Origins
Gallaudet University was established in 1864 in Washington, D.C. by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet's youngest child, Edward Miner Gallaudet. The college grew out of what had been originally a Deaf school for children, which had been established in 1857. Gallaudet was the world's first university for Deaf and hard of hearing students. The historical background, cultural ideologies of the Deaf world, and the richness of the Deaf community at this university was what set the stage for the protests that occurred.
Deaf students at Gallaudet began campaigning for a Deaf president when Jerry C. Lee, who had been president since 1984, resigned in 1987. The issue lay between the Board of Trustees, which consisted of a majority of hearing members, and the Deaf community. There seemed to be doubts that the Deaf community could match the abilities and achieve as much as a hearing community. The motivation behind the protest for DPN was not simply about the current election, but about uniting and strengthening Deaf students, faculty, and staff. Students supporting the selection of a Deaf president participated in the large rally beginning on March 1, 1988.
For the rally, Gallaudet alumnus John Yeh underwrote a good deal of the costs of the rally, including bales of fliers and thousands of buttons that read "Deaf President Now". Many other alumni participated in the events as well. A candlelit vigil was held on March 5, 1988. The Board of Trustees considered three finalists: University of North Carolina at Greensboro assistant chancellor Elisabeth Zinser, who is not Deaf; I. King Jordan, Gallaudet's Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; and Harvey Corson, a Deaf man serving as the superintendent at the Louisiana School of the Deaf.
The drive behind this protest was not based solely on the initial selection of a new hearing president: the need for a Deaf president began when Deaf advocacy groups and organizations made it clear well in advance that they wanted a Deaf President. Letter-writing endorsement for the cause included people like Vice-President George Bush and Senators Bob Dole, Bob Graham, Tom Harkin, and Lowell Weicker. Mainstream society, however, was not on board yet.
On March 6, 1988, the Board announced the selection of Elizabeth A. Zinser to be the university's seventh president. She had been assistant chancellor at the University of North Carolina, and was the only hearing person out of the three presidential candidates. Due to the strong push for a Deaf President to reside over a Deaf university, the outcome of this election was met with much opposition.
Read more about this topic: Deaf President Now
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
“The settlement of America had its origins in the unsettlement of Europe. America came into existence when the European was already so distant from the ancient ideas and ways of his birthplace that the whole span of the Atlantic did not widen the gulf.”
—Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)
“Lucretius
Sings his great theory of natural origins and of wise conduct; Plato
smiling carves dreams, bright cells
Of incorruptible wax to hive the Greek honey.”
—Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962)
“Grown onto every inch of plate, except
Where the hinges let it move, were living things,
Barnacles, mussels, water weeds—and one
Blue bit of polished glass, glued there by time:
The origins of art.”
—Howard Moss (b. 1922)