There is a protest at Gallaudet University since yesterday. I was emailed by a friend who works at Gallaudet University about the announcement of new president at 230pm EST, and I am here in Colorado. I was in class when I got the email 'Fez' and I went "WHATTHEFUCK???!!!" I had not lived in Gallaudet while she has been the provost there, but I have already encountered her at a deaf event, in which I will not spill the beans, but I can only say it was negative. What I have in:
1) Through a poll on 'Notwithoutus.org' of gallaudet students, Fernandes only got 13% of students'approval, and 81% of students'disapproval. Mind you, it were on a ballot for undergraduate students to respond to Graduate Students Association and Student Body Government. If you want to know more, you can look up http://notwithoutus.org/node/32
2) Gallaudet University have been performing POORLY as investigated by congress and federal education department. And the current president think that that poor performance can be continued under Fernandes? THINK AGAIN! The deaf students deserve better education and even have the right to better education! Look up laws in education section of federal laws! Http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/summary.10003306.2005.html.
3. There is no love between the students and Fernandes from what I gather from: http://trimmingthefern.blog.com/, and
http://starvingforaccess.blog.com. Mind you, take those with a grain of salt.
4. I have to admit Ridor writes a good blog, http://ridorlive.com, and he's currently writing what's going on the Gallaudet campus, and I envy him. Colorado is quite a distance from Washington D.C!
I have been reading emails of people telling me what's going on campus, and I have concerns.
1) Fire alarms at dorms and SAC.... PLEASE!!! Do not do that..that will only make the protest more a student prank, than a mature and reasonable protest. We the deaf community need to show the world that we can be responsible and protest peacefully and without antics like those. Burning an effigy is powerful than pulling a fire alarm. Having a hunger fast is noticeable than ordering a pizza and eating it front of the media. If you want to have the ear of the world, do what Martin Luther King Jr. did...he had a strong voice, and he marched peacefully and with numbers. More the number of students, faculty, and alumni you have on campus, the BOT and the current administration will listen!
2) "She doesn't say hi".... That left me speechless.. honestly, it does. Bush doesn't say Hi to me either, but do that make me mad at him? OF COURSE NOT! One needs to have ACTIONS that look bad on the individual. I can understand the protest when one says "she had shut down many programs under MSSD- but what kind of programs were they? "She closed some student organizations- Can you tell which organizations and can those ex-members speak up? Bring up the fact that the congress found Gallaudet university ineffective, and point out that it's under IJK administration in which Fernandes is under! GET information and ACCURATE information at that, to show WHY the protest is going on!
3) Deaf-cultural president. That I can understand. But would the hearing world UNDERSTAND that? The leaders and protesters may need to explain to the media. Some friends finally understood when I said "okay, someone moved to Italy..and learned how to speak Italian, but he's NOT Italian... so would you think the population of Italy would accept him as a president to represent Italy?" I hope you understand what I'm talking about!
Written by Jules
