Editorial

EDITORIAL The Gallaudet Protest 'he dramatic protests at Gallaudet University which led to the appointment of Dr. I. King Jordan as president represent perhaps the most significant single event in the history of deafness. A nucleus of congenitally deaf student leaders (most having deaf parents ) guided by a few deaf faculty and staff (with the same family background), brought about a policy change of earthshaking dimensions for deaf people now and in the future. The rebellion characterized what worthwhile demands for change should always involve. First, it was based on a genuine , realistic, deeply held conviction. For the Board of Trustees to have put an otherwise qualified person in the presidency of Gallaudet University who had no knowledge of deafness epitomized negative aspects of often well-intended hearing people's attitudes toward those who are deaf. Had the deaf students, faculty, and sensitive hearing people at Gallaudet not opposed such an appointment they would have been a "party to the crime" as has so often been the case in the past. The second positive characteristic of the Gallaudet protest was the level of sophistication at which it was conducted. The media, national politicians, and internal factions at the University were all coordinated with brilliant planning. To be frank, such sophistication has not characterized many of the past efforts of the deaf community and many of its hearing friends. Too often, historically, there have been endless complaints with no action and/or destructive "in-group" backbiting . By contrast, the Gallaudet protest was based on four reasonable, well thought out conditions to be met before the protest would be ended. Consequences Once the glow of victory wears off, the issue becomes what the consequences will be. Most immediately, Gallaudet now has a president with insight into what deafness means in both a human and professional sense. This should lead to an improved Gallaudet and better deaf university graduates. It also means that in the leadership of Gallaudet, which in addition to a university presidency is an international platform from which deaf people's views and needs should be expressed, there will be a spokesperson capable of appropriately representing deaf people worldwide. It would have been years, if ever, that a hearing person with almost no previous contact with deaf people could have learned enough to have done this. Even closer to home, the protests have resulted in a person in the presidency who can communicate in sign language with deaf students and the deaf community . Broader Impacts of the Protest The overwhelming majority of deaf people throughout the United States identified with the protestors. For the first time ever in the lives of most of them, they saw deaf people as a group win a major victory over hearing people who have dominated their education, work and overall life. As a result, many deaf people felt a respect for themselves and for their control over the institutions upon which they depend. These feelings had been absent before or else misdirected into non-productive complaining, frustration, anger and futility. Students at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) are now asking for more deaf faculty, more sign language, and in general, the kinds of rights they deserve and to which well-intended hearing people are often insensitive. These changes are crucial because they affect future deaf leadership. There are a multitude of other major positive outcomes of the successful Gallaudet protests which deaf leadership is now planning to implement. Increased political clout at the federal and state level is already being used effectively. Dangers There are also dangers. One is that inadequate, unqualified deaf opportunists will now try to use their deafness to obtain positions for which they do not have the ability or preparation. This can be a disaster, the effects of which are observable in several current deaf leaders holding key positions in important organizations and educational programs which their ineptitude is destroying. While they "chase the good life," business letters go unanswered, grants are not completed, internal management is in dissarray, etc., ad infinitum . Needless to say, there are hearing leaders equally inept in key positions in deafness. A second danger relates to Gallaudet University, NTID and CSUN. They...