Fernandes Suicide Hoax
This article is too suspicious: no name of the reporter, unknown reporting entity, significant mistakes. So I called the anne anrudel police station and was informed that they didn’t have anyone listed on the computer.
A friend called the coroner and was told that there is nobody with that name on the list:
“all the suicides and suspicious deaths are investigated by the coroner for the whole state of maryland-
I called them and they say absolutely that her name is NOT in the computer
if she did commit suicide, then it would definitelly be in the computer
all the “Unknown” deaths yesterday in the whole state of maryland were males
that means this is a hoax”
There you are. A very cruel hoax. Why was this made up and sent out in the first place?
elizabeth
>>>> The coEWSLINE ALERT: October 30, 2006 (Annapolis, MD) Anne
>>>> Arundel County Police were called to the home of former Gallaudet
>>>> University President-designate Jane Fernandes late this afternoon.
>>>> Police were met by owner James Fernandes, who told them that his
>>>> wife had committed suicide in the bathroom of their home this evening.
>>>>
>>>> The county coroner estimated that by the time police arrived on the
>>>> scene, she had been dead for several hours. She apparently
>>>> overdosed on sleeping pills. Autopsy results are pending.
>>>>
>>>> Yesterday the Gallaudet University board voted to rescind its offer
>>>> of the school presidency after a month of student protests opposing
>>>> her appointment.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> (c)2006. ARP News Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
~forwarded to me by countless readers from all over the country.
e-mail contact: mishkazena@aol.com
63 Comments »
Leave a comment
-
Archives
- November 2006 (99)
- October 2006 (506)
-
Categories
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
Elizabeth,
Is this some funny joke or are you just a very sick person. I have seen you carry on with complete disregard to oust JKF and have to stoop to the lowest form of life.
You were succesful in your attempt to slander JKF.
However, JKF is not your problem anymore. You still have IKJ the BoT in place who according to all you protesters are the cause of the oppression that has taken place at Gallaudet. JKF was not the leader their. It has been I. King Jordan and the Bot.
If this has not been a personal assault at JKF, why have you protesters given up?
I hope she sues you personally for posting this.
She does have family and friend who love her and she is out of your life.
I hope you feel goog about yourself.
You have been hexed!
Elizabeth Gellipsie
You should pay for your actions through the justice system.
I will be reporting you to the proper authorities.
Capt,
Elizabeth didn’t wrote this hoax…she investiaged and found out the message was hoax…She did great job on reports with Gallaudet’s crisis. The hoax message about JKF’s death was wrote by someone else, not Elizabeth’s.
Next time, don’t misread, thank you,
Bevo
Capt,
obviously, you did not read the post. She said that it was a very cruel hoax, and asked who made this up. What she did was prove that this was a hoax and made sure that everybody knew. She HELPED squash the rumor.
I personally do not believe JKF would committ suicide. She’s made of tougher stuff than this.
Capt, READ carefully. she got this and quickly pour the water to the fire to stop it. Sheesh. Can you really read?
Capt,
. She is doing her job to stop a hoax.
Read Carefully before you accuse Elizabeth
I can read. I think any halfway responsible person wouldn’t post this on the inernet especially if they new it wasn’t true. I can read and comprehend very well and at the bottom it says “posted by mishka zena
And, wildstarryeyes , do you think the person who originated this message , if it wasn’t MZ, is going to admit it.
Elizabeth Gellespie posted this you read what it says on the bottom.
Capt, one thing I have is my integrity. Many people asked me if this article was true, so I spend half an hour investigating this and felt it was my duty to report to the deaf readers it was just a cruel hoax. Normally I won’t dignify a fictitious article, but it spread like wildfire all over the country so all I can try is to do some damage control and reassure the readers it is an hoax.
Regarding the allegations of JK, unfortunately according to many sources I’ve talked with, they were true. She wasn’t fit to run an university and she proved it with her actions. If she didn’t want other people to know, perhaps she should have thought twice before doing these actions decried by others.
Please read more carefully before you jump into conclusions again.
MZ and Elizabeth are one and the same person, you nincompoop!
Where did this article first appear? Your blog was the first I’ve heard of this.
