The*Empress
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Jane K. Fernandes: Statement to Open Online Discussion
I am very glad to be here today and I'd like to take this opportunity to move beyond the debate about my being selected as the next president by the Board of Trustees and share my vision for my presidency at Gallaudet and how it will help the university address the challenges we face.
Building upon Dr. Jordan's outstanding legacy, I will lead Gallaudet into a successful future, working as, I always have, with an outstanding faculty, staff, and students.
_______________________
Fresno, Calif.: Dear Dr. Fernandes, One of the roles of a college president is to assure that the actions of the institution reflects the mission. Would you please talk about Gallaudet's mission and how the protest does or does not support that mission. Thank you.
Jane K. Fernandes: The mission of Gallaudet University is to serve as a comprehensive, multipurpose institution of higher education for deaf and hard of hearing citizens of the United States and the world. With 47 percent of deaf and hard of hearing children coming from diverse racial backgrounds and 91percent of deaf and hard of hearing children and youth attending public schools, Gallaudet must reach out and include each and every one of them. The University must make it clear that we welcome, value and include all kinds of deaf students while remaining true to the principles of American Sign Language and Deaf Culture upon which the University was founded.
_______________________
New York, N.Y.: President-elect Fernandes, thank you in advance for taking my comment. Although I am a hearing individual, I strongly believe that you are the right person to lead Gallaudet into the 21st century. As you noted in your op-ed piece from last week, the deaf community, like other communities, is not monolithic. As an African-American, I see how often my own community ostracizes those who are not deemed "black enough." With increased medical and scientific advancements, there will be even more heterogeneity among individuals who are hearing impaired. In my humble opinion, I think a lot of the protests are based in fear, fear of what will happen to deaf culture with the advent of these innovations. Hopefully, Gallaudet can become a setting that is at the forefront of transition in your community. I hope you make it through this challenge. However, if you don't, I am sure that history will be on your side. Good luck and God speed!
Jane K. Fernandes: There are so many external pressures exerted on the deaf community including cochlear implants, more powerful hearing aids, genetic research and the shift in school attendance from schools for the deaf to public schools where today 91 percent of deaf and hard of hearing children and youth are enrolled. I believe the community is responding to these pressures on a deep seated level. My African American friends seem to understand the pressures the deaf community is feeling. One of them shared this spiritual with me: We'll stand the storm, it won't be long, we'll anchor by and by We'll stand the storm, it won't be long, we'll anchor by and by
It reminds us that life is full of storms of different intensity and the struggle is not to avoid them, but stand through them. By standing through this storm, the whole Gallaudet University community will emerge as a stronger institution of higher education and will better serve the needs of our students.
_______________________
Rochester, N.Y.: The students at National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester are holding a "tent city" support rally for Gallaudet students today. What do you think of this type of off-campus support of the Gallaudet students? Do you think it is appropriate?
Jane K. Fernandes: I am heartened to see deaf students becoming activists and speaking out for what they believe in. I fully support their right to do that. The selection of the Gallaudet University president is made by the Gallaudet University Board of Trustees. Students at Gallaudet and at NTID do not and cannot make such a decision. I would hope we can channel the strong feelings and deep concern for deaf people and deaf education into a powerful national force that will result in advancements for deaf people everywhere.
_______________________
Seattle, Wash.: I heard the students got letters from the judicial office about their arrests on Friday 13th for blocking the gates. Will they be evicted? If so, why?
Jane K. Fernandes: Each case will be reviewed by the University Judicial Affairs Board. A student may accept responsibility for whatever the charge is and be assigned consequences. If the student does not accept responsibility, he or she will have a hearing with the Judicial Affairs Board. Consequences fall along a continuum ranging from things like community service, writing a research paper or attending workshops to more serious actions like suspension or expulsion. The consequences will be assigned in accordance with the process outlined in the Student Code of Conduct.
_______________________
Alameda, Calif.: How do you expect to bring together the various factions on campus, especially when many of the stakeholders have declared their unwillingness to accept you as their president? Please delineate your plan or give us some idea as to where you are headed.
