In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Deaf Leadership Begins, 1988–2006 CHAPTER 5 p O n Monday, March 21, just two weeks after becoming president of Gallaudet University , I. King Jordan appeared before a Senate subcommittee to testify on behalf of the university concerning the report of the Commission on Education of the Deaf (COED). His presence at the hearing created a great deal of interest among the news media. Frank Bowe, the commission chairman, gave the opening testimony, which the New York Times reported as follows: ’’The state of the art in deafness education today at all levels is unsatisfactory,’’ Frank R. Bowe, chairman of the Commission on Education of the Deaf, said in testifying on a report by the commission that made 52 recommendations in educating the deaf. ‘’We still have high school graduates reading below a third-grade level,’’ Mr. Bowe told the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee ’s Subcommittee on the Handicapped.1 The Washington Post also published an extended report on the hearing. As Gallaudet University students returned to classes yesterday [following spring break], a special congressional commission said the U.S. Department of Education is not doing its job educating deaf people in the United States and called for major changes in government policy and school procedures. The Department of Education immediately questioned several key recommendations in the 144-page report by the Commission on Education of the Deaf [having to do with the “least restrictive environment” and mainstreaming]. Congress created the commission two years ago to investigate the quality of education of the deaf in the United States and to make recommendations. Irving King Jordan, Gallaudet’s new president, who is deaf, said he had reservations about some commission proposals related to the university. Jordan was added to the witness list after Gallaudet student protests two weeks ago focused attention on the liberal arts school and on issues concerning the deaf. . . . Jordan said that he had “serious reservations” about some of the recommendations related to Gallaudet, such as the commission’s proposal to eliminate federal subsidies for foreign students. He said that would cost the school most of its foreign students.2 In fact, the COED report included nine recommendations directed specifically at Gallaudet and its pre-college programs. Most called for some degree of regulation of or restrictions on the university’s activities, including the percentage of  The Kellogg Conference Hotel on the Gallaudet campus. 128 the history of gallaudet university international students and the number of deaf members on the board of trustees.3 Jordan devoted a considerable amount of time early in his administration dealing with these recommendations and positioning himself vis-à-vis the federal government .The congressional feeling of goodwill toward Gallaudet following DPN made Jordan’s task somewhat easier, as did the fact that one of the COED recommendations was now moot—the board had begun the process of achieving a deaf majority. A second recommendation to increase the number of deaf employees at the university became one of the major objectives of the Jordan administration .The university also agreed to a third recommendation to end its practice of enrolling small numbers of hearing students in the undergraduate program, with the stipulation that those students already attending Gallaudet could finish their degrees. On Kendall Green, Jordan acted quickly to make changes in his central administration. Jim Barnes, vice president for Administration and Business, resigned within the first few days of Jordan’s administration and was replaced by Paul Kelly, a CPA and attorney. Prior to DPN, Provost Catherine Ingold had accepted the position of president of the American College in Paris and had announced her intention to leave Gallaudet. Ann Davidson-Powell was appointed interim provost, becoming the first African American to hold a cabinet-level post at Gallaudet. At the time, Davidson-Powell was the dean of Preparatory Programs at the northwest campus. When Jordan took office, the enrollment in undergraduate programs at Gallaudet was peaking at more than 1,800, as a result of the rubella bulge. Students could choose from a full range of major programs, including those typical of the liberal arts (i.e., history, English, art, math, and psychology), but they could also pursue more technical areas such as computer science and business. Graduate enrollment too had increased during the 1980s to more than 300. Most of the graduate students were hearing and they chose fields such as education, counseling, audiology, and school psychology. Gallaudet had only one doctoral-level program, in educational administration and supervision. One of...

Share