Fernandes The Only One?

Folks:

I want you to “listen” with an open mind on what I have to say here.

Please read this paragraph including a quote by Jane Fernandes from the Washington Post on October 6th:

Fernandes said she is the only one who can lead the school into the future and make it more inclusive for all types of deaf people. “I don’t think there’s anyone on earth who knows the issues better than I do. I’ve been living in it. . . . I know there’s audism here. I know there’s racism here. I know it happens, and more importantly, I have a plan to address it.”

Who does she think she is? The Messiah of Inclusiveness? Every Gallaudet student, faculty, staff, and alumni for the past 100-plus years has been living with these issues as much as she has.  It does not matter if one is pro-ASL, pro-SEE, pro-PSE, or pro-oral … if one is black, white, blue, green, orange, or yellow.  I have been living in it as much as she has been.  I grew up with predominately African-American and Hispanic inner city kids at Kendall School whose cards were so stacked against them by the system.  Some of them are still alive but many of them are either on drugs or dead.  I was mainstreamed for two years and I left because I was unable to be “free” from being myself.

Before any of you jump on me on why I am saying my piece of mind, ask yourselves this: How would you feel if I, as a white person, went on record saying that I know what it is like to be a person of color because I have been living in it? Or if I, as a deaf person, went on record saying that I know what it was like to be hard-of-hearing because I have been living in it? I would be crucified for complete and utter ignorance as well with having many folks come like a swarm of locusts on my back ‘til kingdom come.

I have no problem if she boasts to have a plan to address racism and audism but to outright claim that there is probably no one other than her who knows these issues best really is mind-blowing for me.  I have had real experiences with these issues myself and so do many other folks.  I certainly do not need someone to tell me that I may be ignorant of racism and audism.

I’m boiling mad here because she’s wrong for saying that.  I see the “deaf card” here and her statement above gives more justification on why she is not deaf enough.  I know it’s not an issue of the protest but she is playing the deaf card once again and I’m really pissed here.  For someone to proclaim herself as probably the only person who is an expert on audism is not “deaf enough” in my book because if she was “deaf enough,” she would not have made that statement in the first place.

You can read the article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/06/AR2006100600405_2.html?nav=hcmodule

See two separate quotes by Mercy Coogan, Director of Gallaudet Public Relations in a CNN article on October 6th:

Coogan said the complaints about Fernandes arose out of the question of whether she was “deaf enough.”

Coogan said the university is committed to “visual communications,” and that those who work for the school are expected to know some level of sign language.”

Am I reading these quotes right?

Is my alma mater relentlessly playing the “let’s use the deaf card” again and again? I mean, I distinctly remember something about the Board asking the FSSA last spring to cease making statements like that as much as they had asked the administration.  And I also believe that two members of the Board agreed in a meeting with the FSSA last spring that it was not about “not being deaf enough.”  Right now, I’m resenting my alma mater for playing the “deaf card.”

Does it mean that anyone who works for Gallaudet is expected to have minimal signing abilities? What exactly does “knowing some level of sign language” mean? This is definitely another mind-blower for me, really.

You can read the CNN article: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/06/college.protesters/index.html

The FSSA has maintained that the search process was flawed and still maintains that today.  They kept her out of the issue because they hoped she would see the light and resign.  She still refuses to give in and the Board is standing behind her.

Lo!  A Pandora’s Box was opened!  All the stories, accusations, confirmations of MBI/LBF, stories of “my way or the highway,” et cetera began to come out.  I never did want to see this type of thing happen because it would drastically make the deaf community more divided.  And it has and whether you like it or not, Gallaudet
University is one of the root causes.

This is exactly why it is not about the flawed process any more.  It is also about ineffective leadership and that quote by Jane Fernandes among many missed opportunities clearly shows her ineffective leadership.

Let’s talk about I. King Jordan here.  Granted, I’ll give him the benefit of being a kick-ass fund-raiser, a kick-ass ambassador, and a great friend for Gallaudet.  I like him because he’s smart, articulate, and charismatic.

Since May, I have yet to see him be a positive ally for Gallaudet.  He proclaimed, wearing a black suit with a bright red shirt, at the NAD conference in the scorching desert heat that there is no crisis at Gallaudet and told everyone in simpler terms, “shut up, accept, and move on.”

For the NAD to issue a sixth open letter refuting the “no crisis” statement … that is poetic justice because the NAD took a stand in reminding him that he cannot silence those who openly oppose him.

A couple of weeks ago, I received an e-mail from the Development Office asking me to support Gallaudet.  How can I donate to my alma mater after what I have seen in the past six months? Since May 2006, there’s evidence that the university has been unable to clean house.  And right now, how can I support Gallaudet especially if the president-designate has made herself appear as the only person who can tackle the issues of racism and audism?

The Board is not in touch with the student body and the alumni.  The same Board, the most vocal from within, Tom Humphries who coined the term, ‘audism’, told the protesters that they cannot meet one of their demands.  The same Board who told the protesters that there is a stalemate.  The same Board had only five minutes to spare for the protesters to share their issues because they had travel plans to complete.

These reasons are exactly why I. King Jordan and Jane K. Fernandes must resign immediately on the basis of ineffective leadership.  And why the Board needs to change their composition to include more Gallaudet alumni.

Is the King busy eating turkey legs in his castle with his Court of Trustees who might be having arrows trained on them while Jane is being told by her mirror that she is the messiah on eradicating racism and audism because she actually believes that there is no one else in the world that can do it? Or is the Prince of Audism, Humphries the First, jockeying for his share of the delicious turkey legs that the King is devouring? The Town Crier spins yonder.

I cry for thee, o’ Gallaudet.  I cry for those who put pride at the expense of others.  And I stand before the Tower Clock in buff tears and bleeding blue.

Karl A. Ewan

Class of 1993 – BA

Class of 1999 – MA