Former KDES Principal Asks For Fernandes’ Resignation
Open Letter to Dr. Jane K. Fernandes
Dear Dr. Jane K. Fernandes,
It is with our heavy heart to be writing this letter to you today. We have been closely following unfortunate and shall we also say, unnecessary developments on Gallaudet University campus since May 2006 via different avenues of information such as blogs, vlogs, media websites, newspapers, to name a few. We also physically went to the campus to witness the protests and had meaningful dialogues with the protestors a couple of times.
As an alumnus of beloved Gallaudet University and a former member of Gallaudet University Faculty as well as Kendall Demonstration Elementary School Principal, we now firmly believe it is not feasible for you to effectively lead Gallaudet University when come in January 2007 as the 9th President. We are not greatly concerned with numbers of your supporters or non-supporters, namely Gallaudet University Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni (GUFSSA). As obvious as it is, the University has already been disenfranchised, divided, and disaffected.
There is no question to us how much love you have for our only prestigious academic institution for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing students in the world. You have repeatedly stated that you made a vow not to resign and while we are startlingly amazed at your continuing tenacity, however, a relentless question comes to mind: when is enough enough?
You had stated that “…spirited debate is a sign of a healthy university. I hope we can work together in a spirit of friendship and respect, working together for the common good of all.” It clearly appears to us that there has not been any spirited debate going on at the University. As a result of that, it is an ominous sign of the University becoming unhealthy, to say the least. We also see that there is a wall being erected between you, the Board of Trustees and President I. King Jordan, and GUFSSA and its supporters. How can working together for the common good of all be achieved? We are afraid not.
To maintain your dignity and reputation, we plead with you to reconsider your vow and start healing the University by submitting your resignation shortly.
Aaron J. Fudenske, ’90 (BA in Psychology)
Dr. Kenneth B. Tiktin, Former GU Faculty and KDES Principal (1980 to 1989)
Gallaudet University Protesters True Patriots
THE EXAMINER (DC)
Letter to the editor
Gallaudet University protesters are true patriots
Re: “Enough is enough at Gallaudet,” Editorial, Oct. 16
Your editorial is in poor taste and very anti-American. Anyone paying
$11,000-plus tuition has a right to address where their money is going
and how those high-dollar funds will be used. Obviously, there was
enough doubt about I. King Jordan and Jane Fernandes to motivate
students to rigorously address their concerns. These are true patriots!
Thankfully, the students were not self-absorbed and did not harm
anyone, unlike Rep. Mark Foley – an esteemed Republican who has yet
to be arrested for much worse conduct.
Most Americans despise gestapo/red Chinese/Soviet-style tactics of mass
arrests. The force of law should never trample the hard-fought,
cherished rights of Americans to protest against injustices.
Stephen Spacek
Germantown
http://www.examiner.com/a-353431~Letters__October_20__2006.html
The Gun Threat Didn’t Happen
this month.
http://video.nbc4.com/player.html?dlid=38759 (near the end of the videoclip)
It was last May.
Why didn’t Fernandes clarify that it wasn’t recent? The media was under the impression it was recent. The gun threat was quickly condemned by FSSA as it doesn’t condone violence, vandalism, nor harassment.
Anarchy
Terrorism
Guns
Why is she misleading the media so much?
She may be trying to win the media and the public by issuing false and misleading statements.
However, she is losing her battle with Gallaudet Community.
How can she expect to be a leader when she falsely accuses her constituents and maligns them unfairly?
How can they trust her as a leader when she has destroyed all their trust?
Gallaudet University is in a crisis.
She should be working with its stakeholders, trying to resolve the conflicts. Yet she ignores them and makes inflammatory comments to the press, slandering its stakeholders. It seems as each day passes, Fernandes proves more and more the protesters’ argument that she is incapable of leading an university.
Majority Faculty Votes A Seirous Concern, Fernandes Admits
Fernandes stands firm but notes faculty concerns
Courtney Mabeus, The Examiner
Oct 20, 2006 5:00 AM
WASHINGTON – Incoming Gallaudet President Jane Fernandes continued her
resolve Thursday, saying she would not submit to student demands to
resign but admitted that a majority faculty vote urging her to do so is
a “serious concern.”
With tensions rising and the number of protesters camped out along
Florida Avenue and 8th Street in Northeast appearing to grow, the
university prepares to enter its second weekend under virtual lockdown.
