Washington Pose: Gallaudet Board Ousts Fernandes
The governing board of Gallaudet University revoked the appointment of the school’s incoming president yesterday, giving in to the demands of students, faculty and others whose protests have kept the nation’s premier school for the deaf in turmoil for the past month.
Inside Higher Ed: Gallaudet Ousts Incoming President
In an abrupt reversal, Gallaudet University’s Board of Trustees on Sunday dismissed Jane K. Fernandes from her position as the next president of the institution.
A board statement issued Sunday evening said that with “much regret and pain,” the board had come to the conclusion that “it is in the best interests of the university to terminate Dr. Fernandes from the incoming president’s position.” Ever since Fernandes was appointed in May to become president, the former provost has been the target of protests. In the last month, those protests have escalated to the point that the university for the deaf was at times effectively shut down.
The Chronicle: Gallaudet U. Trustees Terminate Appointment of President-Designate
Following a month of intense protests at Gallaudet University, the institution’s Board of Trustees voted on Sunday to rescind its controversial appointment of the university’s president-designate, Jane K. Fernandes.
The board reached its decision following a heavily guarded, daylong meeting at a hotel near Dulles International Airport, outside Washington.
The announcement that Ms. Fernandes would not become the university’s president as planned on January 1 was accompanied by “much regret and pain,” according to a statement released by Gallaudet. “We understand,” the statement continued, “the impact of this decision and the important issues that inherently arise when a board re-examines decisions in the face of an ongoing protest.”
The board’s appointment of Ms. Fernandes, in May, to replace I. King Jordan as president touched off protests among students and faculty members almost immediately. Opponents say Ms. Fernandes is not a strong enough advocate for deaf people and makes decisions without adequately consulting others.
In recent weeks, student protesters had blocked some of the campus gates at Gallaudet, the nation’s only university for the deaf.
After news of the board’s decision reached students on Gallaudet’s campus on Sunday evening, hugs and cheers abounded, and celebratory beer flowed freely as students, alumni, and national leaders for deaf people celebrated the board’s decision.
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