The LA Times reported that Gallaudet University will remain barricaded, according to protestors, because they feel the new president lacks a commitment to the Deaf culture.
In the first disability carnival (posted below) , Penny Richards does an excellent job linking to various blogs explaining different points of view of the situation. I highly recommend scrolling down and hopping over there to read a few.
As usual, the media reports, the photos shown and the sad comments by some that this is a case of "coddled students" who have never been in the real world wanting to pick their university president forgets that this college is one of a kind and, as such, represents the Deaf community in a unique way.
The LA Times writes:
"People look up to Gallaudet University because it's a pillar of the deaf community," said T. Alan Hurwitz, dean of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology. Hurwitz added that he thought the controversy had more to do with the selection process than a split over deaf culture."
Gallaudet University students and alumni, as well as those who are Deaf, are a community. Honoring the future of that community and the path it will take should be paramount, not name calling or a misplaced lesson in obedience to authority - that ignores the unique role this school plays in Deaf culture.
As one blogger puts it:
"We’re talking about the ability to be led by someone who empathizes with his or her constituents and will act on behalf of and in the common interest of the Gallaudet University. This also means recognizing Gallaudet’s unique role as not just a place where students should be expected to excel academically, but also as a model to D/deaf people everywhere of what we’re capable of doing."
DCBlog.... by Allison...
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