authentic
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2005
- Messages
- 8,530
- Reaction score
- 453
6/30/106
Gallaudet's Fernandes wants all state deaf schools closed down, protesters say (Part 1)
At Gallaudet University, the world's only university for the deaf, in Washington DC, the president-elect, Jane Fernandes, who is scheduled to take office on Jan. 1, 2007, harbors a dangerous anti-philosophy of education, which is harmful to the emotional and intellectual well being of deaf students. Protesters are continuing in their two demands that she either step down or have her appointment rescinded, and that no reprisals be administered to the protesters.
(PressMethod) - Widespread shock and dismay has spread through the American deaf community, as details about Gallaudet President-elect Jane Fernandes's philosophy of deaf education becomes known and more fully understood.
An exhaustive analysis of policy statements made by Gallaudet officials in the past several years, plus information obtained from contact with administration insiders has shown that, in the event that Fernandes is able to survive the protests against her and become the next president of Gallaudet, she will continue policies that will lead to the permanent closure of all state residential schools for the deaf.
How Jordan and Fernandes hijacked the worldwide Deaf Culture Movement
In March of 1988, Irving King Jordan, Jr. was the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Gallaudet University. The Gallaudet Board of Trustees had chosen him to be a token representative of the deaf community in the group of three finalists, as the pool of applicants for the position of the seventh president of Gallaudet University was narrowed down.
When, as pre-planned, the nondeaf finalist, Elizabeth Zinser was announced as the Board's choice to be the next president of Gallaudet University, Jordan, by his own admission, went along with the administration's "party line" (a term he used) and he did not participate in nor lend his support to the Deaf President Now protest movement (the "DPN"). In fact, Jordan stood up at an assembly and actually endorsed Dr. Zinser's selection.
Immediately after that endorsement, Jordan began to discover that he had chosen to be on the wrong side of history. As he explained to the Washington Post at the time: "I talked to more than 50 people, and when I realized that I had misread the extent of the students' determination and the support base for their action, I came out for them...It became apparent that the focus was no longer on the students at Gallaudet--but that it was a national and international concern."
What is striking about the above confession is that Jordan seems not to have inquired about the substantive nature of the Deaf President Now protest movement, but was simply, in effect, wetting his finger and holding it up to see which way the political winds were blowing.
His quick and unexpected appointment to the presidency of Gallaudet took attention away from the nature of his prior beliefs. In the excitement created in finally having a deaf person chosen to be president of Gallaudet, no one seemed to want to dwell too much on the question of whether or not Jordan was actually knowledgeable enough of, or friendly enough toward, the idea of deaf culture to be able to step into the new and politically powerful role that the Deaf Culture Movement itself created.
In fact, Jordan failed to satisfy either of these criteria. Not only was he hostile to the idea of deaf culture, but he began a conscious campaign to actively fight against the continuation and growth of it and, in essence, hijack the Deaf Culture Movement in the United States, which he proceeded to convert into a political "disability rights" campaign.
The Beginning of Philosophy, Science and Modern Culture
It is somewhat appropriate to say that there exists a "Deaf Liberation Movement" in the United States, since the deaf have indeed been struggling to liberate themselves from oppressors who attempted to rob them of their humanity by forbidding them to use language in a form that is natural to them. But in order to liberate oneself, one must first concentrate on self-development.
Societies, like individuals, must first be born. They pass through various stages, including stages of adolescence, as they evolve and mature. Outstanding members of societies push their cultures to new heights and upwards to new levels of maturity. In ancient Greece, it was first Thales, and then his student Anaximander who introduced new ways of thinking about the world--systematic ways of asking questions about nature and the universe that sparked a revolution in human culture and civilization.
Other Greek thinkers pushed the new methods further, and the immensely important Western traditions of philosophy and science were born. Science suffered a setback during the long period of the Dark Ages in Europe, but then made a comeback centuries later when a "rebirth"--the "Renaissance"--took place.
Deaf people join the Greek-initiated Philosophy and Science Movement in world culture
It is also somewhat appropriate to say that the social movement surrounding the Deaf President Now campaign in America in 1988 represented a "Deaf Renaissance," since it is true that the Deaf Culture Movement suffered a setback as a result of decisions made by certain types of educators of the deaf at the conference in Milan, Italy in 1880.
Actually though, the Deaf Culture Movement was continuing to develop and grow in the United States, even though it had to be continued behind the backs of those certain types of pseudo-educators who would have it extinguished.
Laurent Clerc, himself deaf, served as an indispensable and key figure in the growth of the Deaf Culture Movement in the United States. He had been born and raised in France, and he was educated at the famous school for the deaf in Paris that had been established in the 1760s by Charles-Michel de l'Épée.
.
------------------------------------------------------------
For further information about this press release, please contact protest co-leader Brian Riley at (559) 285-5268.
For more information about Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc, please download the book titled "Tribute to Gallaudet" on the Gallyprotest.org Web site.
For more information about Amos Kendall and the establishment of Gallaudet College (then the "Columbia Institution"), please download the book: "Autobiography of Amos Kendall" on the Gallyprotest.org Web site.
For general information on the protest against Jane Fernandes being selected President-Elect of Gallaudet, see our website:
www.gallyprotest.org
Thank you!
### ### ###
CONTACT INFORMATION
Brian Riley
Gallyprotest
Email Us
559-285-5268
http://gallyprotest.org
###
Disclaimer: If you have any questions regarding information in these press releases please contact the company listed in the press release. Please do not contact PressMethod. We will be unable to assist you with your inquiry. PressMethod disclaims any content contained in these release.