Jane K. Fernandes: I have been working with experts on conflict transformation and came across this quotation which is significant in light of the situation Gallaudet is facing: "Unity is not two people clinging together because they both fear they are about to be annihilated. Nor, for that matter, is unity two people standing together and pretending there are no differences between them ... unity is respecting difference, honoring difference, valuing difference, learning from difference, but understanding that difference is not destiny ... And that if there are 10 things that divide us, there are 100 by which we are drawn together, if there are 100 points of difference, there are 1,000 of common cause." Leonard Pitts, Jr., columnist for the Miami Herald I hope to involve neutral mediators to work with the campus community -- faculty, staff, students and alumni -- to identity their most pressing issues and find the common threads we can use to create the healing we so desperately need.
_______________________
Gallaudet City: President Designate Fernandes: I am one of few Gallaudet folks who is sorry about what's happening. We haven't been fair to you; we haven't given you the chance to show what you are capable of. I think everyone from all sides needs to grow up. I am peeved by the way the administration has handled the unrest. It's been anemic at best, and I am wondering if you have short- and long-term plans for resolution.
Jane K. Fernandes: I am worried about the cost to the university of a damaging conflict. I support constructive alternatives to barricades and angry confrontations. I support mediation as an avenue for short-term resolution. For the long-term, I am committed to pushing for real reform at Gallaudet (e.g., increasing levels of American Sign Language fluency among faculty and staff, expectation that faculty and staff are to sign all the time on campus and revisiting the composition of the Board of Trustees to more effectively represent the Gallaudet community).
_______________________
College Park, Md.: Do you fear that if/when you do become president, that you will NOT have the support of the students, faculty and perhaps more importantly, the alumni that financially support (aside from Congress) the university?
Jane K. Fernandes: Leadership doesn't come from winning popularity contests. It derives from setting a course that will help the institution thrive. Leadership sometimes means making very tough decisions in the best interests of the university and accepting personal consequences. Leadership calls for the courage to steer through the storms of misunderstanding and misrepresentation for the good of the ship. Leadership puts the good of the whole above ego, above the best interests of the individual. That's the kind of leader that I am and that's why I believe I can and will be an effective leader of Gallaudet. I share with the protesters a love and reverence for ASL and Deaf Culture. It saddens me that they don't seem to acknowledge that. Under my leadership, Gallaudet will grow as a center of scholarship and excellence for all deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind people of every color and background to learn and make themselves whole. My honorable hearing father, my strong deaf mother, the catalyst of education, and the warm embrace of the Iowa deaf community all combined to help me become a whole person and a leader. Becoming whole means accepting and maximizing all aspects of my identity. I want to make sure that Gallaudet affords the same opportunity to all our students. That's what I see as an inclusive deaf university and I believe this is a vision that many share with me. I am confident that the protesters will come to understand and agree with my vision and leadership.
_______________________
Des Plaines, Ill.: Dr. Fernandes, I have a child who is a freshman this year at Gallaudet. First I don't understand why the staff and SBG did not work on this issue over the summer so this would not have happened. I am now reading that the SBG said they were going to be doing this. I feel Gallaudet should have been working to resolve this all along. Also as a parent whose child had worked so hard to get to go to college and then to have his happen, it's very upsetting. These kids are getting a bad deal, the tuition should be refunded. When is this madness going to end? So my child can have the normal freshmen year at college?
Jane K. Fernandes: I have been meeting and talking with students, faculty and staff since last May in an effort to listen to their concerns. We will continue to reach out to them and to listen carefully to their issues as we have been doing since last May. We have been negotiating tirelessly with the dissenters for the past ten days, often staying awake all day and all night. At one point there were as many as 24 demands which have now been reduced to two, which are non-negotiable. It is difficult to negotiate with people who are intransigent in their demands. Where is the room to negotiate? What is the fall back position? A couple of times, we thought we had reached an agreement that was signed by student leaders as well as administrators only to have the agreements reneged soon afterward. Gallaudet University's pain at this time is shared by us all. No one individual or group has a monopoly on it. We must all stop and begin to talk together. The University must continue with its fundamental mission. At this time, classes on campus are being held and I sincerely hope your son is receiving the education that he deserves. While the dissenters have a right to their opinion, they do not have a right to impose it on others thereby denying them the education they deserve and are paying for.
