Mishka Zena

  J: There are so many external pressures exerted on the deaf community including cochlear implants, more powerful hearing aids, genetic research and the shift in school attendance from schools for the deaf to public schools where today 91 percent of deaf and hard of hearing children and youth are enrolled

Not an issue in this protest. Gallaudet have always had a diverse body of students with varying hearing losses and different communication styles. Many are from mainstreamed schools and quite a lot wears hearing aids.

The students at National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester are holding a “tent city” support rally for Gallaudet students today.

J: I am heartened to see deaf students becoming activists and speaking out for what they believe in.

Okay, nary a mention of the use of DPS to harass, monitor, and intimidate students who are speaking out for their beliefs

*Seattle, Wash.: I heard the students got letters from the judicial office about their arrests on Friday 13th for blocking the gates. Will they be evicted? If so, why?

Jane K. Fernandes: Each case will be reviewed by the University Judicial Affairs Board. A student may accept responsibility for whatever the charge is and be assigned consequences

It is ok during DPN, but it is not ok during this protest. okay, so you have no problem practicing double standards

Alameda, Calif.: How do you expect to bring together the various factions on campus, especially when many of the stakeholders have declared their unwillingness to accept you as their president? Please delineate your plan or give us some idea as to where you are headed.Jane K. Fernandes: I have been working with experts on conflict transformation and came across this quotation which is significant in light of the situation Gallaudet is facing:

I am sure throwing in the deaf card didn’t help improve the carious factions on campus.

I am peeved by the way the administration has handled the unrest. It’s been anemic at best, and I am wondering if you have short- and long-term plans for resolution.

Jane K. Fernandes: I am worried about the cost to the university of a damaging conflict. I support constructive alternatives to barricades and angry confrontations

Perhaps conducting constructive dialogues over the years would have prevented this. Wouldn’t the constructive dialogue on the audism after the infamous football goalpost incident help? Would constructive dialogues be more effective than “Do it my way or else!”

College Park, Md.: Do you fear that if/when you do become president, that you will NOT have the support of the students, faculty and perhaps more importantly, the alumni that financially support (aside from Congress) the university?

Jane K. Fernandes: Leadership doesn’t come from winning popularity contests. It derives from setting a course that will help the institution thrive.

Okay, so you are saying you can force the majority to follow your lead? Where are they? The university community is conducting marches and protests, students on hunger strikes. Maybe you need to get a clue. You cannot force your own will on others if they don’t want it.

Under my leadership, Gallaudet will grow as a center of scholarship and excellence for all deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind people of every color and background to learn and make themselves whole.

Alright, you can get the university to grow even after Clerc Center declined under your administration, with 70 kids exiting to go to mainstreamed programs and the PART review of Academic Programs at Gallaudet earning poor grades the last five years, with a failing grade last year, under your administration the last six years as a Provost? . The best way to predict the future behavior is to look at the previous behavior.

These kids are getting a bad deal, the tuition should be refunded. When is this madness going to end? So my child can have the normal freshmen year at college?

Jane K. Fernandes: I have been meeting and talking with students, faculty and staff since last May in an effort to listen to their concerns. We will continue to reach out to them and to listen carefully to their issues as we have been doing since last May.

Really? Interesting because the faculty, the staff, and the students said there were no constructive dialogue.

We have been negotiating tirelessly with the dissenters for the past ten days, often staying awake all day and all night

Hmm, this is not what the students said.

Please clarify the issues related to tenure for teachers that led to it being abolished.washingtonpost.com: Source of Gallaudet Turmoil Is Up for Debate (Post, Oct. 23)

Jane K. Fernandes: As you may know, most public and private elementary and secondary school teachers do not hold tenure in the same sense that

What about the cutting down and removal of programs used to support the students? What about the abrupt changes of programs with minimal training implemented and not giving the teachers enough to make a smooth transition? I wonder why it took CC years to regain what standing they had prior to Fernandes’ administration.

I am supporting the development of an inclusive deaf university where all deaf and hard of hearing students feel welcome to explore their identities as deaf people within the university’s rich history.

Of course, as always from the first year of the university.

reason for the protest and it looks like they are making you look like you are ignorant to what is going on. What’s your take on that?

Jane K. Fernandes: The dissenters have created a chain of reasons for the protest from my not being deaf enough, to an allegedly flawed search process, to my leadership style and personality. I believe it is incumbent on the dissenters to define their protest.