Why did whoever came up with this do that? No need for that kind of joke! ugh! Stop accusing each other .. just let it go and it will stop! Thanks!
Mis-reader,
Can you please read the comments again! This wasn’t from Elizabeth. You guys scare me when you can’t read! Read before you spit.
Thank you, Elizabeth, for investigating and killing this rumor. It has been spreading like wildfire and led me to wonder what craziness was going on; until you cleared the air with some fine detective homework. It is a great model for other bloggers to copy…support EVERYTHING with FACTS.
DPG
disguisted – get the “not deaf enough” issue out of your head.
That was NOT the reason why we did not want her, but because of her ineffective leadership based on her 11 years at Gallaudet.
Yes, we do know the reasons for wanting her out, and you clearly have been relying on the media heavily where they print her “not deaf enough” issue in EVERY article!
That, my friend, is the biggest mistake you’ve made.
For a person who made a statement that was a hoax is an individual not a group. You judge a group based on a person, shame on you! Those who are pro-JK like you are oppressed. I wish you the best of luck!!!
IamMine– how exactly do you know for a fact that she has done nothing for Gally. do you really think that if she REALLY didnt then BoT would appoint her in the first place? obviously not… the fact that she is not a LOUD leader but a quiet one is the real reason she is terminated. she was the provost for a long time worked closely with IKJ so i’m sure she has some knowlege of how to run a university wouldnt you think?
all the protestors have absolutely NO idea how the inside works so how dare you judge her by saying she didnt do SHIT for the university? it could’ve very well been IKJ or other administration that failed to do so… yall just went along with the protest cuz almost everybody else did.
many of us dont like BUSH then why arent we doing anything about it? cuz we let him run our country. JKF had potential in running our university. its just sad that none of yall were willing to give her a chance.
my god. get this in your heads. none of you guys ever will know how the inside (adm) works so how can you even judge that she was not a leader at Gally the last 11 years?? just because she wasn’t a loud leader but a quiet one doesnt mean that she wasnt qualified enough to run Gally. tell me this… how do YOU know she did nothing for Gally? to my best guess, it was probably through the grape vine which is exactly the reason the whole protest went out of hand in the first place.
Bush has run our country in the ground. I don’t really think you WANT to compare JKF to Bush. LOL.
And who says we aren’t trying to do anything about it? It’s hard when Congress is pretty much lame ducks those days.
Must be someone who tried to revenge to Gallaudet protestors and blamed them that you are fault that JKF died by suicide…. THe HOAX just is trying to scare to people.
Important that Elisabeth did call the police at Arundel County Area to find out who did it… Elisabeth, you should see the website from this hoax then you can call from the webpage program. I just am suggested you.. If not, thats ok.
I disagree with you CAPT!
If MishkaZena sees e-mails out there spreading lies, as a journalist it is her JOB to report it is a lie and report her research. Hearing people do this too. Look at snopes.com if you want proof.
The e-mail was sent to me and I’m sure countless others as well. Isn’t it important to spread the truth?
BoT selected her based on her RESUME – a stellar one that we all AGREED on, but behind the resume is another story BoT overlooked.
I’m only going to provide you some that SHE did (not the Admin):
Clerc Center that she was in charge of and I’m going to give you one out of many letters from parents, former employees, etc:
http://clerccenterprotest.blogspot.com/2006/10/letter-from-kendall-parent.html
And yes, the protestors know what they’re talking about – have you even watched their interviews? They didn’t make it to the media, but the bloggers did.
Including Christine “Coco” who talked to Jane about the safety issues for blind-deaf students and Jane ignored her.
Or how she handled the students after the murders? I’ll let you look that up.
She has had many chances to reach out to the community, but she chose to initmidate them.
Had she listened to them, parents, faculty, and staff – we’d have given her a chance. Regardless of her background that the media keeps bringing up.
She had the potentials and great ideas, but not with her leadership skills based on the 11 years that caused too much damages and no trust in the community.
The hoax was already all over the country and it needed to be addressed as an hoax asap. Not to do would be irresponsible and unethical.
Guess who decided to write this hoax? to scare the protesters into intimidation? Unfortunately, after seeing the tactics practiced the last several weeks in this blog, I won’t be surprised.