Fernandes said she has been threatened with being shot, but was not
fearful for her life.
University-sponsored homecoming activities were supposed to have
started Thursday, but the university canceled them. Fernandes did not
rule out expulsion as a possible means of dealing with student
protesters who break the school’s code of conduct.
“It depends,” Fernandes said. “I guess I don’t know. The range
is there. It depends upon each individual case as to what the
consequences are. I can’t say yes they will be expelled or not.”
Fernandes, who has been deaf her entire life but did not learn American
Sign Language until she was 23, said she is not afraid of protesters,
though she slept every night until Wednesday at the university. She
said she reported the threat against her to the campus Department of
Public Safety.
Fernandes said past attempts to strike a deal with student protesters
have failed, characterizing the students as combative.
Following a meeting with Fernandes on Thursday, campus police officers
entered the university’s main administrative building under a false
threat that students had attempted a takeover. Earlier in the week,
faculty members voted overwhelmingly to urge her to resign, causing
some to wonder how effective she would be as a leader.
“The vote from the faculty is in fact a serious concern,” Fernandes
said. “I’ve worked with the faculty for six years now and I’ve
worked very well with the faculty for the past six years.”
Still, Fernandes, who says students have said is not deaf enough to
lead them, said she is committed to the university and to deaf
education, adding that she thought the search process through which she
was offered the job was fair and competitive.
She said no amount of protesting will prevent her from assuming the
presidency, adding they can continue, “I guess until the protesters
come to understand that their demands will not be met,” Fernandes
said.
cmabeus@dcexaminer.com
http://www.examiner.com/a-353464~Fernandes_stands_firm_but_notes_faculty_concerns.html
[Photo caption:]
Incoming President of Gallaudet University Jane K. Fernandes, answers
questions at the administration building on Campus at Gallaudet
University on Thursday in Washington. Students and faculty have given
Fernandes a vote of no confidence and are calling for her resignation
and the re-opening of the search for a university president. Fernandes
asserts that she has no plans to submit her resignation. (Greg
Whitesell/Examiner)
Reprisals Are Outrageous!
Jeff,
It is outrageous for me to know the reprisals are taking place there.
You gave a perfect analogy about the current BOTs.
During the 1988 DPN week, if my memory served correctly, the BOTs quickly returned to D.C. to reach a resolution which met our four demands. The BOTs showed their leadership to find a resolution at that time in short span of time.
Where are the leadership of current BOTS? They are completely failing us. No matter they are split over the ongoing situation, they MUST come to D.C. to find a resolution as soon as possible.
No wonder there have been a severe leadership crisis in the current BOT and Administration for a long while contrary to President I. King Jordan’s statement about no leadership crisis at Gallaudet University.
Darryl Hackett ‘90
Unity for Gallaudet! The Legacy of I., King Jordan is tarnished forever!
reprinted with permission by the listserv moderator
BuckNakedBison, Online Campus Newspaper, Is Back
We’re back, bigger and badder than ever before. All about… you guessed it. The protests. We are changing with the times, and today’s readers want constant updates. The website will change every month or so, but our blog will be updated as we get new articles that are worthy of publication. Feel free to email us with an article or two, or items for our legendary stock market. Feel free to forward this email to your friends. Actually, please do.
