Gallaudet University protests
The Gallaudet University protests, known as the Deaf President Now (DPN) movement, took place in March 1988 and highlighted significant issues concerning leadership representation within the deaf community. Founded in 1864, Gallaudet University is a historically important institution for deaf education, using sign language as the primary mode of communication. For much of its existence, the university's presidency was exclusively held by hearing individuals, which created frustration and a sense of exclusion among students and faculty who identified as culturally Deaf.
The protests erupted following the board's decision to appoint Elisabeth Zinser, a hearing candidate, as president, despite strong expectations for a deaf candidate. This led to eight days of nonviolent demonstrations by students, alumni, and faculty, who demanded Zinser's resignation, greater representation of deaf individuals on the board of trustees, and assurances against retaliation for protest actions. The movement received widespread support, including endorsements from notable political figures and assistance from various community members.
The protests successfully concluded with Zinser's resignation and the appointment of I. King Jordan as the first deaf president of Gallaudet on March 13, 1988. The DPN movement not only transformed Gallaudet's leadership but also played a crucial role in reshaping public perceptions about deaf individuals and their capabilities, asserting that deafness and sign language should be regarded with pride rather than as disabilities.
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Gallaudet University protests
The Event Weeklong uprising by students demanding the appointment of a deaf university president
Date March 6-13, 1988
Place Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C.
Students from Gallaudet University, a school for the deaf, staged protests to demand that the next president of their institution be deaf as well. The protests brought new visibility to deaf activists and brought deaf leadership to an institution founded for deaf individuals.
Undertanding the 1988 Gallaudet University protests, also known as the Deaf President Now uprising, requires knowledge of the institution’s role in deaf culture and history. In 1864, Edward Gallaudet founded what was then called the Columbia Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb and Blind, in Washington, D.C. Gallaudet’s four-year liberal-arts curriculum was designed for deaf and hard-of-hearing students and used sign language for communication and instruction. Persons who identified as culturally Deaf (the upper-case spelling is intentional within this group) came to know Gallaudet for affirming the values of pride, solidarity, and survival in the “hearing world.”
For most of the university’s history, however, deaf people were excluded from consideration for the position of president of Gallaudet. This situation changed dramatically in March, 1988, when students, alumni, and faculty drew international attention with eight days of nonviolent direct action. A search for a new university president had been in its late stages at that point, and expectations that Gallaudet’s board of trustees would choose a deaf candidate were high. The selection of hearing candidate Elisabeth Zinser therefore ignited uncompromising resistance among the student body. In addition to demanding Zinser’s resignation, the Deaf President Now agenda called for the board of trustees to seat a majority of deaf persons among its members and demanded that no reprisals be made against the protesters.
Gallaudet’s activists used a variety of methods and found a variety of allies. Protesters blocked university entrances with vehicles and used their bodies to disrupt and ultimately take over the campus. The key tactic was reliance on sign language to organize demonstrators, make and implement plans, and frustrate hearing authorities (including police officers). In this environment, deafness and sign language were advantages while speaking and hearing became disabilities.
Support from political leaders as different as George H. W. Bush and Jesse Jackson was another unique aspect of the Gallaudet protests. Labor-union members and business owners provided monetary and material resources, but the discipline and determination of Gallaudet’s students were the decisive factors. On March 10, Zinser resigned, but demonstrators continued pressing for the rest of their demands to be met with a rally at the U.S. Capitol. Gallaudet alumnus I. King Jordan became the university’s first deaf president on March 13, and the entire Deaf President Now agenda was implemented.
Impact
The Deaf President Now uprising challenged public perceptions of deaf people and sign language. Gallaudet’s protesters demonstrated that an inability or refusal to communicate on the hearing world’s terms need not be disabling or futile. Most observers consider the Gallaudet protests part of the disability rights movement, but there is resistance among some deaf activists and advocates to equating deafness and disability.
Bibliography
Christiansen, John B., and Sharon N. Barnartt. Deaf President Now! The 1988 Revolution at Gallaudet University. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press, 1995.
Sacks, Oliver. Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.