Deaf President Now

Jane Fernandes’s appointment as President Gallaudet University, leaving the auditorium with plans of protest. For the second time in Gallaudet’s history, students march their way to the front gates, refusing to leave. Students rallied, inducing the resignation of Celia May Baldwin. These events were 11 years ago, showing that Deaf people still feel oppressed. What happened at Gallaudet rippled across the globe, causing an uprising in Mississippi School for the Deaf. Though there are many improvements in America, we all still have a very long way to go for advocacy of both deaf and disabled

Of all the candidates who were up for the presidency of the university, only one of them was not deaf. This fact only fueled the fire when candidate was chosen. More or less sending a message into the deaf community that deaf people still seemed to be less capable or qualified as a hearing person. Yet, although DPN was a movement for equality and many other issues, it was a milestone in the Deaf Culture. "Deaf President Now" showed the world that deaf people and the deaf world could be united around a common issues and "fight." Especially one of this importance. "Gallaudet University represents the pinnacle of education for deaf people, not only in the United States but throughout the world." (Van Cleve p.172) Would it not be fitting for a university founded within deaf culture, be headed by one who was a part of that culture? Obviously there is no question.

Watching the film Through Deaf Eyes was eye opening to Deaf history and culture. The film was a great introduction and snapshot of what it is like to be Deaf and to live in not only the Deaf world but to also be a part of the hearing world. Watching the film and learning the history and the achievements that the Deaf have overcome was inspiring. It was also depressing to see the kind of oppression that Deaf people have faced and within their own community. One of the biggest things that I took away from the movie was that Deaf people can do anything they wish to do, besides hear. Seeing the way they stood up and demanded a Deaf president of Gallaudet University and that helping to influence the introduction of the Americans with Disabilities Act was inspiring. Whenever I would think of what it would be like to be Deaf, I thought of the immediate loses that a Deaf person would have and that just isn’t the way to look at it.

In mainstream American society, we tend to approach deafness as a defect. Helen Keller is alleged to have said, "Blindness cuts people off from things; deafness cuts people off from people." (rnib.org) This seems a very accurate description of what Keller's world must have been. We as hearing people tend to pity deaf people, or, if they succeed in the hearing world, admire them for overcoming a severe handicap. We tend to look at signing as an inferior substitute for "real" communication. We assume that all deaf people will try to lip-read and we applaud deaf people who use their voices to show us how far they have come from the grips of their disability. Given this climate, many hearing people are surprised, as I was at

The board wanted a hearing president because that is who they thought would do a better job and they assumed that a deaf president couldn't fulfill certain roles. On the other hand, the students demanded that there be a deaf president to represent the college to its fullest potential. It is known that a deaf person can do everything a hearing person can besides hear((University 1988). The reason the students protested is because the deaf candidate was best suited for the position. The assumptions the board of trustees made were not very accurate and fair compared to the rest of the community. It was surprising to see that the board members were not supportive for the deaf community since they are associated as top leaders of the

Darrow’s article was easy to read and focused on the importance of how to teach deaf students. Although I enjoyed reading it, the writer lacked to inform how students with hearing losses can differ and how this can

Shepard is the President of the District of Columbia Area Black Deaf Advocates, Inc. (DCABDA). As a member of this organization I have witnessed her ability to organize her time wisely, set goals for the organization, work diligently to help us to achieve these goals, seek more community outreach endeavors for the organization and perform her duties as President with excellence. Due to her many attributes, I am confident that Mrs. Washington will perform with distinction if accepted into the the Master’s in Sign Language Education Program (hybrid) at Gallaudet University. Therefore, I strongly recommend her for this