Disgusted, have you conveniently forgotten that the majority of the faculty members and Clerc Center voted for the resignation of Fernandes? So did many prominent deaf leaders with many years of administration. Fernandes have proved herself with her dismal track record the eleven years. Your arguement don’t hold water.
MZ, you are the only one who has put this on the net. Not anyone else.
This hoax is sick and very cruel. Even JKF whom I don’t support deserve dignity after the protest. She doesn’t deserve this at all. I consider this hoax as a way of bringing the WHOLE community to the lowest level possible. I expect everyone to support and UNITE Gallaudet after the crisis. SPECIAL THANKS TO ELIZABETH FOR HANDLING THIS WITH PROFESSIONALSM!!! She is smart to get the facts and put the wildfire out!!!
Capt, I may be the only one to report it, but it was spread all over the country on pagers and e mails. I only reported it to reassure everybody it was an hoax because many wondered if it was true. Hadn’t I done that, how would they know?
This hoax is not funny and uncalled for. Even JKF, whom I do not support, deserves some dignity after the crisis. She needs to move on with her life. Leave her alone. We have priorities, one of which is to salvage the issues at Gally. We all need to UNITE and support gallaudet. We need to plan to make sure the students are not receiving any reprisals. This hoax brings the WHOLE COMMUNITY to the lowest level possible. SPECIAL THANKS TO ELIZABETH FOR HER PROFESSIONALSM BY FINDING THE REAL FACTS AND QUASH THE WILDFIRES.
This is a very cruel and a sick joke. It makes me sick. Someone who posted this should think about the consequences, how will this affect Gallaudet, Faculty, Staff, and students. They all deserve better!!!
Using my linguistics training, my analysis is that the hoax probably originated as an inside job, probably from Paul Kelly, or someone close to him who is still trying to manipulate public perceptions.
Someone was trying to provoke us into having a wild reaction, so that they could claim: “See how mean spirited those protesters are?”–and try to build up sympathy for Jane.
The clue is the upper-case “P” in “President-designate”–and also, it seems the media would not refer to her as “former Gallaudet University President-designate”–that doesn’t ring true. It’s a long mouthful.
I think if it was really a true media story, they would have expanded that into two sentences and said that she was the “incoming president” and she was recently “terminated” by the Board.
Remember, there is the very real possibility that Paul Kelly and others in the administration are white-collar criminals and that they are now frantically doing things to try to avoid being sent to prison.
Also, the pseudo-editorial full of disinformation printed in the Washington Post today was probably written by Paul Kelly or Jordan. It shows that they are very, very, very desperate to try to gain some points in terms of public sympathy for their side. They want to avoid a Congressional investigation.
We can expect now to see Kelly and Jordan begin freaking out and scrambling to do many more things to avoid the possibility of Congress investigating the administration of Gallaudet. But I don’t think they are going to be able to avoid it.
It seems a foregone conclusion now that Congress will begin investigating and we will find out what has really been going on behind the scenes at Gallaudet–what they were trying to hide from us by attempting to pass the baton to Fernandes, but failed to do.
Oh gawd,
Enough of blaming MZ…
she’s just reporting a hoax…
Now that JKF is out of the picture, let’s NOT continue to pick on her. Imagine yourselves in her shoes…she must have been at the “lowest” point in her life… leave her alone. Leave her in peace. She’s history. Done. Over. With.
Now we need to focus on the healing process of our beloved Gallaudet University. We need to unite and focus on getting the campus back to normal. Let’s focus on the exciting aspect of phase–re-open the search process for 9th president. Let’s focus on moving on okay?
MZ, you are the only one who put it on the internet, that’s the difference. If something like this had really happened it would have been on more than a few peoples pagers it would have been on CNN. You could have easily handled this without posting the actual alleged article and giving whoever wrote it exactly what they wanted. A posting on the INTERNET. You could have used better judgement and I would hope for an apology and you to remove this made up story you posted and commented on leaving open a question in Jane’s friends and families minds.
That is unless you made it up. You got one thing you wanted in JKF getting terminated. Gracious people do not gloat in their success.
