A Note By GUAA Prez, Andy Lange

Hello GUAA Alumni,

I am sure by now, everyone has heard of the news.  With the very short
message that was released today from President Jordan’s office -
see below -, he has disenfranchised many alumni.  The Classes of 1981
and 1956 were all set to host their 25th and 50th Reunion.  There are
also many other reunions happening on that day as well. Instead, Dr.
Jordan cancelled all “University Sponsored Events.”

Needless to say, we are all upset over this and deem his reasons for
doing so very weak.  Dr. Jordan is “postponing homecoming” because
of the protester’s refusal to open all of the gates.  Let’s think
about this for a minute.

1) The gate by KDES is never used. It is hardly ever opened.
2) The gate by MSSD is open ONLY from 6 am to 6 pm M-F.  It is closed
on Saturday and Sunday.
3) The 6th St. Gate is open ONLY from 6 am to 6 pm M-F as well.  It is
also closed on Saturday and Sunday.
4) The Florida Avenue and 8th Street Gate is open 24/7.

There are hundreds of reasons why the protesting is going on.  I can
tell you from what I’ve seen and heard this past week or so, the
problems that Gallaudet has run extremely deep.  The protesters
(students, faculty, staff, and alumni) have occupied the front gate on
Florida and 8th, and they have also occupied the gates of Kendall and
MSSD.  When the football team took over the campus and shut the 6th
street gate, they effectively closed the University.

As a result of that, 134 of our future leaders were arrested.  Mostly
students and a faculty member.  Esteemed DPN Leader Tim Rarus was also
arrested. Why? Because we have a person chosen by a Board of Trustees
who have abdicated their role as custodians of the university and have
put up a wall of silence (pun intended).  They have chosen a person who
is extremely unpopular and by all accounts not an effective leader.
If you have been following the blogs, you will see all the
documentation that has come forth about the effectiveness of the leader
chosen for us by the Board of Trustees.  Why is the BOT not willing to
see that this person is simply not able to lead?  More importantly, the
obvious disconnect between the 85% of the Faculty who have voted to ask
for resignation and the BOT?  Why is President Jordan so protective of
her?

On Monday morning, the gate on 6th St. was open and traffic was allowed
to come and go normally.  The students continued to occupy the Florida
and 8th Street Gate.  So, there is clear and easy access to the campus.
In fact, on Monday morning and again this morning in the rain, a lot
of students, alumni and some faculty stood by the roadside leading into
Gallaudet, waving, cheering, and saying “good morning” to everyone.
  It was very heart warming to see them doing this.  This morning, it
was raining, and they were out there again, cheering, waving and
welcoming people to the campus.

I know from my discussions, that the students and leaders have been
very careful to communicate with the DPS and DC Police to make sure
there is no mis-communications.  They were told by everyone that the
6th street gate had to be open, and as long as it was open, it would
not be a problem.

Apparently President Jordan thinks otherwise.  Postponing the HC day
and events, is in effect a CANCELLATION for class reunions and for
alumni participation.  Especially for the Classes of 1981 and 1956.
Those classes have spent two years planning their reunion. Catering
food has been reserved, entertainment reserved, and members of the
classes have already paid for plane tickets, taken time off from work,
book hotel rooms, and prepared for the reunion.  I am sure all of them
were looking forward to seeing their classmates from 25 and 50 years
ago. Me included, as it is my 1981 class reunion.  I am not able to
come back in November to attend what would be considered an “Official
Class Reunion.”  I am sure that this is true for many our alumni who
are unable to come in November. In fact, I have seen some our
international alumni already here for the festivities.  I feel bad
because I encouraged them all to come.

Shock waves reverberated throughout Gallaudet when the announcement was
made.  Dr. Jordan and Dr. Fernandes have repeatedly stated that this is
a “local” issue and not really a community wide issue.  How very
wrong of them.  About 2 minutes after the announcement went out; I
received pages from Florida, California, South Dakota, and many other
states asking me if it was true.  In about 10 minutes, people from
England were asking the same question.  “Local” indeed!

I cannot describe to you adequately the upheavals and turmoil Gallaudet
is in now.  It is awful, sad, and quite simply, disgusting.  You have
to be here on campus to see it and feel it for yourself.   For those of
you who were “against” the protest, or not very supportive. I
assure you, when you get here, you’ll see it for yourself.

The worst thing anybody can do is turn on their own family members.
Since Gallaudet is home for us, the students arrested on Friday evening
last week was an incredible, terrible and heart breaking experience.
It was awful, sad, and demoralizing.  Our kids were trying to make a
statement, they were expressing their opinion.  This is AMERICA, this
is what we do.  Blocking the gate maybe was not the “legal” thing
to do, but it was a way to get attention.  Very obviously, they felt
that they were not being “heard.”

Well, I don’t know about you folks, but to put it bluntly, I am heart
broken and outraged that President Jordan can continue to oppress the
community of Gallaudet.  Very clearly, he’s lost focus on what we are
all about. Today we were interviewed by the local media, I told
President Jordan that the oppression must stop.  We are fed up with it.
Is it right for us to feel oppressed in our own home? After a life
time of oppression, Gallaudet is the one place where we are free to be
ourselves, and not suffer the oppression we experience EVERYDAY of our
lives outside of Gallaudet!

Nevertheless, we will PREVAIL, and life will get back to normal at
Gallaudet.  Some people need to realize that they are not wanted at
Gallaudet and will never have the ability to lead the university or our
cherished campus.   By cancelling an event that hundreds of alumni have
paid airplane tickets, dinner tickets, event tickets, hotel rooms, and
taken time off from work to attend, President Jordan has made it clear
to all of us, that the alumni is not a valued entity at Gallaudet
University.

Therefore, I am calling upon ALL ALUMNI to come to Gallaudet.  Come on
foot, rent buses, fly here, and be here.  Our home needs us!

We must take back Gallaudet.

Andy Lange
GUAA President

PS. The GUAA was NOT consulted on this “postponement.”  The GUAA
had no input into this decision whatsoever.

PSS.  It’s nice that President Jordan can send emails to ALL Alumni
when we at GUAA are unable to do so.
—————————-

October 17, 2006
To Members of the Gallaudet Community:

We regret that due to the fact that Gallaudet University is not
operating under normal circumstances, and the protesters continue to
refuse to open all of the gates, we must postpone homecoming and all
related activities.

King Jordan
President

————————-

October 17, 2006
4:00 p.m.

I. King Jordan announced at 3:25 p.m. today that his homecoming has
been cancelled.
Excuse me, OUR homecoming continues.  More information is forthcoming
shortly.

We will take back Gallaudet.

Andrew Lange
President
Gallaudet University Alumni Association
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