BoT Requires Security Before Meeting on 10/28

I am glad to hear that they are coming. I just wish it would be earlier, considering the nature of the crisis and the hunger strike of the students.  At least they are coming. 

But I am struck by the fact it sounds like they are afraid to come on the campus.  The protesters are peaceful and civil, so why are they getting the impression they may not be safe? It is bad enough that Fernandes told the media that the students are practicing terrorism and anarchy. But apparently they are telling the BoT it is dangerous on the campus. I haven’t heard of anyone being attacked other than the students by DPS. Someone needs to tell the BoT it is safe for them to show up on the campus.   It also indicates the ever widening chasm between the Gallaudet Community and the BoT.  Ambassadors of Gallaudet Community are needed to keep the communication channels open, so they won’t be so dependent on the president and president-appointee  as the primary gatekeepers and be influenced by inaccurate information. Had  an open system been established before, the BoT would have their fingers on the pulse of the community. elizabeth

Gallaudet Trustees Planning Special Meeting

By Susan Kinzie

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 23, 2006; 6:26 PM

The Gallaudet University board of trustees will hold a special meeting, scheduled for Oct. 29 if they can ensure the security that will be needed, according to the board chair, Brenda Jo Brueggemann.

Protesters at the school for the deaf in Northeast Washington, who want incoming president Jane K. Fernandes to resign, have been calling on the board to meet to resolve the school’s problems.

Demonstrations broke out in May when the board announced that Fernandes would be president as of Jan. 1, when longtime President I. King Jordan steps down. Protesters complained that the search process was unfair and that Fernandes, who had been provost, would not be a good leader. Protesters complained that stronger candidates were eliminated and that Fernandes did not have the support of the campus community.

After a quiet summer, protests resumed this month when the board met on campus. The board has publicly voiced strong support for Fernandes, confidence in the thoroughness and fairness of the search process, and asked that she be given a chance to prove herself as a leader. Brueggemann has said she was by far the strongest candidate.

But the board is split on the issue, according to sources close to the board, who could not be named because board discussions are private. Some trustees have asked Fernandes to resign, which she has said repeatedly she will not do. Last week she wrote an e-mail to trustees asking them to stay strong and warning them that firing her or asking her to resign would not be in the best interest of the university.

“I hope you will not resign your position as Board members; I hope you will not sign a Minority Report; and I hope that you will not suggest that the solution to the current problems on campus is my resignation,” she wrote in the e-mail, a copy of which was given to The Washington Post by someone other than Fernandes. “The problems at Gallaudet are too deep-rooted for us to resolve them so simplistically. If any of you resign your position on the Board, I believe it will be a concession to law breakers.”

Brueggemann said the agenda for the meeting is not yet complete and other details are not finalized. If security can’t be ensured then the date could change.

This month protesters seized an academic building at Gallaudet, shut down campus entirely for three days until more than 130 were arrested, and this weekend 2,000 or so people marched to Capitol Hill. Last week the faculty voted to ask Fernandes to resign or be removed and expressed a loss of confidence in both Jordan and the board.

Protests continued today, with a candlelight vigil supporting eight people on a hunger strike. In a statement released today, the university said staff members from the Student Health Service and Mental Health Center are checking the students twice a day to “ensure their safety and health.”

“Their vital signs are being monitored closely and at this time their signs are all stable. According to our medical personnel, the students are drinking Boost (a high-protein shake), water, V-8 juice, and chicken broth . . ..” the statement said. “We will continue to consider the safety of our students as a top priority and will have the staff continue to monitor their safety.”

Today some protesters went to Brueggemann’s office in Ohio. She said she asked security to escort her to the class she teaches at Ohio State University because a group of protesters refused to leave her office area.

Gallaudet Trustees Planning Special Meeting – washingtonpost.com