Source: http://www.pressmethod.com/releasestorage/7588.htm
Gallaudet's Fernandes wants all state deaf schools closed down, protesters say (Part 1)
At Gallaudet University, the world's only university for the deaf, in Washington DC, the president-elect, Jane Fernandes, who is scheduled to take office on Jan. 1, 2007, harbors a dangerous anti-philosophy of education, which is harmful to the emotional and intellectual well being of deaf students. Protesters are continuing in their two demands that she either step down or have her appointment rescinded, and that no reprisals be administered to the protesters.
(PressMethod) - Widespread shock and dismay has spread through the American deaf community, as details about Gallaudet President-elect Jane Fernandes's philosophy of deaf education becomes known and more fully understood.
An exhaustive analysis of policy statements made by Gallaudet officials in the past several years, plus information obtained from contact with administration insiders has shown that, in the event that Fernandes is able to survive the protests against her and become the next president of Gallaudet, she will continue policies that will lead to the permanent closure of all state residential schools for the deaf.
How Jordan and Fernandes hijacked the worldwide Deaf Culture Movement
In March of 1988, Irving King Jordan, Jr. was the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Gallaudet University. The Gallaudet Board of Trustees had chosen him to be a token representative of the deaf community in the group of three finalists, as the pool of applicants for the position of the seventh president of Gallaudet University was narrowed down.
When, as pre-planned, the nondeaf finalist, Elizabeth Zinser was announced as the Board's choice to be the next president of Gallaudet University, Jordan, by his own admission, went along with the administration's "party line" (a term he used) and he did not participate in nor lend his support to the Deaf President Now protest movement (the "DPN"). In fact, Jordan stood up at an assembly and actually endorsed Dr. Zinser's selection.
Immediately after that endorsement, Jordan began to discover that he had chosen to be on the wrong side of history. As he explained to the Washington Post at the time: "I talked to more than 50 people, and when I realized that I had misread the extent of the students' determination and the support base for their action, I came out for them...It became apparent that the focus was no longer on the students at Gallaudet--but that it was a national and international concern."
What is striking about the above confession is that Jordan seems not to have inquired about the substantive nature of the Deaf President Now protest movement, but was simply, in effect, wetting his finger and holding it up to see which way the political winds were blowing.
His quick and unexpected appointment to the presidency of Gallaudet took attention away from the nature of his prior beliefs. In the excitement created in finally having a deaf person chosen to be president of Gallaudet, no one seemed to want to dwell too much on the question of whether or not Jordan was actually knowledgeable enough of, or friendly enough toward, the idea of deaf culture to be able to step into the new and politically powerful role that the Deaf Culture Movement itself created.
In fact, Jordan failed to satisfy either of these criteria. Not only was he hostile to the idea of deaf culture, but he began a conscious campaign to actively fight against the continuation and growth of it and, in essence, hijack the Deaf Culture Movement in the United States, which he proceeded to convert into a political "disability rights" campaign.
The Beginning of Philosophy, Science and Modern Culture
It is somewhat appropriate to say that there exists a "Deaf Liberation Movement" in the United States, since the deaf have indeed been struggling to liberate themselves from oppressors who attempted to rob them of their humanity by forbidding them to use language in a form that is natural to them. But in order to liberate oneself, one must first concentrate on self-development.
Societies, like individuals, must first be born. They pass through various stages, including stages of adolescence, as they evolve and mature. Outstanding members of societies push their cultures to new heights and upwards to new levels of maturity. In ancient Greece, it was first Thales, and then his student Anaximander who introduced new ways of thinking about the world--systematic ways of asking questions about nature and the universe that sparked a revolution in human culture and civilization.
Other Greek thinkers pushed the new methods further, and the immensely important Western traditions of philosophy and science were born. Science suffered a setback during the long period of the Dark Ages in Europe, but then made a comeback centuries later when a "rebirth"--the "Renaissance"--took place.
Deaf people join the Greek-initiated Philosophy and Science Movement in world culture
It is also somewhat appropriate to say that the social movement surrounding the Deaf President Now campaign in America in 1988 represented a "Deaf Renaissance," since it is true that the Deaf Culture Movement suffered a setback as a result of decisions made by certain types of educators of the deaf at the conference in Milan, Italy in 1880.
Actually though, the Deaf Culture Movement was continuing to develop and grow in the United States, even though it had to be continued behind the backs of those certain types of pseudo-educators who would have it extinguished.
Laurent Clerc, himself deaf, served as an indispensable and key figure in the growth of the Deaf Culture Movement in the United States. He had been born and raised in France, and he was educated at the famous school for the deaf in Paris that had been established in the 1760s by Charles-Michel de l'Épée.
.
------------------------------------------------------------
For further information about this press release, please contact protest co-leader Brian Riley at (559) 285-5268.
For more information about Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc, please download the book titled "Tribute to Gallaudet" on the Gallyprotest.org Web site.
For more information about Amos Kendall and the establishment of Gallaudet College (then the "Columbia Institution"), please download the book: "Autobiography of Amos Kendall" on the Gallyprotest.org Web site.
For general information on the protest against Jane Fernandes being selected President-Elect of Gallaudet, see our website:
www.gallyprotest.org
Thank you!
### ### ###
CONTACT INFORMATION
Brian Riley
Gallyprotest
Email Us
559-285-5268
http://gallyprotest.org
###
Disclaimer: If you have any questions regarding information in these press releases please contact the company listed in the press release. Please do not contact PressMethod. We will be unable to assist you with your inquiry. PressMethod disclaims any content contained in these release.
Source: http://www.pressmethod.com/releasestorage/7588.htm
ciao