She just got terminated. The war is over. The victory is over. No need to gloat.
Her reputation is shot to hell. Although she brought it upon herself, she’s a victim of an ultimate character assassination. Sadly, Jane may not get hired again.
No, I’m not a “pro-Jane”
To hear Fernandez had committed suicide (and at least I’m glad it’s a hoax) is nearly the same person who must have “reported” Fernandez being threatened with a gun during the protest.
I do feel pity for her for the things she has done to us. But if she ever really dies, may God have mercy on her soul.
WHY IS EVERYONE POINTING FINGERS???? WHAT S THE MATTER WITH YOU ALL???? WE ALL INVESTIGATED AND FOUND IT IS A HOAX… THEN WE SHOULD IGNORE THIS NOW SO YES IT IS VERY CRUEL JOKE THAT SOMEONE DID ON HER…
EVEN THOUGH I AM NOT HER FAN… WHAT IF SOMEONE ERASED THE EMAILS AND THEN IT S ALL POINTED TO ONE PERSON THAT YOU THINK DID IT… DO YOU EVER ERASE YOUR FRIENDS’ EMAILS TO PROTECT THEM????
SO THINK ABOUT THIS!!!! THIS REALLY IS A CRUEL JOKE… NO NEED TO BE POINTING FINGERS AT WHOEVER YOU THINK STARTED IT…
GOD BLESS!!!
Jim, you think I have time to make up lies? I guess you don’t know me well as this is not my character.
Neither do you know the deaf community well. Fact is that the hoax had been spread all over the country and I’ve received over 15 inquiries on the hoax already in my public mailbox when I first got on the Internet, asking me please to verify it. If you don’t like it, that’s not my problem. My job is to verify the hoax, then report to the concerned readers that it is merely a cruel hoax, invented by a very sick person.
By the way, why are you attending deaf bloggers, harping on the pro Unity for Gallaudet? I can imagine the stress cannot do you well. Why don’t you go to the sea and watch the waves as it will lower your blood pressure? Give it a try. It really works
I have anything agaist you reporing about it. You did not need to justify it by posting it! I hope you understand this.
I have anything agaist you reporing about it. You did not need to justify it by posting it! I hope you understand this. As for the unity at Gallaudet time will only tell. One person in JKF did not do all this.
TO PERSON WHO STARTED THIS TO MAKE ALL THIS A JOKE(HOAX),
YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT BEFORE YOU SEND THIS ALL OFF TO EVERYONE WHO WOULD BE SPREADING THIS HOAX MAIL, THAT REALLY HURTS US ALL BECAUSE THAT IS NOT WHAT WE ALL WANT FOR HER TO BE DOING. WE JUST WANT HER TO UNDERSTAND WHY WE DIDN’T WANT HER TO BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT BECAUSE SHE CAN’T LEAD PROPERLY WITHOUT ALL THESE SUPPORTS..
YOU REALLY DID A CRUEL THING TO HER AND EVERYONE…
YOU BETTER ADMIT YOURSELF THAT YOU DID IT AND APOLOGIZE THAT TO US ALL BECAUSE THAT IS REALLY UNNECESSARY THING.. YOU DON’T JOKE ABOUT DEATH ON PEOPLE LIKE THAT EVEN IF YOU WOULD WANT TO JOKE ON YOUR LOVED ONES.. THAT S REALLY HURTFUL THING TO DO..
COME OUT AND SAY WHO… GOD BLESS!!!
Jim, we don’t have a deaf snopes com. How do the readers know it is an hoax? I have an ethical duty informing them it was a cruel hoax, so they all can feel assured. To let them all wonder if this is true would be even more cruel. I had to call the police myself to find out if it is true or not.
If it wasn’t spread all over the country, I wouldn’t have dignify the hoax by printing it. However all I can do is try to do damage control and tell the readers it is not true.
Believe me, they may be against the appointment of Fernandes as the next president, but they do not want to see her dead. Cannot you understand that?
Mishkazena…don t worry i also found it on another blog too…..
There is nothing ethical in posting a false report. Stop trying to convince everyone your are doing this for the good of the community and use a little more cander in what you post.
It was probably reported by the people who burned her image Sunday night.