If you wish to subscribe, please e-mail us at BuckNakedBison@aol.com. Thanks
An Introduction to Buck Naked Reborn – by Jonathan Henner
So, when she asked me to write again for the Buck Naked Bison, the kid I was peeked out through the academic fluff and shouted an agreement. I am excited for the possibilities Buck Naked Bison brings to the community. I especially look forward for the chance to provide the community a literary action free of the taint of audism…read more
Lobster Bisque and the French Revolution – by Jane Jonas
The administration treats the community like peons, abusing them and living well off of their blood, sweat and tears. We have had enough. King Jordan will be gone in December, but we must get rid of Queen Fernandes who will carry on his legacy of excessive spending, royal absolutism, and censorship…read more
I Was Arrested on I. King Jordan’s Order – by Megan Malzkuhn
Different types of deaf people, with implants, cuers, oralists, ASL advocates, you name it, came together for a united cause. We stood hand by hand, and many hearing people joined us. The faces were the colors of the rainbow, truly the epitome of diversity. We were all Deaf enough, despite our hearing status or signing status…read more
A Hearing Guy’s Views of the Protest – by Eric Mathers
I myself am a hearing graduate student, and I never met or heard about a Deaf person until I was a junior in my undergraduate program. This is a sad story, but all too true. People need to recognize Deaf people, and recognize them as a language minority, not as handicapped people deserving of pity…read more
I, KING: It’s Not About You - by Todd Newman
Not only that, generations of those who love Gallaudet will judge you. Black Friday will not be forgotten in a hurry. My children want to go to Gallaudet. I have a deaf girl and two hearing boys. Do I want them to come to Gallaudet? I’m not so sure anymore…read more
One Woman’s Story – by Tara Schupner
A good leader makes people feel comfortable approaching her about problems with those she is responsible for overseeing. A good leader creates an environment that fosters caring about one another and makes the campus community truly a community. Dr. Jane K. Fernandes has proved to me beyond the shadow of any doubt that she is not that leader…read more
I Know Why the Students Are Protesting – by Carrie Suggs
There is so much more that I’m not aware of because I’m not a student, faculty member, staff member, or alumni. But, I think that it’s safe to say that all of this has built up to create an emotional situation filled with protesters asking for a better president who shows more compassion and concern for the deaf community…read more
A Look Inside I. King’s Head – by Josh Weinstock
So now, why are we all listening to Jordan? He is out of here soon, so his words and opinion are not valued anymore. It is time to hit Jordan, and hit him close to home. We have made tremendous progress in this protest and Gallaudet has become closer, a community of one heart…read more
Chaos At Gallaudet: A Comic – by Tim Woodford
and more…
-our beloved Stock Market
-our Favorite Numbers
-Where in the World is Jane Fernandes?
-blog format with RSS feed
-staff profiles
Keep on bucking… we love you all.
-b, Naked
Alumni Rally At 3 PM
Rally in 20 minutes (3:00 pm, Oct 20, 2006) in front of Chapel Hall
(alumni rally)
Reprisals Are Occurring
Yesterday I confirmed with the person that she was summarily suspended from her internship at MSSD because of her arrest. She was not given the opportunity to provide information before the the suspension was imposed. She also said that a student leader was suspended as a Residential Advisor at Clerc Hall, even though he was not one of the people arrested on October 13th. The reason given to him for his suspension was that he failed to convince the students not to be arrested. Other reports of reprisals are emerging, including one, not yet confirmed, about a staff member who was suspended from work on Monday for her arrest. I have also received information, also not yet confirmed, that Gallaudet’s judicial system has begun to review the status of people involved in the demonstrations. Gallaudet has continued its videotape surveillance of people, even at off-campus events.
Yesterday several of us met with a large law firm to discuss a range of civil and criminal issues. The attorneys involved asked several times if jordan really was the one who ordered the arrests, finding that decision and approach hard to understand. A lawyer who was a prosecutor with the US Attorney’s office in DC for 10 years explained that its particularly difficult in DC to have the arrest citation expunged the record. He said that in this case, Gallaudet University is the complainant in the matter. Thus one approach would be for Gallaudet to say that it will not press charges, providing an avenue for DC courts to expunge the citations. It may be a matter of the President of Gally, now or in the future, making this decision not to press charges to remedy the situation.
People are continuously arriving at Gally, to provide moral support for the movement. Thats great, but what happens on Monday? What pogrom will be put in place to quash the “dissenters?” What gulag will they be exiled to? Will we be able to protect the futures of those who we so heartily applaud for putting themselves on the line and standing up for us all? Reprisals (I’m using a different dictionary than jordan here) are already happening and I have yet to see any strong movement to remedy that.
Why is the BoT continuing to fiddle around while Rome burns? I agree with the headline of todays Wash Post’s op ed, GET some backbone BoT. Go ahead and meet, and let us know what your new best thinking is.
-Jeff
reprinted with permission by the listserv moderator
No Events Drawing Large Numbers, Said Jordan
“We cannot have events that will draw large numbers
of people. Under the present circumstances it simply is not a safe or
prudent thing to do.”
Commentary: Not safe? Can anyone tell me why a large group of proud alumni on campus to celebrate homecoming, a highly treasured annual event, with the students is not safe? Am I missing anything?
The last time I heard, most of the gates are open. If memory serves me right, most of the gates were closed during homecoming weekend, anyway. Why isn’t Jordan willing to work with the protesters to set up teams to open the gates during an emergency rather than go on it heavy handed by ‘postponing’ the homecoming events?