_______________________
Washington, DC: I noticed in today's article that some of the teachers at the Clerc Center are upset about the decision to do away with tenure at the Clerc Center that was made after you became vice president of the. Please clarify the issues related to tenure for teachers that led to it being abolished.
washingtonpost.com: Source of Gallaudet Turmoil Is Up for Debate (Post, Oct. 23)
Jane K. Fernandes: As you may know, most public and private elementary and secondary school teachers do not hold tenure in the same sense that University faculty do. Teachers in elementary and secondary schools typically have a reasonable expectation of continued employment and are afforded due process involving any disputes concerning employment. When I arrived at the Clerc Center on the Gallaudet campus in 1995, I worked with teachers, students, staff, parents and Board of Trustees members to change the employment of teachers in our elementary and secondary schools from being tenured to the University to holding a continuous appointment at the elementary and secondary schools.
_______________________
Anonymous: Ms Fernandes are you lobbying for the cochlear implants? Last week you said something to the effect that you wanted to take Gallaudet into the future for those who had implants and mainstreamed in the public schools.
Jane K. Fernandes: Too often parents and doctors give cochlear implanted children only one option: an oral-aural environment, putting their eggs in one basket. At the Clerc Center on the Gallaudet campus, I worked with teachers and staff to establish a Center that supports learning and communicating both through the eyes and the ears, in a bilingual American Sign Language - English environment. This supports modern theory about children using all senses available to them for the maximizing of their cognitive development.
Some deaf people felt initially that the program was inappropriate but they have slowly seen the light. Seeing that American Sign Language and Deaf Culture can be retained, even while technology is harnessed, has led more and more deaf adults to get cochlear implants. This is the logic behind the program at the Clerc Center. I am supporting the development of an inclusive deaf university where all deaf and hard of hearing students feel welcome to explore their identities as deaf people within the university's rich history.
_______________________
I am very glad to be here today and I'd like to take this opportunity to move beyond the debate about my being selected as the next president by the Board of Trustees and share my vision for my presidency at Gallaudet and how it will help the university address the challenges we face.
Building upon Dr. Jordan's outstanding legacy, I will lead Gallaudet into a successful future, working as, I always have, with an outstanding faculty, staff, and students.
_______________________
Fresno, Calif.: Dear Dr. Fernandes, One of the roles of a college president is to assure that the actions of the institution reflects the mission. Would you please talk about Gallaudet's mission and how the protest does or does not support that mission. Thank you.
Jane K. Fernandes: The mission of Gallaudet University is to serve as a comprehensive, multipurpose institution of higher education for deaf and hard of hearing citizens of the United States and the world. With 47 percent of deaf and hard of hearing children coming from diverse racial backgrounds and 91percent of deaf and hard of hearing children and youth attending public schools, Gallaudet must reach out and include each and every one of them. The University must make it clear that we welcome, value and include all kinds of deaf students while remaining true to the principles of American Sign Language and Deaf Culture upon which the University was founded.
_______________________
New York, N.Y.: President-elect Fernandes, thank you in advance for taking my comment. Although I am a hearing individual, I strongly believe that you are the right person to lead Gallaudet into the 21st century. As you noted in your op-ed piece from last week, the deaf community, like other communities, is not monolithic. As an African-American, I see how often my own community ostracizes those who are not deemed "black enough." With increased medical and scientific advancements, there will be even more heterogeneity among individuals who are hearing impaired. In my humble opinion, I think a lot of the protests are based in fear, fear of what will happen to deaf culture with the advent of these innovations. Hopefully, Gallaudet can become a setting that is at the forefront of transition in your community. I hope you make it through this challenge. However, if you don't, I am sure that history will be on your side. Good luck and God speed!
