Reprisals Fair?
The BoT has agreed to the FSSA’s first demand, the resignation of Jane Fernandes, but so far it has refused to honor the second request, no reprisals against students, faculty, staff and alumni.
This part is very significant to me and also very troubling, as the refusal to honor it makes several significant statements. So I will break it down to parts.
First of all, why did the protest occur?
Was it done by willful and irresponsible students who simply didn’t like the president appointee because she was Not Deaf Enough? No, not at all, as you all know.
Why was there such strong support for the protest among the staff and faculty?
Perhaps the BoT need to examine the protest and its own actions first before they blame the students.
The protest occurred for one simple reason. This was the only way to illustrate the persistent failures of the gallaudet administrators to set up effective and constructive dialogues with its stakeholders over the years. There was no shared governance within the university and its faculty members.
Amazingly enough the protest failed last May, to get any constructive dialogues going with university administrators and the BoT, just like similar efforts the last six years while Fernandes was serving as Provost. The university faculty senate had spoken, with two votes of no confidence awarded to Fernandes for her improperly gained provost position and tenure without shared governance. Both times they were resoundingly ignored by Jordan and the BoT. Many students have requested constructive dialogues with Fernandes countless times over the years without success. Many grievances were sent via the President Office to the BoT, only to receive no response.
At the beginning of Oct, the protest failed to get any response from the BoT, even though the BoT was here during two naming ceremonies and the big gala for Jordan’s retirement party. The BoT, Jordan, and Fernandes continued to celebrate the three events, surrounded by angry students holding up posters and banners, acting as if the students were invisible. They were simply not acknowledged. The BoT didn’t take time off to talk to the protesters.
Even when HMB was locked down and the foiled DPS raid occurred, resulting in injuries among the students who were mistreated by DPS, the students were again ignored by both the university administrators and the BoT. However the deaf bloggers followed the incidents very closely, faithfully informing the deaf community while the mainstreamed media was blocked from Gallaudet from interviewing the protesters. Yes, you heard me correctly. That weekend DPS actually denied media access to HMB due to “safety reasons”. Due to the lack of access and communication barriers by the refusal of administrators to provide staff interpreters for the students who wanted to talk to the reporters, the media was spoon-fed only one side, from the ever powerful public relations machine, creating irreparable damage to the image of Gallaudet University itself. The BoT only gave students five minutes while one student, disregarding the wishes of the BoT, shared her experience about being injured by the DPS. At the same time the BoT was listening to the students, the public relations spokesperson informed the media that the BoT are unanimous in their support for Fernandes as President. So the meeting was a farce from the beginning.
When 134 students were arrested. Jordan, Fernandes, and the BoT members, with one exception, weren’t there. The deaf bloggers live-reported the arrests. The police department had ordered the mainstream media away, so they weren’t able to cover most of the arrests except from a great distance. In outrage, more deaf bloggers popped up on the Internet from all over the country, showing their support for the protest, so did the tent cities. The media were starting to hear the real issues. Letters from Judicial Court were given to the students who were arrested. The BoT never came to address this.
Then the Brentwood Gate Fiasco occurred. Now, since the media was right there, the students and witnesses were able to share their experiences and the world heard Gallaudet. The public relations staff tried to minimize the injuries and failed miserably. The Gallaudet community on the campus have been reading the deaf blogs to find out the latest news updates on campus since the internal communication system was compromised by the administrators.
Where was the BoT?
Had the BoT been responsive last May when the protest occurred and the university shut down, would the protest had gone this far? How would the Gallaudet Community be heard otherwise?
No. They did all of these to try to get the BoT to listen. Unfortunately, in the process, students were injured and terrorized illegally by DPS, PPDs, and rental cops on the Gallaudet payroll.
They are facing reprisals along with staff and faculty who spoke against injustices and oppressions plaguing them for years.
Are the reprisals fair? Are they another form of oppression?
Who are the real culprits here?
Email contact: Mishkazena@aol.com
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The media was ordered away? I wondered why we weren’t reading about what was going on as those events happened!!! And it was the bloggers, who kept the truth of what was happening at the protest current in the minds of folks around the country!!
Why should there be reprisals against students?
Those in power “upset the apple cart.”
Now, the students,..those who have set things right,..must “pick up the apples?”
That doesn’t seem right!
I think that reprisals should be reasonalbe, and go ALL AROUND. That includes DPS, IJK (although I’d say he’s already been punished enough by having his image tarnished and leaving Gallaudet in Disgrace), and JK (same as IJK). But what about DPS? They need to do something to make up for this (I recommend mandatory ASL classes, as they are constructive and positive). Now as for hte protesters themselves, I recommend community service- clean up the campus, a few saturdays there and there. That’s it. I think that will go a long way towards reconciling. We got the first demmand. I think we should give the BOT something – they want to punish us, fine, even if it’s only a symbolic type, that’s fine. They need to save face, and I think we should let them.
