The appointment of Fernandes, students said, was the spark that set off an explosion over a range of issues, including student input into the selection process, the place of American Sign Language (ASL) as the method of instruction and discourse on campus, and the impact of new hearing technologies that many students say undermine “deaf identity and culture.”

“This is a great day for Gallaudet and for us all,” signed Christopher Corrigan, a junior and one of the leaders of a tent encampment that shut down the university’s main entrance. “The whole world has been watching, and we have shown the power of our unity.” Hundreds of students responded by waving their hands in the air vigorously, a gesture for cheering.

Leila Holcomb thanked a half-dozen volunteer sign language interpreters who joined them throughout the protests. Throughout the rally motorists driving by honked their horns in support of the students.

Before the rally began LaToya Plummer, another student leader, told the Militant that protest organizers had talks all day with the administration over reopening the campus. “This is only the beginning,” Plummer signed. “Now we must address what changes need to be made in the search process.”

Plummer said the board had pledged that students who had been arrested during the protests would not automatically be expelled but that those who had broken the law or campus rules could face some disciplinary action. More than 100 students were arrested after taking over an administration building and blockading entrances to the campus, she said.

Student Debbie Mason said Fernandes was not committed to deaf culture. Mason, who cannot hear, has learned to speak. She cited a number of examples of a weakening of standards on Fernandes’ watch as provost, including professors with an inadequate command of sign language, and campus staff and security guards who don’t sign at all.

Fernandes has said that in order to address declining enrollment the university must attract a broader range of students who are deaf or have a hard time hearing, including those who rely mostly on lip reading or hearing implants to communicate.

Many students insist on using ASL as the core method for instruction and other campus activities. They express concern about the emergence of new hearing technologies and their use to undermine sign language instruction.

One such tool is the cochlear implant, which is surgically placed in the inner ear to transmit sound as impulses to the brain. About 100,000 people use it worldwide, including 37,000 in the United States, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Fernandes has charged that some students want to ban speech altogether as a means of communications in classes and public meetings on campus. Mason called that charge a distortion. “Students have different views on this,” she said. “Whether you speak but can’t hear, or hear but can’t speak, or neither, sign is the most accessible language for us all.”

Gallaudet, with 1,839 students, was founded in 1864 by an act of Congress. The campus includes elementary and secondary schools serving students from kindergarten through 12th grade.

In 1988, after the board of trustees selected a hearing woman as president, mass protests swept I. King Jordan into office as the school’s first deaf president. Jordan, who backed Fernandes’ appointment, was set to step down January 1.  
 
 
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