Jane K. Fernandes: There are so many external pressures exerted on the deaf community including cochlear implants, more powerful hearing aids, genetic research and the shift in school attendance from schools for the deaf to public schools where today 91 percent of deaf and hard of hearing children and youth are enrolled. I believe the community is responding to these pressures on a deep seated level. My African American friends seem to understand the pressures the deaf community is feeling. One of them shared this spiritual with me: We'll stand the storm, it won't be long, we'll anchor by and by We'll stand the storm, it won't be long, we'll anchor by and by
It reminds us that life is full of storms of different intensity and the struggle is not to avoid them, but stand through them. By standing through this storm, the whole Gallaudet University community will emerge as a stronger institution of higher education and will better serve the needs of our students.
_______________________
Rochester, N.Y.: The students at National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester are holding a "tent city" support rally for Gallaudet students today. What do you think of this type of off-campus support of the Gallaudet students? Do you think it is appropriate?
Jane K. Fernandes: I am heartened to see deaf students becoming activists and speaking out for what they believe in. I fully support their right to do that. The selection of the Gallaudet University president is made by the Gallaudet University Board of Trustees. Students at Gallaudet and at NTID do not and cannot make such a decision. I would hope we can channel the strong feelings and deep concern for deaf people and deaf education into a powerful national force that will result in advancements for deaf people everywhere.
_______________________
Seattle, Wash.: I heard the students got letters from the judicial office about their arrests on Friday 13th for blocking the gates. Will they be evicted? If so, why?
Jane K. Fernandes: Each case will be reviewed by the University Judicial Affairs Board. A student may accept responsibility for whatever the charge is and be assigned consequences. If the student does not accept responsibility, he or she will have a hearing with the Judicial Affairs Board. Consequences fall along a continuum ranging from things like community service, writing a research paper or attending workshops to more serious actions like suspension or expulsion. The consequences will be assigned in accordance with the process outlined in the Student Code of Conduct.
_______________________
Alameda, Calif.: How do you expect to bring together the various factions on campus, especially when many of the stakeholders have declared their unwillingness to accept you as their president? Please delineate your plan or give us some idea as to where you are headed.
Jane K. Fernandes: I have been working with experts on conflict transformation and came across this quotation which is significant in light of the situation Gallaudet is facing: "Unity is not two people clinging together because they both fear they are about to be annihilated. Nor, for that matter, is unity two people standing together and pretending there are no differences between them ... unity is respecting difference, honoring difference, valuing difference, learning from difference, but understanding that difference is not destiny ... And that if there are 10 things that divide us, there are 100 by which we are drawn together, if there are 100 points of difference, there are 1,000 of common cause." Leonard Pitts, Jr., columnist for the Miami Herald I hope to involve neutral mediators to work with the campus community -- faculty, staff, students and alumni -- to identity their most pressing issues and find the common threads we can use to create the healing we so desperately need.
_______________________
Gallaudet City: President Designate Fernandes: I am one of few Gallaudet folks who is sorry about what's happening. We haven't been fair to you; we haven't given you the chance to show what you are capable of. I think everyone from all sides needs to grow up. I am peeved by the way the administration has handled the unrest. It's been anemic at best, and I am wondering if you have short- and long-term plans for resolution.
Jane K. Fernandes: I am worried about the cost to the university of a damaging conflict. I support constructive alternatives to barricades and angry confrontations. I support mediation as an avenue for short-term resolution. For the long-term, I am committed to pushing for real reform at Gallaudet (e.g., increasing levels of American Sign Language fluency among faculty and staff, expectation that faculty and staff are to sign all the time on campus and revisiting the composition of the Board of Trustees to more effectively represent the Gallaudet community).
_______________________
College Park, Md.: Do you fear that if/when you do become president, that you will NOT have the support of the students, faculty and perhaps more importantly, the alumni that financially support (aside from Congress) the university?