Elizabeth posted a false report to DISPROVE it.
Geez!
Capt, so you are saying that snopes.com isn’t ethical?
Sorry. I think telling people what is truth is very ethical. The unethical thing would be to remain silent while everybody gets a false legitimate looking article and thinking Fernandes had committed suicide. I am sure Fernandes would want the deaf students to know she is alive, won’t she? Yes, many students contacted me to ask me if this is true or not.
What can I say if the public relations department didn’t put out a statement saying that Fernnades is fine, if they knew a terrible hoax was spreading all over the campus and all over the world like wildfire? That way, I don’t have to do their job.
But again we have the public department telling the media Fernandes got fired because she is ” Not Deaf Enough”, telling the media and parents, “no, the students weren’t injured and DPS never used the spray”. It is very unfortunate that the Gallaudet Campus depend on the deaf bloggers for truth. Perhaps you should sit down with Mercy Coogan and educate her on the importance of telling the truth.
We do need to set up a deaf snopes.com to rule out rumors. Hey, is anyone interested in setting up a deaf snopes.com?
How many Deaf rumors do we known of??
I can think of just one: The US Government is cutting back on the closed captioning.
43. Actually, there’s some truth behind that. If you check the NAD website, there’s an issue with broadcasters requesting (and receiving) exemptions to the rule requiring closed captions.
And folks, if you analyze the message, there’s more than one red flag. Suicide details are not released in such depth, first of all. Second, the police were called “late this afternoon,” but she died “this evening.” Grammar aside, the times don’t jive. And then we find out she’s been dead for several hours? And the method doesn’t quite match the location; this isn’t Mrs. Peacock in the Library with the Candlestick. Finally, a reason would not be given by a coroner, and then be stated that autopsy results are pending. Either the coroner’s done, or they’re not.
If you want a deaf snopes, I’d be happy to sign up.
For Capt & Jimmsill:
The real problem is that you totally misunderstood the meaning of Elizabeth’s grammar when she reported that the suicide report was a hoax. Go get an English tutor annd stop being fools blaming her!
Retired English Professor
Keep up the great work, Elizabeth. These few naysayers really don’t know what they are talking about.
Capt,
Please get off your high horse and reread the post. Yes Elizabeth posted the article because she wants to terminate the fire of false rumor. We all know what MZ is trying to do. It is VERY important to squash a cruel hoax.
Capt, READ this, even though most of us supported the protestors, all agreed the rumor is an extremely CRUEL hoax. We do not wish any harm to our enemies. JK is a human and she does not deserve the horrible hoax spread all over the country.
WHOEVER started the rumor should be ashamed! It is disgusting!
Capt, do you get what i mean? I 100% support MZ’s intentions. She WANTED to stop the hoax.
Josh, great. Please contact me and we’ll get you started working as a deaf snopes person!
Thanks, readers. Many told me in private e mails that I did the right thing in reporting the article as an hoax. It seems some people have problems comprehending that we may not approve Fernandes as the next President, we do care about her as a person.
MZ,
Thank you for identifying this as a hoax. And thank you for publishing it the way you did.
I, too, spent about half an hour trying to track it down when the message was forwarded to me by some people up here in Maine.
John
I personally think this is SAD – so LOW and disgusting that someone would start up a cruel hoax!! Don’t you think the woman has been through enough already!? When will you people ever stop!?!? Get over it and move on! I think whomever started this hoax ought to APOLOGIZE to Dr. Fernandes and her family. I really, really do!
Hey Jayson,
Don’t you READ what people are saying before you make a comment?
Whoever made the annoucement of Jane Fernandes suicide hoax is downright stupid and should think twice about the consequences. The hoax is very cruel and uncalled for.
Even though I am not a fan of Jane Fernandes and her ineffective leadership skills do not impress me, let’s stop spreading false rumors about her to the media.
For whoever who created a bullshit hoax, GROW UP.
Brian, You should keep quiet at this point. You should not be commenting about JKF, her family or friends. I have no problem telling everyone how low you really are. I think you know what I mean.
MZ, I understand completely your point. My point is you didn’t have to post this sick prank on the Net giving the sick person who made it up their glory for your benefit. You could have simply explained as you did at the beginning leaving the actual prank OUT. I hope you realize this.