It looks to me another attempt to suppress and silence the opposition from people who disagrees with the appointment of Fernandes as the next president by ejecting them from the campus. Does anyone feel this way? elizabeth
From: President [mailto:President@Gallaudet.edu]
Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2006 12:21 PM
To: President@gallaudet.edu
Subject: Postponement of Homecoming
Importance: High
October 19, 2006
To Members of the Campus Community:
I know that we are all disappointed about the postponement of
Homecoming. It was a difficult decision to make, but necessary under the
circumstances. Currently there is just one gate that provides access to
campus, the Sixth Street gate. Those of you who have used it to enter
campus have found the going slow and frustrating. The long lines and
wait time for people leaving campus in the afternoon have been even
worse. The Brentwood Parkway gate near MSSD and the West Virginia Avenue
gate near Kendall School are locked, closed and barricaded with tents
and debris. We have made repeated requests to the protestors to open
these gates and each request has been refused.
Given this very limited access to campus, I simply cannot invite
hundreds and possibly thousands of people to come to our campus for
Homecoming. In the past, when Homecoming events took place, we opened as
many gates as were needed to allow traffic to flow smoothly. Even with
all the gates open past Homecomings have created a logistical problem
with traffic. With only one open gate, it would be impossible to assure
that emergency vehicles, such as ambulances or fire trucks could quickly
enter campus and respond as needed. We have already had incidents where
emergency vehicles have encountered difficulty accessing the campus.
Homecoming is an important tradition at Gallaudet and by continuing to
barricade all but one gate, the protesters are responsible for the
disruption of this year’s events. That is why there will be no
official Gallaudet University sanctioned Homecoming this weekend. All
official Homecoming events are postponed and will be rescheduled. For
safety’s sake there can be no large scale events that draw large numbers
of people, such as the football game or open events scheduled in
auditoriums or large meeting rooms.
We are aware that there are small scale events that have been scheduled
independently of official, University sponsored, events. We will attempt
to cooperate with those individuals who are already on campus and have
already reserved rooms and arranged for catering. We will try to work
with those who have planned events such as class reunions that have
limited attendance. We cannot have events that will draw large numbers
of people. Under the present circumstances it simply is not a safe or
prudent thing to do.
I ask that you join me in working to restore our sense of community and
mutual caring.
I. King Jordan
President
BoT Should Not Surrender Their Principles : Wash Post Editoral
Backbone for the Board
Gallaudet’s trustees should not surrender their
principles.
Friday, October 20, 2006; A20
Backbone for the Board – washingtonpost.com
TRUSTEES AT Gallaudet University knew they weren’t
making the most popular decision when they selected
Jane K. Fernandes to be the school’s next president.
But they believed she was the best choice to lead the
renowned school for the deaf. If the trustees are to
take seriously their obligation to the university,
they must not surrender their principles to mob rule.
Weeks of unruly protests that have disrupted the
university, a faculty vote of no confidence and
unrelenting bad publicity appear to be weakening the
resolve of some members of the board of trustees. As
reported by The Post’s Susan Kinzie, as many as seven
of the 20 trustees (cloaked, of course, by anonymity)
are having second thoughts about Ms. Fernandes and
think she should step aside. This is the board that
just six months ago unanimously appointed her and
that, as recently as five days ago, called her “the
most qualified candidate to run the institution.”
Contrary to the false claims of protesters, Ms.
Fernandes was picked after a careful six-month search
by a 17-member committee that included people of color
as well as deaf and hard-of-hearing representatives.
The majority of the committee was made up of faculty,
students, staff and alumni — all appointed because of
their good standing on campus. Ms. Fernandes emerged
as a finalist after she and five other candidates were
interviewed. Such facts don’t appear to matter to
those students and faculty members who have just one
goal in mind: to get their own way. It is instructive
that even now they have offered no cogent explanation
of what they see as so wrong with Ms. Fernandes.
Indeed, even her harshest critics concede that “on
paper” she is qualified.
It is clear, however, that one factor that went into
the faculty’s vote of no confidence and that is now
affecting the board is a belief that it would just be
easier for Ms. Fernandes to leave so the university
can move on. How, though, will the university ever
function if the people who are charged with its
interests go against their best judgment and give up
their legal authority to individuals who behave so
badly?
Ms. Fernandes knows the answer, and that’s why she, at
least, is standing by her principles. She should not
be left standing alone.
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