Jane K. Fernandes: Leadership doesn't come from winning popularity contests. It derives from setting a course that will help the institution thrive. Leadership sometimes means making very tough decisions in the best interests of the university and accepting personal consequences. Leadership calls for the courage to steer through the storms of misunderstanding and misrepresentation for the good of the ship. Leadership puts the good of the whole above ego, above the best interests of the individual. That's the kind of leader that I am and that's why I believe I can and will be an effective leader of Gallaudet. I share with the protesters a love and reverence for ASL and Deaf Culture. It saddens me that they don't seem to acknowledge that. Under my leadership, Gallaudet will grow as a center of scholarship and excellence for all deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind people of every color and background to learn and make themselves whole. My honorable hearing father, my strong deaf mother, the catalyst of education, and the warm embrace of the Iowa deaf community all combined to help me become a whole person and a leader. Becoming whole means accepting and maximizing all aspects of my identity. I want to make sure that Gallaudet affords the same opportunity to all our students. That's what I see as an inclusive deaf university and I believe this is a vision that many share with me. I am confident that the protesters will come to understand and agree with my vision and leadership.
_______________________
Des Plaines, Ill.: Dr. Fernandes, I have a child who is a freshman this year at Gallaudet. First I don't understand why the staff and SBG did not work on this issue over the summer so this would not have happened. I am now reading that the SBG said they were going to be doing this. I feel Gallaudet should have been working to resolve this all along. Also as a parent whose child had worked so hard to get to go to college and then to have his happen, it's very upsetting. These kids are getting a bad deal, the tuition should be refunded. When is this madness going to end? So my child can have the normal freshmen year at college?
Jane K. Fernandes: I have been meeting and talking with students, faculty and staff since last May in an effort to listen to their concerns. We will continue to reach out to them and to listen carefully to their issues as we have been doing since last May. We have been negotiating tirelessly with the dissenters for the past ten days, often staying awake all day and all night. At one point there were as many as 24 demands which have now been reduced to two, which are non-negotiable. It is difficult to negotiate with people who are intransigent in their demands. Where is the room to negotiate? What is the fall back position? A couple of times, we thought we had reached an agreement that was signed by student leaders as well as administrators only to have the agreements reneged soon afterward. Gallaudet University's pain at this time is shared by us all. No one individual or group has a monopoly on it. We must all stop and begin to talk together. The University must continue with its fundamental mission. At this time, classes on campus are being held and I sincerely hope your son is receiving the education that he deserves. While the dissenters have a right to their opinion, they do not have a right to impose it on others thereby denying them the education they deserve and are paying for.
_______________________
Washington, DC: I noticed in today's article that some of the teachers at the Clerc Center are upset about the decision to do away with tenure at the Clerc Center that was made after you became vice president of the. Please clarify the issues related to tenure for teachers that led to it being abolished.
washingtonpost.com: Source of Gallaudet Turmoil Is Up for Debate (Post, Oct. 23)
Jane K. Fernandes: As you may know, most public and private elementary and secondary school teachers do not hold tenure in the same sense that University faculty do. Teachers in elementary and secondary schools typically have a reasonable expectation of continued employment and are afforded due process involving any disputes concerning employment. When I arrived at the Clerc Center on the Gallaudet campus in 1995, I worked with teachers, students, staff, parents and Board of Trustees members to change the employment of teachers in our elementary and secondary schools from being tenured to the University to holding a continuous appointment at the elementary and secondary schools.
_______________________
Anonymous: Ms Fernandes are you lobbying for the cochlear implants? Last week you said something to the effect that you wanted to take Gallaudet into the future for those who had implants and mainstreamed in the public schools.
Jane K. Fernandes: Too often parents and doctors give cochlear implanted children only one option: an oral-aural environment, putting their eggs in one basket. At the Clerc Center on the Gallaudet campus, I worked with teachers and staff to establish a Center that supports learning and communicating both through the eyes and the ears, in a bilingual American Sign Language - English environment. This supports modern theory about children using all senses available to them for the maximizing of their cognitive development.
Some deaf people felt initially that the program was inappropriate but they have slowly seen the light. Seeing that American Sign Language and Deaf Culture can be retained, even while technology is harnessed, has led more and more deaf adults to get cochlear implants. This is the logic behind the program at the Clerc Center. I am supporting the development of an inclusive deaf university where all deaf and hard of hearing students feel welcome to explore their identities as deaf people within the university's rich history.
_______________________