Let’s make this clear: Nobody knows where this hoax came from. Let’s not be so hasty in accusing anyone until we know where this very cruel article originates from.
I know for a fact many pro Unity for Gallaudet were very upset when they received this hoax. They may not like Fernandes as a leader, but nobody wants to see her dead. When they realized it was a hoax, they got really angry. Both parties condemned this article.
Jim, we can agree to disagree. I provided that services as an emergency deaf snopes.com so people will know this article is a fake. Let’s drop it at this point and move on.
Thank you.
MZ, I beg to differ with you, agree to disagree with Jim, He has no idea of what you did to inform everyone that it was a hoax. I simply disagree with Jim because it looks like he doesn’t know what he is talking about. I think he is angry that jkf is terminated. He just doesn’t want to admit it. I wanted to share what stikes me the most about the protest, that it is clear the ivory tower had too much power. Tawny, who said in sunday nights vlog, that the ivory tower was too powerful, and that from the protest, we learn that it will not happen again. I completely agree with you, let’s drop it and move on. Ignore Jim, you have done your good deed by making sure the public know it was a hoax. Keep up the good work and I love your website!!!
VOTE FOR NEW PRESIDENT AT GALLY
SUPER DEAFY WALK
BEST DEAF COMEDY
It has been two days since it annouced to be a hoax one. Let’s think about the future president for the next generation and how you want this good university to be. Forget about this old rumor! ALL OVER NOW! MOVE ON! Don’t get bickering over this old rumor for nothing, even though a cruel one which need not to be repeated ever again in the future. MOVE FORWARD! Thank you.
I am not a fan of Jane Fernandes …Whoever made the annoucement of Jane Fernandes suicide hoax is downright stupid and should think twice about the consequences. The hoax is very cruel and uncalled for. She may did her best but CHILL out ,,,What makes u better than JANE FERNANDES…I hope u get sued for making false report!
Jane Fernandes may GOD bless u and ur FAMILY ,,,,
Nobody knows who wrote this sick article, but for sure many pro Unity For Gallaudet supporters strongly condemned this unbelievably cruel hoax, too, including me.
Hey, all, I feel sorry for Elizabeth who posted the cruel hoax message and she tried to clean it up to get the truth, instead of she got all blames, that is not right. I hope some of you who support Dr. Fernandes please understand that she is just doing her job as a reporter and nothing against Dr. Fernandes personally.
Mishka/Eliza did the right thing in what she did. She’s done what I’ve done in the past when hoax letters circulate. First is to not just say it’s a hoax, you have to back it up. It was backed up by someone who called and was told that there was ‘no such person.’ If there’s a URL to use, bring up at least two. Next thing that was done was to show that the wording used in the release was too suspect. You may have read Sherlock Steve’s page on Xanga on this also when he analyzes it in depth.
Finally, posting the hoax text itself and then repeat yourself before and after the text that it’s a hoax helps.
In short, it *IS* a good idea, contrary to what Capt said awhile ago, to show the details of what you’re talking about, like keeping part of what you said in an email reply. I’ve been on the Internet for over 10 years, and have seen every hoax come my way, including the “I LOVE YOU” virus, the “Good Times” virus. I’ve watched Snopes and a number of other sites go from tiny to what they are now.
>Brian, You should keep quiet at this point.
>You should not be commenting about JKF, her
>family or friends. I have no problem telling
>everyone how low you really are. I think you
>know what I mean.
Hey, jimmsil (#52)…. Go ahead an make my day. I’m calling your bluff.
Put up or shut up.
Brian
FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, let it go! Stop picking on MZ!! Whatever happens to “Unity For Gallaudet”? I can feel the division and the uneasiness. Is that what you want? Think about it!
The hoax e-mail arrived at my inbox this morning (Florida). I quickly started looking for the truth there are no reports of JKF. Also there is no ARP NEWSLINE. MZ did no harm in letting people know that a that the “ARP Newsline Alert… Suicide” was a hoax… A lot of people wondered I emailed the person who emaile me and told her that it wasn’t true. I am glad it is not true.