, very much as if, exactly what had been said earlier, they'd agree to things and never follow through.
For example, the university blamed the protesters for shutting out the students of Kendall, etc. But the protesters were going to let them through. The Clerc confirmed that the university had shut Kendall, etc, down, not the protesters.
The letter from the Clerc folks is extremely detailed in many other ways. It is perhaps one of the most damning documents of the entire affair.
The government review of Gallaudet is extremely serious and indicates a core problem of disconnects between leadership, faculty, staff, and students.
There are further allegations of financial abuse, and while I have no opinion as to the validity of that, the above factors would encourage me to ask for an audit of the university's finances.
And an independent review into the process of selection would also be good.
When faculty and staff, who are at risk of losing jobs, speak out like that, it doesn't matter what exact details are correct...something is wrong, very wrong, at Gallaudet.
Anonymous, without concrete evidence of anything, just conspiracies, accusations, and allegations, it all boils down to "he said, she said." I admit I don't know any more of the facts than anyone else does. But if you ask me who has more credibility, the adults in authority or the students and their supporters, I'd believe IKJ (18+ years of faultless service to Gallaudet) and the GU Board of Trustees. The BoT are not naive people. I'm just taking a wild guess here, but I bet that people like Senator John McCain, a Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war, and every other board member has the ability to discriminate the facts from the baloney. Even though some of them are not deaf.
And the deaf community expects to be taken seriously by the rest of the world?
Here is a response to an e-mail I had written to Rider of Riderlive.com. This is a person I have never met nor have I corresponded with in the past.
"My dear Megan:
You have to be a retard not to see the issues BEYOND who she is.
It has nothing to do with her mainstreaming schools. In fact, the
large majority of the protesters graduated from the mainstreaming
schools! It is all about how she exerts herself as a leader. She
was simply awful, aloof and tyrant.
The keyword is: tyrant.
She had two chances, she blew it at KDES/MSSD. And as the Provost,
she caused Gallaudet to receive "ineffective" rating from the US
Department of Education.
YOu still want to give her another chance? You have to be a retard, for sure.
R-
> To Whom It May Concern,
>
> Being a mainstreamed deaf individual myself, I am baffled as to why the Deaf community is so against having a mainstreamed deaf president at Gallaudet. What the Deaf community needs to realize is that living the life of a mainstreamed deaf person can be difficult & lonely. I have been shunned by other deaf people many times when it becomes clear that my signing isn't fluent and that I can communicate well through the use of speech and lip reading. Yet, I'm never embraced by the hearing community either and have only a handful of friends to prove it. It is my hope that Jane Fernandes is given a fair chance at being Gallaudet's president. Do give her the boot for poor job performance but don't do so because she isn't Deaf (with a capital D).
Ah, yes. Loves to wear his mask of hypocrisy. Blame the leaders for their own bad grades because they didn't want to study in the first place. Maybe it's time to take a closer look at those teaches who don't want to do their scholarly works as compared to other universities where scholarly works are required in order to continue teaching as a professor.
How funny is it when they try and call Gallaudet University as the "Deaf Harvard"?
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