In 1861, George Veditz was born of hearing and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, USA by his two German immigrant parents. By the age of five he was already fluent in two languages, English and German. However, when he was just eight years old, Veditz lost his hearing to scarlet fever. Fortunately, he was taught sign language by a private tutor, and had decided to attend Maryland School for the Deaf. After his graduation, he went to National Deaf-Mute College, which later became known as Gallaudet University, to become a teacher (Cadeaf.org). Years passed and in 1904, he became the president of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). There, he laid his legacy toward his most prominent accomplishment, the Preservation of Sign Language. With the help of film technology, Veditz also become a well-known Teller to the Deaf community and has made significant contributions to Deaf literature

In this 2 hours of deaf history I found it very interesting. It taught me a lot about deaf history. In those 2 hours I found out about how people would treated deaf people. Deaf people were treated very badly, they were treated like something was wrong with them. There is nothing wrong with them even though they can’t hear, nothing is wrong with them they are still humans with feeling. Deaf people were told that they had to go to a school so they could learn to talk (oral schools). In those they were not aloud to sign or use hands in class. They would try and teach deaf kids how to speak by putting their hands on the teacher's throat to feel the vibrations of when the teacher speak and the kids had to copy that feeling on themselves and when

deaf: working for the rights of all deaf people in this country, including education of deaf children.

This book was mainly focused on looking at Deaf culture of today and comparing it to the culture of the past, and what kinds of struggles deaf people had to endure to get where they are today. The two authors of this book are deaf; one was deaf her whole life and the other became deaf as a child. In my opinion, that was a major contributing factor to why it was so interesting. The reader gets a chance to travel through the history of the Deaf through words from those who have experienced it. It also had a positive impact because the authors let the readers know in the introduction that they are deaf and a brief history of themselves, which I

Benjamin James Bahan who was born by Deaf parents in New Jersey was very passionate about American Sign Language and Deaf Literature. As a child he attended Marie Katzenbach School for the Deaf in West Trenton, New Jersey as well as Gallaudet University where he is now a professor and chair of American Sign Language and Deaf Studies. Upon returning to Gallaudet University as a professor and chairs person in 1996 he went to The Salk Institute in La Jolla where he researched American Sign Language linguistics and acquisitions as well as receiving his masters degree in Deaf Education and helped operate the Deaf Studies Program in the School of Education at Boston University. Lucky for Ben, while attending Boston University he met his wonderful wife who was not only Deaf but had Deaf parents just like him.

Congratulations, you have just graduated from high school. This is the first time in your life where you have a chance to make life-altering decisions. One can decide from going to college or going to work, going to a two-year university or taking some time off to travel. For many, the next step after graduating high school would be going to college. What happened if one was deaf or hard of hearing and wanted to go to college and receive higher education? Gallaudet University was a pioneering school that led to many changes not only within the deaf community but also in the United States as a whole.

A movement had happened at a Deaf college, known as the Deaf President Now movement. This happened at Gallaudet which is the first Deaf school in the U.S. named after Thomas Gallaudet. For over 124 years Gallaudet has had a hearing president to represent the school, on March 6, 1988 that all changed. A angry mob of Deaf college students had have enough and a protest against the College for electing a hearing president began. The Deaf students of Gallaudet had had enough and started a protest leading to a movement. Finally, it seemed, the world’s only liberal arts college for the Deaf would have a Deaf president.

The Book I decided to read is called “Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf”. In this book the author Oliver Sacks basically focuses on Deaf history and the community of the deaf developed toward linguistic self-sufficiency. Sacks is a Professor of Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He became interested in the problem of how deaf children acquire language after reviewing a book by Harlan Lane. The book was titled “When the Mind Hears: A History of the Deaf”. This book was first published in 1984 and was published again in 1989. Before reading Harlan’s book Sacks did not know any sign language. The book encouraged him to begin studying sign language. Sacks became extremely interested on how the deaf learn to communicate with the ability of sound being nonexistent. He wanted to know what this process may tell us about the nature of language. Seeing Voices is made up of three chapters, the history of the deaf, a discussion of language and the brain, and an evaluation of the problems behind the student strike that occurred at Gallaudet University, in March of 1988.