Now if ont he other hand, we’re talking about expulsions and PNGing, that is NOT appropriate for this situation and I would be very upseta bout that.
Oh, and while we’re at it, throw the damn “Freedom for Guidelines to Expression” in the darned trash, so it’ll never see the light of the day again!
By the way, this is Katie Roberts, I aws one of your bio students too. I couldn’t beleive it had been you all along! Even as an unmotivated freshman, I loved your class and thought you were a good teacher.
Many students have rights to be heard but in lack of response from administion and ignorance from BoT, the option was protest. All the part of game was getting attention from BoT and the demands are to be meet but BoT was one-sided all the way with Jordon and Fernandes. We made our choices to protest becasue we are tired of being used like dupes. I voted that our demands like no reprisials and open president search should be meet. Let us keep it up and get those demands passed without amosities. Unity for Gallaudet!
it doesn’t matter… you have to understand that if you BROKE THE LAW or the CODE OF CONDUCT, no matter WHY you did it…
YOU SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. I understand that in your perception it is a special situation, but everyone can claim their special situations. Regardless, if you get arrested for a cause you believe in and are walking around campus receiving praise for your bravery, how can you then go about saying that you should not be punished for knowingly and outrightingly breaking the law?!
I think that the protestors should ACCEPT the consequences of their actions. That will show that they are willing to make grave sacrifices for their beliefs. To continue protesting now is fruitless and to me, ridiculous.
it is called reprisal it means revenge. They want to hurt the people who protested. I feel we have to delete the reprisals.. and remember the healing process. Dont we all agree to heal ourselves with BOT? Remove reprisal immediately… Albert W
When I looked at the two demands by FSSA, there is nothing in there re: no reprisals. It simply states : JKF must go and Prez Search Process must be reopened.
Now the demands have changed to “reopen the search process” and “no reprisals”
The FSSA is trying to have its cake and eat it too. I agree with Rayni. The FSSA were warned that they were breaking the law and violating the code of conduct (even though they disagreed with them) and accordingly, must accept the consequences.
I would refer you to Mr. Gandhi who was once arrested by the British for sedition. When charges were brought up against him in court, he said: “I have no defense, My Lord. I am guilty as charged. And if you truly believe in the system of law you administer in my country, you must inflict on me the severest penalty possible.”
To which, he was given a 6 year sentence.
Reprisals?
Ok, let’s first wait and see whta happens, and what “reprisals” are called for, used, etc. Make no mistake of where I’m coming from, because there are a lot of times that I’ll skirt, or cross rules or guidelines if I think it’s for the right reason. Likewise happened here. However, when significant rules or laws are broken, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that a punishment occurs. Many years ago, friends of ours believed in the Right to Life cause, and joined a group of protesters at a local clinic. They blocked access to said clinic, preventing employees and patients from entering. They were arrested. They weren’t convicted. Similarly, they were being “peaceful” yet still unlawful. I’d predict the same to happen here. In this case, especially, the students knew what they were going in for, and put themselves in the position where they KNEW they were going to be arrested. As for campus issues, I believe that remains to be seen, but I don’t expect to see much negatively come out of this.
Believe me, I’m all for getting the right thing done, even if sometimes I have to clip a corner or two, but I also know that when I do that, I do risk something coming down on me. Here, somehow I doubt there will be much.
I don’t believe that reprisals for anything less than a misedmeanor are appropriate because I believe the moral message (the protest) is superior to any code of conduct with the exception, perhaps, of the most egregious of behaviors.
The PR machine at Gallaudet was powerful, indeed, by the disemination of a steady stream of simple lies to cover up complex truths (Johnson) so how are students to compete with this subtle viciousness?
The BOT is sending a strong message that they were not in favor of terminating JKF but “HAD TO” with pain for the sake of GU community’s FSSA. Therefore, they were against the overall protest period. If we can read between the lines in their termination statement letter.
The FSSA and students who acted as protesters are being condemned for violating many laws in order to be heard. FSSA and the protesters are expected to own up their share of being arrested after being warned couple days before. They just dared IKJ to make the arrests, which is unfortunate and all they had to do was open the gate then carry on the demands. It’s that simple! I remember during DPN as a protester myself, I knew what the consquences wuold take place if I was arrested and I would have accepted any repisals with PRIDE and MOVE ON.
The protesters challenged the DPS during the bomb threats, and the DC assistant chief during the Black Night. During the arrests blogging, I believe in the 2nd or 3rd wave, some of the human chainers were saying “HURRY UP” and even the guy in the wheelchair,, was saying “TAKE ME”, “TAKE ME”, the DC assistant chief stated, “It is the law to provide three warnings within the intervals before we can make the arrests” he said is with a smile and in a very gentle way. You would think the BOT would accept that?? Courts and juries.. will say .. all you had to do was open the gate and carry on your non violent peaceful demands. I would think it would be common sense here.
