|
|
This is only a preview of the paper
Click here to register and get the full text.
Existing members click here to login
|
|
|
Fifteen years ago, at Gallaudet University there was student-led protest that today is called Deaf President Now, DPN. DPN wasn’t just a protest, it was a grand get together of Gallaudet students, faculty and staff with the national deaf community who all had clear goals for the deaf. The DPN supporters believed that it was time for a deaf person to run the only university for deaf and hard of hearing students. ... DPN was remarkable in its sense of purpose, cohesiveness, speed, and depth of feeling, and also for its ability to remove the barriers and erase the lines that previously separated the deaf and hearing communities. In addition, it raised the nations consciousness of the rights and abilities of deaf and hard of hearing people.
What caused the DPN movement was the announcement on March 6, 1988, by the Universitys Board of Trustees that a hearing person had been selected as Gallaudets seventh president. In the months and the years leading up this date, many in the deaf community and on campus had advocated for a deaf person to be named president. There were plenty of deaf people who were qualified for the job, and it only made since to have a deaf president. Because of this, and because two of the three finalists for the position were deaf, many people were confident that the next president of Gallaudet would be a deaf person. ... The students and their backers then presented the Board of Trustees with four demands:
1) Elisabeth Zinser must resign and a deaf person selected president;
2) Jane Spilman must step down as chairperson of the Board of Trustees;
3) deaf people must constitute a 51% majority on the Board; and
4) there would no reprisals against any student or employee involved in the protest. ... King Jordan was named the Gallaudets eighth—and first—deaf president. ... Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, after whom Gallaudet University is named, became interested in deaf education in 1814, when he met a bright young deaf child who was not receiving a proper education. He traveled to Europe in search of the best educational methods for teaching deaf children. ... Finally, he met educators from the Paris School for the Deaf who agreed to share information about sign language and how to educate deaf children.
Approximate Word count = 1805
Approximate Pages = 7.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
|
|
|
|
|
|