Deaf President Now!
Gallaudet from college to university status. When the sixth
president resigned and the board of trustees began a
search for a new one, we all felt that the time was right
for a deaf president.
Gallaudet is universally recognized and respected for
its leadership in educating the deaf. Now we needed a
deaf person to truly represent Gallaudet and the Deaf
community. We needed a deaf person who could prove
to hearing people that he or she was capable of carrying
out the duties of a university president, thus opening the
door to further opportunities for deaf people. There were
qualified deaf people out there, with good backgrounds
of education and experience. All but 4 of the 21 members
of the board of trustees were hearing people. Many had
good backgrounds in business, fund-raising, and public
relations, and they contributed to Gallaudet in that way,
but they had little or no understanding of deafness and
Deaf culture. They needed to be convinced! So we held
rallies. We got letters of support from many well-known
people, including U.S. presidential candidates and sena-
tors. Public awareness grew. We felt confident, especially
after the three finalists in the presidential search were
announced: two deaf men and a hearing woman. Then
the final selection was announced in a press release: “Gal-
laudet University Appoints First Woman President.” We
couldn’t believe our eyes! We were shocked and upset.
Please keep in mind, we didn’t see this as a gender issue
at all. It was strictly a hearing-deaf issue; a deaf woman
president would have been great.
Bridgetta We marched downtown to the hotel where
the chairman of the board of trustees was staying. We
wanted a personal explanation of why they’d selected a
hearing person over a deaf person. There was a reception
going on at the hotel to introduce the new president. We
hadn’t planned a demonstration or a sit-in, but people
were so angry! Sitting in the street was spontaneous. We
didn’t have a permit or anything; we just marched. The
police came out with cars, barriers, and bullhorns to try to
stop us. Signs and banners appeared. I remember a deaf
couple who had a dog wearing a sign: “I understand sign
language better than the new president of Gallaudet.”
Jerry It was late by the time we got to the hotel, chant-
ing and cheering. I remember seeing lights being turned
on all over the hotel and people looking out the win-
dows, wondering what was going on. Finally, the chair-
Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, is the world’s
only university dedicated exclusively to the education of
deaf students. (Students with normal hearing are admit-
ted into some of its programs.) A federally funded institu-
tion chartered by Congress in 1864, Gallaudet had never
had a deaf president. When a presidential vacancy
occurred in 1988, many Gallaudet students, faculty, and
alumni expected that a deaf person would be appointed;
however, an educator with normal hearing, who was
unable to use sign language, was initially selected for the
position. A week of turbulent protests and demonstrations
ensued, with calls for a “Deaf President Now,” focusing
national and international attention on Gallaudet. We
asked Bridgetta Bourne and Jerry Covell, two of the
protest’s four primary student leaders, to tell us the dra-
matic story.
Bridgetta Bourne When I identify myself as a deaf per-
son, it’s much like a black person identifying herself as
black. All members of minority groups face certain chal-
lenges, and for the deaf the challenge is communication.
As a deaf person, I feel disabled, even among groups
including people with other disabilities. I still can’t com-
municate with them without an interpreter.
There was recently a march from the White House to
the Capitol in support of the Americans with Disabilities
Act. There were many people with disabilities, but I didn’t
really feel like part of that community. Without an inter-
preter, I was basically lost. So the concept of oppression
is one in which people in power are making decisions for
me—about my life, about what I should do. Oppressed
people have no voice.
Oppression is dangerous and pervasive. We even had
it at Gallaudet, our own institution. Obviously, we should
have a hand in running our own school, and that’s why
the Deaf President Now protest happened and was so
successful. There had been so many years of struggle, so
many years of deaf people being told they could not
make decisions for themselves. You either have to release
your anger at this oppression or just hold it in, as so many
deaf people did in the past.
Jerry Covell Before the Deaf President Now move-
ment, Gallaudet went through six presidents, all of them
hearing men. These presidents served useful purposes,
such as founding the college, expanding programs and
services, creating new educational fields, and changing
PROFILES AND PERSPECTIVES