It seems like to student protesters will get off with community services and not be expelled. It is the staff and professors that will get the axe due to conflict of interest.. are you familiar with the story, Deaf Poet’s Society?? Sad but true … As an Deaf educator, there are boundaries in using students as political ploy to get the message across. You see, the protesters were not really effected by JKF since they do not have direct association with her. It is their professors, staff, and department heads that fed their fears and agitiation towards JKF tenure. Most of the protesters who were arrested are sophmores and juniors that were at Gallaudet two, three, or four years. Some of them were freshmen for crying out loud.
It just too bad the Faculty waited too long to get the 82 %. It took the arrests to make that powerful noise.. they could have done it many times during JKF tenure as provost..
The university is just following the code of conduct otherwise there would be chaos.
“Individuals who violated the law and Gallaudet University’s Code of Conduct will be held accountable”
We all know few of the protestors went over the line and will have to accept the consequence for their action.
Even the well known protestors have experienced prison so get a grip!
Kate, Hi there!!! Always a great pleasure to hear from my old student!
If the students, staff, and faculty should be accountable for their actions, then Jordan, Fernandes, Paul Kelly, DPSs, PPDs, and rental cops should be accountable, too. Not only did they strayed from the staff conduct policy of the university, they also violated much more serious laws such as reckless endangerment, felony assaults, ADA, and Section 504, among other laws.
Hey hey, excuse me? The students have full six years dealing with Fernandes as the provost. They are college students so please don’t insult their intelligence by implying that they are puppets. For sure, they are not wearing blinders and are perfectly aware of the ineffectual leadership of Fernandes. She have avoided conferences not only with the SBG president, but also with many other students. Her promises to address audism for years were never translated to actions. Students remember too well her refusal to address the audism of the security guards during that infamous football goalpost incident. They see the deterioration of the academic programs under the administration of Fernandes. I am proud that they are able to stand up and speak against oppression.
Good points, MZ, and I believe that the people you mentioned are (or should be) included with the “staff” portion. Maybe by not specifying, some would assume that it was a one-sided edict, but, what’s good for the goose…
I believe Hey was speaking of individuals, rather than as a collective. A student with 0-3 years will have less intimate knowledge of the problems, then someone who has been around longer. As such, they could either blindly follow (which some may have). Or, they can learn what it’s about, which would be either from faculty, staff & students who were around, or from resources online (this is more likely). As a collective, yes, “students” have had 6 years, but as individuals, how many have that experience? No offense intended, I understand where you’re coming from, I think we’re looking at the statement from two angles.
I agree. REprisals to go ALL around!
Then you should be still protesting for the sake of the reprisals. Or let those who fought your fight hang out on the line so you can bask in glory.
Then you should be still be protesting for the sake of the reprisals. Or let those who fought your fight hang out on the line so you can bask in glory. Hello JKF is No longer here! Oppression did not leave with her.
No, Oppression remains a problem even though JK is no longer in the picture. She helped promoted the oppressive atmosphere, so hopefully we can start healing. That remains to be seen.
Hawk, you forgot about students who graduated from Gallaudet, only to come back later to pursue graduate studies. You need to keep in mind that the majority of the community agrees with the protest, not just the students. I met two hearing students, both HUGS, one who came last spring and one this fall, and they both told me that they couldn’t believe the level of oppression on the campus. Gallaudet wasn’t the utopia of deaf culture they were led to believe prior to arrival. You know what? I agree with them. I have been outside of Gallaudet for ten years and when I resurfaced, I was stunned at the extent of oppression. Being in the hearing world is, in fact, more empowering for me, than it is for the people working for Gallaudet. I find this very sad.
I was considering Graduate students, those who have taken time off, part-timers, “professional students”, as well as “regular” new or transferring students. To jump in and have a revolution going on, that is the angle I was looking at. Too many have shared in this, too many seen the problems. I do agree with you, and I find quite a bit leaves a sour taste in the stomach. Hopefully, the national attention rattles a few cages.
Oppression has been a issue at Gallaudet long before any of you or JKF has been here. Admit this protest was a personal attack on JKF and leave it at that.
It’s time to stop hiding behind the fact that you just didn’t personally like her.
Jim, nobody is disputing that oppression has been a chronic problem, long before JK came to the picture.
However, you don’t seem to understand that JK was rejected because she wasn’t a good leader. She failed to address the systematic oppression and audism the last eleven years. She was a part of the problem. Hopefully with the new president, this oppression will be addressed and kicked out of the campus.
JKF was not the president during this time that is a fact. IKJ was so why not protest IKJ? And I disagree you, yourself said most of the oppression left with JKF. That simply is not true.
Not only did Fernandes permitted this oppression to continued, she was also an oppressor the last eleven years on campus. So did IKJ the last eighteen years.
We need a leader who is not an oppressor AND forbides this from being practiced.
You may continue to disagree as you are entitled. However, you may want to ask the students, the staff, and the faculty themselves if they feel oppressed or not. You may be surprised.