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3. Monday, March 7, to Tuesday, March 8: The Protesters Take Charge
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3 . Monday, March 7, to Tuesday, March 8 The Protesters Take Charge "WE ARE IN A REVOLUTION!" The group that had walked from the Mayflower hotel to the White House and finally to the Capitol returned to Gallaudet about midnight on Sunday evening. After their return, dozens of them gathered in Hughes Gym, a small gymnasium on campus, for a rally and a discussion of possible steps to take next. Hughes Gym was a convenient location because, unlike the larger and newer Field House, it is virtually always open for student use. While most of the students rallied in the gym, student leaders, along with the Ducks and other protesters, met in a nearby room to discuss strategy. After an hour or two ofdiscussion a decision was reached to park some cars near the five locked entrances to the campus so it would be impossible to open the gates on Monday morning (the main entrance on 65 Florida Avenue remained open). At about two o'clock in the morning these plans were announced to the students in the gym, and those who had cars were encouraged to participate in the effort to close the campus. A box was also passed around for donations (which came in handy later when several of the cars were towed away by the police). About a half hour before dawn, fortified by donuts purchased by the student body government, dozens of students drove to the locked gates, let the air out of their tires, and, for good measure, padlocked the gates so they could not be opened. They had waited until just before six o'clock to move their cars so neither the campus security force nor the Washington, D.C., police would have time to remove them before faculty and staff started to arrive an hour or two later. Thus, when faculty and staff members showed up for work, the campus was effectively closed. (At least one person called the campus police to see ifthe campus was indeed closed and was informed that "snow procedures" were in effect.) By early Monday morning, the DPN protest, with students now making many ofthe important decisions, was in full swing. Since the campus was closed and classes unofficially canceled, students and faculty were free to attend the rallies and meetings that took place throughout the day. The protesters would not allow most of the senior (hearing) administrators to get on campus, although students controlling access at the front entrance did permit most faculty and staff members (deaf and hearing) to get through what had become a human shield. One group of staff people who got on campus were those responsible for preparing On the Green, the weekly campus newsletter. On Monday morning the staff began writing an issue that had as its lead story the selection of Elisabeth Zinser as Gallaudet's next president. Before the issue was disseminated, however, the On the Green staff realized that, at the very least, it would be somewhat premature to distribute it to the campus community. Most of the copies were destroyed a few days later. During the early morning hours several hundred students mingled near the front entrance to the campus as well as on the Florida Avenue sidewalk. One of them held Monday morning's Washington Post, which featured a picture of Elisabeth Zinser on the front page next to a story with the headline: "Hearing Educator Chosen President of Gallaudet u." Small signs also appeared on a window of a nearby campus building saying, "Dr. Zinser who?" and "Dr. Zinser get lost!" In addition to the cars blocking the 66 : M 0 N DAY, MAR C H 7, TOT U E S DAY, MAR C H 8 [34.230.68.214] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 17:11 GMT) locked gates, a few cars parked in the driveway by the main entrance ensured that no one could drive onto the campus without the protesters' permission. Dozens of reporters were also on campus. Molly Sinclair, who had written the article in the Washington Post, was on hand after being awakened by her editor at seven-thirty. She, along with a police reporter from the Post, spent much of the day at Gallaudet. Sinclair said later that one reason the Post was interested in covering this story was because "when you get a large group of people together, large groups of students protesting , there is no way to predict what will happen." Other television and newspaper reporters were also...