I know there are two demands — I resign and no reprisals. But a protest has to be FOR something, so I want to LISTEN to those involved. I want you to tell me what you are FOR. You want the protest to reduce racism on campus? So do I and we have a plan that is already going into action

Nary a mention that you kept using the deaf card for months, leadership style: I think three no confidence votes  says it is more than just personality, don’t you think so?

Yes you have a plan for years. It just has never been carried out. 

will continue to reach out to them and make it clear that I am ready, willing and able to work with them on the serious issues facing the University. I hope they want a peaceful resolution to this situation as much as I do.

You had that chance for years. You kept promising, but never went through. Now it is too late because you have created so much damage that it cannot be undone.

Ryan, Tex.: Have you been in touch with other university presidents in D.C. or elsewhere? What do they think of the situation?

Jane K. Fernandes: I have been in touch with other university presidents who are concerned about the future of Gallaudet University. If students can overturn the Board’s decision to appoint me as the next president,

How convenient. It is the students who are carrying the protest. Nary a mention about the faculty, staff, and the alumni. How convenient

The protest raises serious concerns for the future stability of Gallaudet’s governance.

Yes, if you mean a dictatorial governance which doesn’t belong to an university. 

Jane K. Fernandes: I used the word anarchy to describe the protest. It is clear to me that the protesters are giving a total lack of attention to established rules of order.

I also used the word terrorism. Perhaps it would have been better to use words like “discord,” “tumult,” “riot,” and “insubordination.” The dissenters at Gallaudet have demonstrated a complete disregard for social order

Dissenters? Who are the real dissenters? The Gallaudet Community or Jordan and Fernandes who dissent from their stakeholders?

Very nice, calling students terrorists for speaking out their mind. I am sure the people affected by 9/11 will not appreciate the misuse of the word terrorism on peaceful and civil students. I wonder why the DPN protesters weren’t called terrorists and anarchists? Am I missing something?

They have blocked gates and not allowed deaf children to get their education at Kendall

How convenient that you didn’t mention it was an university decision to close down MSSD and KSED? The protesters were going to let them in, but the university decided not to.

From my position, there is nothing peaceful about this protest.

Yes, there is nothing peaceful about DPS brutalizing and terrorizing students in HMB. There is nothing peaceful in ordering the arrests of 133 students. They were doing the same thing DPN protesters were doing. Very ironic that the hearing presidents back then weren’t using harsh treatments on the students. Gasp. Zinser, a hearing university president did listen to the students!  Maybe you should take a lesson from Dr Zinser? hmm, give it a thought.

A failed leader would not be addressing head-on the very difficult issues of audism and racism that have plagued Gallaudet University, the Deaf community and our country for centuries,

Did I miss something? Did she address audism and racism in the last six years of her Provost administration despite pleas from the students?

The two original demands still remain and those are not negotiable. It is impossible to negotiate when the protesters have no flexibility in their demands

Yes, you should have addressed these pesky issues the last six years, but you didn’t. As you have already proved yourself many times, it is now too late.

Jane K. Fernandes: According to the President Search Committee and the Board, the search was fair and inclusive. At this point, I have the following options to recommend:

Actually the BoT can only say that in the last part.

How can you expect to lead when so few are following?

Jane K. Fernandes: I have a vast amount of support from what I see as a “silent majority.” Right now, I am in the bull’s eye of a target. The first one or two circles from the bull’s eye represent the dissenters. All the other circles outward are where I find my support.

Silent majority? 82% of the Faculty is not a majority? CC is not a majority? Alumni are not the majority?

Why are the supporters so silent? I would think in the time of need, they would be out, giving you support publicly.

Why was the issue not addressed by you or the administration before students returned to school?

Jane K. Fernandes: I have been working since May to address the issues that were raised. I have been meeting and talking with students, faculty and staff about their issues.

I am sure that is news to the staff, faculty, and the students, too

Is it true that you won’t resign because you would lose out on a severance package that was described by one Board of Trustees member as worth up to $1 million?

Jane K. Fernandes: The rumor about a million dollar severance package has no basis in fact.

So it is less than one million dollars, after all, like Ken said?

Washington, D.C.: Last week the university took the step of arresting their own students. Did you concur with that decision? Do you concur with the way that I. King Jordan is managing this crisis?

Jane K. Fernandes: The University did everything possible to avoid the arrests. It was a decision made as a last resort and it was a very painful decision.

 less painful than resigning, which Zinser did?

deaf children at Kendall and Model schools were being denied their education,

Blaming the protesters for what the university decided, eh?