Deaf President Now
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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. When this wasn't satisfied, the result was a protest that is still circling the globe. 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 nation's 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 University's Board of Trustees that a hearing person had been selected as Gallaudet's 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...