Gallaudet University
800 Florida Avenue, N.E.
Washington, DC 20002
October 15, 2006
Dear Gallaudet Community,
It is with a heart full of sadness and inspiration that I write this letter to you all. I stayed up late on October 13, 2006, well into the night that I don’t normally do. I watched the live reporting of the arrests. It was a sad event that Dr. Jordan ordered arrests of the protestor, or what he has said “the dissenters”. On the other hand, the arrests inspired me because it made me realize that those people who got arrested did so because they believe so strongly about Gallaudet Community. I am in awe of the convictions that the FSSA holds so strongly that they are willing to stand up, speak out and sadly, have been arrested for. I want to share a quote from Edward R. Marrow. He said “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of the law. We will not walk in fear- one, of another.” I applaud the people who stand up against audism, fear, oppression and most of all; they stand up for what is right and best for Gallaudet University.
From 1998 to 2003, I was a student of Gallaudet University, in pursuit of a degree in Communication Studies. I learned a lot from my courses, but most of all, I have learned lessons in leadership, internal politics and other things. But most of all that I have learned were many secrets that lurk behind every message that has been said, written, and shared with others. Also during that time I was pretty active in extracurricular activities and became active student leader in the community, As president of Lambda Society of Gallaudet University (2000-2001), Special Assistant to the President of SBG (Kaftan/Panasuik, 2001-2002), member of Campus Climate Team (2002-2003), member of Diversity Council (1999-2001), I have encountered situations where the administration and BOT chose not to listen to the students, faculty and staff. But sometime we were lucky and broke through the walls and Administration/BOT listened to us.
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress” a quote from Fredrick Douglass. The struggle that Gallaudet University is going through, I consider that growing pains. Gallaudet University is alive and vibrant and in order to continue to be alive, we must grow as a whole. We, the community, are trying to determine what path the University itself should take. Just like how the rest of the world functions, there can only be one head leader; the title may be Captain, Chief, CEO, or President. We know that in most cases, when a leader is determined to be unfit to lead, they are replaced. But sometime there is a need for mutiny to force the leader out so a new leader can be put in place. The FSSA has given plenty of reasons for this “mutiny” against Dr. Jane K. Fernandes as the 9th President of Gallaudet University. She is not fit to lead Gallaudet University for numerous reasons, but mainly because she operates under fear and oppression.
I want to quickly remind Dr. Fernandes about how important students are. When 9/11 happened, the Crisis Management Team met and invited student leaders from Student Body Government and Graduate Students Association. Solutions came up in the meeting because the student leaders shared those ideas and we, the students, put together a plan of action for how to evacuate Gallaudet University if there was a need to. I am really sad that the Board of Trustees does not recognize the importance of Students’ input because I feel that the students are far more aware of things and capable of giving ideas on how to improve Gallaudet University, how to make the community stronger, and most of all, to make Gallaudet University the place that it should be.
Allison Polk wrote an article that was posted on www.deafdc.com/blog about how Dr. Jane K. Fernandes represents the old guard that needs to be taken out of place from Gallaudet University. Here is an excellent quote from Mario Savio’s Speech made on December 3, 1964.
"We have an autocracy which runs this university. It's managed. We asked the following: if President Kerr actually tried to get something more liberal out of the Regents in his telephone conversation, why didn't he make some public statement to that effect? And the answer we received -- from a well-meaning liberal -- was the following: He said, "Would you ever imagine the manager of a firm making a statement publicly in opposition to his board of directors?" That's the answer! Now, I ask you to consider: if this is a firm, and if the Board of Regents are the board of directors, and if President Kerr in fact is the manager, then I'll tell you something: the faculty are a bunch of employees, and we're the raw material! But we're a bunch of raw material[s] that don't mean to have any process upon us, don't mean to be made into any product, don't mean to end up being bought by some clients of the University, be they the government, be they industry, be they organized labor, be they anyone! We're human beings!
"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!"
The FSSA and people who support FSSA are trying to tell the Board of Trustees and the World that what has been going on at Gallaudet University for a long time got to stop and it has to stop now. For that, I declare my support to the FSSA. No longer should we live with fear and oppression that was made possible by the Administration and Board of Trustees. I support the demands, 1) Reopen the Presidential Search process, and 2) No Reprisals for anyone involved in the protest.
In closing, another quote I would like to share with you all that parallel this struggle for a better Gallaudet University. “For those believing in racial equality, those Europeans Americans who were abolitionists and civil rights advocates are the real exemplar of democracy and equality in American History.” We are the greatest example of democracy and equality in Deaf History.
Unity for Gallaudet!
