Jennie Coyne: Observer Paging Me On Black Fri 13 Night

I had an observer who paged me almost all of what I reported on the Black Friday 13 Night. I wasn’t able to get her permission to release her identity until recently. She made it possible for me to keep blogging because she persisted reporting when the other two weren’t able to keep up.  For your information, she is a HUG, a hearing undergraduate student, and this is her second month on Gallaudet University.

Not only I, but the Deaf Community thank you for making a valuable contribution with your reporting of this historic event.

Here is her article on her feelings on that infamous night.

Friday evening arrests

October 13, 2006 is not a day that will soon be erased from my memory.  I was off-campus in Silver Spring, Maryland when I first heard that the DC police were getting ready to arrest students. I paged a friend who I knew would know the facts and he confirmed that the cops were flooding the 6th Street gate.  I rushed back to Gallaudet, and as I turned from M Street to 6th I saw what my friend was talking about: Cops were everywhere.  Cars from Florida Ave. could not turn onto 6th Street because it was blocked by a cop car.  I hurried down the street and was pulled into the “observers section” by Ryan Di Giovanni, who explained that the cops would be arresting anyone outside of the yellow tape. 

From where I stood I could see hundreds of people standing in the “non-observer” section, meaning the “I’m willing to get arrested” section.  Some sat, some stood, but they all linked arms and remained strong, refusing to budge.  DPS marched out in a single file line, followed by booing and jeers from angry students, faculty, staff and alumni.  I was freezing, so I headed back to my dorm at this time to get warmer clothes.

When I returned, the police had just issued their second warning.  They explained to the students that they were violating DC assembly laws, and if they didn’t move they would be arrested.  Once that happened, DPS would begin taking the students one-by-one and loading them into the paddy wagon.  The brave protestors held their ground, refusing to budge.  Students shouted at the police.  “Go take care of the real criminals, we aren’t doing anything wrong!”  Several people chanted, “Hell no, we won’t go.”  Many times we waved “I love you” signs in the air, other times we chanted, “JK out!” or “Gallaudet unite same!”  We were unified.

DPS had no idea what they were in for when they came for the first student, Mayor Chris Corrigan.  As they tried to pick him up, he went limp.  They struggled to carry his body away.  Next was Tara Holcomb.  Then Latoya Plummer.  Travis Clevinger.  Leah Katz-Hernandez.  Tim Rarus.  It went on and on and on.  The students were wonderful.  They did exactly what they were supposed to do.  No one struggled, no one fought back.  Even when DPS dropped students (idiots), no one moved. 

I watched those around me bursting into tears and it took everything I had not to cry.  One faculty member standing next to me said, “How can they do this?  I can’t keep working here like this.”  She sobbed as another faculty member held her, trying to comfort her.  Christy Elliott, a Canadian alumnus, burst into tears as her boyfriend Neil Macgill was hauled away.  I breathed in a deep sigh and continued updating Elizabeth so she could post everything live, along with Elisa.  We brought in 45,000 hits.  At least I knew that I was making a difference by being there, that I was giving the world access to something only a few of us were able to see.

Since Friday my support for the protest has increased tremendously.  I supported it anyway, but seeing what the adminstration was willing to do to its own students was heart-breaking.  And just one day after IKJ announced that he didn’t want to involved the police.  One DC cop said if he was a protestor, he’d be right there sitting on the ground with everyone else.  Several cops complained about how stupid this was, how they didn’t want to be here and they had other things to do.  I don’t blame them one bit for that.

We will continue to fight until our demands are met.  We haven’t done all this work for nothing.  I only wish there was more I could do.  If anyone knows of things I can do to help out, please do contact me at coyner@tmail.com.  I want to help and I want to make a difference.  I encourage anyone else who is around and wants to help to come out and do so!  We will win this fight no matter what it takes.

Emotional turmoil

The past two weeks have been incredibly emotional ones for me.  I was there when they held the first student rally.  I was there when they decided to move Tent City to the Mall at Gallaudet.  I was there when the decision was made to lockdown HMB.  I heard rumors about the lockdown of campus and got to the front gate as soon as I woke up.  I watched over a hundred of my peers get arrested. 

When IKJ announced his plan to step down last year, by initial thoughts were, “At least I’ll be able to say I was there under his reign for a semester.”  I’ve always thought of him fondly, thought he had the best interest of the students in mind.  Even last May, as I reported from my home in Wyoming, I still believed he really cared about the Gallaudet community. 

Now that I’m here, I see that’s not true.  Tim Rarus, one of the leaders from DPN, was quoted as saying, “IKJ, in 1988 I fought for you, and now you’re arresting me.”  Ironic, isn’t it?  What we’re doing now is no different from what the students did 18 years ago, when IKJ stood beside the entire Gallaudet community and told them he supported them, that they were doing the right thing.  Why are we wrong now?

I am disgusted with this adminstration.  IKJ and JKF have proven that they don’t care at all about the students, they only wish to better themselves.  I applaud all those who were arrested Friday night, for they have shown that they truly care about this university.  Keep fighting.  Don’t give up.  We are right and we will win.