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Gallaudet Trustees Chair Resigns - washingtonpost.com
The chair of the Gallaudet University board of trustees resigned last night, the day after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) stepped down from the board because he disagreed with the decision to end the appointment of incoming president Jane K. Fernandes.
"I cannot in good conscience continue to serve the board after its decision to terminate her appointment, which I believe was unfair and not in the best interests of the University," McCain wrote to outgoing President I. King Jordan on Monday night. The letter, which was distributed to board members, was obtained by The Washington Post.
Brenda Jo Brueggemann, the board chair, said in an e-mail last night that she had been thinking about stepping down since the meeting last week, when the board voted to terminate Fernandes's appointment.
In a written statement last night, she wrote that her personal life and work as a professor at Ohio State University had suffered considerably in the months since May, when she took over from the interim board chair, Celia May Baldwin. Baldwin had resigned amid protests that began when Fernandes was named incoming president May 1, saying she had received threats.
The campus in Northeast Washington was shaken last month by increasingly intense protests, as students, faculty and alumni continued to demand that a new president be named at the school for the deaf. The protesters said Fernandes, who had been provost, was an ineffective leader and was chosen in an unfair search. Fernandes said the debate was over the importance of sign language and other issues in deaf culture; she grew up speaking and learned to sign in her 20s.
Both Jordan and Brueggemann strongly supported Fernandes, who they said was a strong leader.
McCain was unable to attend the meeting last week and did not participate in the decision, he wrote. He said that he deeply respected and admired Jordan's leadership over the past 18 years but that he had to resign from the board effective immediately.
The board's 20 members -- now 18 -- have included three from Congress. Reps. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) and Lynn C. Woolsey (D-Calif.) will remain on the board, according to aides. The bulk of Gallaudet's budget is provided by the federal government every year.
Some trustees reacted with shock last night when asked about Brueggemann's decision. And in an e-mail last night, Fernandes called Brueggemann "a model of respectful and inclusive leadership."
The board is scheduled to meet Saturday on campus to discuss the process of choosing an interim president.
"I continue to believe in the mission and vision of Gallaudet University as it is currently expressed," Brueggemann's statement said, "and will continue to work, as best I can as a scholar of Deaf studies and a hard-of-hearing person, to insure that the 8 strategic goals that currently guide Gallaudet University are being further developed and implemented. . . .
"I do not believe I can be the most effective member of the board to lead Gallaudet through the next steps," Brueggemann said in her statement.
The chair of the Gallaudet University board of trustees resigned last night, the day after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) stepped down from the board because he disagreed with the decision to end the appointment of incoming president Jane K. Fernandes.
"I cannot in good conscience continue to serve the board after its decision to terminate her appointment, which I believe was unfair and not in the best interests of the University," McCain wrote to outgoing President I. King Jordan on Monday night. The letter, which was distributed to board members, was obtained by The Washington Post.
Brenda Jo Brueggemann, the board chair, said in an e-mail last night that she had been thinking about stepping down since the meeting last week, when the board voted to terminate Fernandes's appointment.
In a written statement last night, she wrote that her personal life and work as a professor at Ohio State University had suffered considerably in the months since May, when she took over from the interim board chair, Celia May Baldwin. Baldwin had resigned amid protests that began when Fernandes was named incoming president May 1, saying she had received threats.
The campus in Northeast Washington was shaken last month by increasingly intense protests, as students, faculty and alumni continued to demand that a new president be named at the school for the deaf. The protesters said Fernandes, who had been provost, was an ineffective leader and was chosen in an unfair search. Fernandes said the debate was over the importance of sign language and other issues in deaf culture; she grew up speaking and learned to sign in her 20s.
Both Jordan and Brueggemann strongly supported Fernandes, who they said was a strong leader.
McCain was unable to attend the meeting last week and did not participate in the decision, he wrote. He said that he deeply respected and admired Jordan's leadership over the past 18 years but that he had to resign from the board effective immediately.
The board's 20 members -- now 18 -- have included three from Congress. Reps. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) and Lynn C. Woolsey (D-Calif.) will remain on the board, according to aides. The bulk of Gallaudet's budget is provided by the federal government every year.
Some trustees reacted with shock last night when asked about Brueggemann's decision. And in an e-mail last night, Fernandes called Brueggemann "a model of respectful and inclusive leadership."
The board is scheduled to meet Saturday on campus to discuss the process of choosing an interim president.
"I continue to believe in the mission and vision of Gallaudet University as it is currently expressed," Brueggemann's statement said, "and will continue to work, as best I can as a scholar of Deaf studies and a hard-of-hearing person, to insure that the 8 strategic goals that currently guide Gallaudet University are being further developed and implemented. . . .
"I do not believe I can be the most effective member of the board to lead Gallaudet through the next steps," Brueggemann said in her statement.