Thomas Green
Class of 2002
800 Florida Avenue, N.E.
Washington, DC 20002
October 15, 2006
Dear Gallaudet Community,
It is with a heart full of sadness and inspiration that I write this letter to you all. I stayed up late on October 13, 2006, well into the night that I don’t normally do. I watched the live reporting of the arrests. It was a sad event that Dr. Jordan ordered arrests of the protestor, or what he has said “the dissenters”. On the other hand, the arrests inspired me because it made me realize that those people who got arrested did so because they believe so strongly about Gallaudet Community. I am in awe of the convictions that the FSSA holds so strongly that they are willing to stand up, speak out and sadly, have been arrested for. I want to share a quote from Edward R. Marrow. He said “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of the law. We will not walk in fear- one, of another.” I applaud the people who stand up against audism, fear, oppression and most of all; they stand up for what is right and best for Gallaudet University.
From 1998 to 2003, I was a student of Gallaudet University, in pursuit of a degree in Communication Studies. I learned a lot from my courses, but most of all, I have learned lessons in leadership, internal politics and other things. But most of all that I have learned were many secrets that lurk behind every message that has been said, written, and shared with others. Also during that time I was pretty active in extracurricular activities and became active student leader in the community, As president of Lambda Society of Gallaudet University (2000-2001), Special Assistant to the President of SBG (Kaftan/Panasuik, 2001-2002), member of Campus Climate Team (2002-2003), member of Diversity Council (1999-2001), I have encountered situations where the administration and BOT chose not to listen to the students, faculty and staff. But sometime we were lucky and broke through the walls and Administration/BOT listened to us.
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress” a quote from Fredrick Douglass. The struggle that Gallaudet University is going through, I consider that growing pains. Gallaudet University is alive and vibrant and in order to continue to be alive, we must grow as a whole. We, the community, are trying to determine what path the University itself should take. Just like how the rest of the world functions, there can only be one head leader; the title may be Captain, Chief, CEO, or President. We know that in most cases, when a leader is determined to be unfit to lead, they are replaced. But sometime there is a need for mutiny to force the leader out so a new leader can be put in place. The FSSA has given plenty of reasons for this “mutiny” against Dr. Jane K. Fernandes as the 9th President of Gallaudet University. She is not fit to lead Gallaudet University for numerous reasons, but mainly because she operates under fear and oppression.
I want to quickly remind Dr. Fernandes about how important students are. When 9/11 happened, the Crisis Management Team met and invited student leaders from Student Body Government and Graduate Students Association. Solutions came up in the meeting because the student leaders shared those ideas and we, the students, put together a plan of action for how to evacuate Gallaudet University if there was a need to. I am really sad that the Board of Trustees does not recognize the importance of Students’ input because I feel that the students are far more aware of things and capable of giving ideas on how to improve Gallaudet University, how to make the community stronger, and most of all, to make Gallaudet University the place that it should be.
Allison Polk wrote an article that was posted on www.deafdc.com/blog about how Dr. Jane K. Fernandes represents the old guard that needs to be taken out of place from Gallaudet University. Here is an excellent quote from Mario Savio’s Speech made on December 3, 1964.
"We have an autocracy which runs this university. It's managed. We asked the following: if President Kerr actually tried to get something more liberal out of the Regents in his telephone conversation, why didn't he make some public statement to that effect? And the answer we received -- from a well-meaning liberal -- was the following: He said, "Would you ever imagine the manager of a firm making a statement publicly in opposition to his board of directors?" That's the answer! Now, I ask you to consider: if this is a firm, and if the Board of Regents are the board of directors, and if President Kerr in fact is the manager, then I'll tell you something: the faculty are a bunch of employees, and we're the raw material! But we're a bunch of raw material[s] that don't mean to have any process upon us, don't mean to be made into any product, don't mean to end up being bought by some clients of the University, be they the government, be they industry, be they organized labor, be they anyone! We're human beings!
"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!"
The FSSA and people who support FSSA are trying to tell the Board of Trustees and the World that what has been going on at Gallaudet University for a long time got to stop and it has to stop now. For that, I declare my support to the FSSA. No longer should we live with fear and oppression that was made possible by the Administration and Board of Trustees. I support the demands, 1) Reopen the Presidential Search process, and 2) No Reprisals for anyone involved in the protest.
In closing, another quote I would like to share with you all that parallel this struggle for a better Gallaudet University. “For those believing in racial equality, those Europeans Americans who were abolitionists and civil rights advocates are the real exemplar of democracy and equality in American History.” We are the greatest example of democracy and equality in Deaf History.
Unity for Gallaudet!
Thomas Green
Class of 2002
posted by Tomas at
9:37 PM
