Gallaudet U. Faculty Votes No Confidence in President-Elect
Faculty members of Gallaudet University approved on Monday night a motion of no confidence in Jane K. Fernandes, the embattled president-designate of the world’s only university devoted to educating deaf students.
Opponents say Ms. Fernandes, who is now the provost of the 1,900-student institution and is scheduled to become president in January, is not a strong enough advocate for deaf people at a time when their identity as a community is challenged. Many deaf people feel that advances in medical technology, which are restoring hearing to a degree unimaginable earlier, threaten the culture and hard-won dignity of the deaf.
Ms. Fernandes’s opponents have also criticized her leadership style and the selection process that led to her appointment.
Protests began minutes after the Board of Trustees announced its choice of Ms. Fernandes on May 1, and continued on Monday, with students still blocking the main entrance to the campus, in Washington. Some protesters were camping out in dozens of tents by the entrance, under banners proclaiming “Not without us.”
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