Filed under: Jane Jonas
In 1786, when the French people were starving and beseeched their queen to help them, she laughed and said, “Let them eat cake!” Now, let’s fast forward a mere three hundred and twenty years, to 2006. The people of Gallaudet are starving intellectually, hungry for academic excellence and integrity. They are pleading to the administrators, who basically are replying, “Let them eat earth juice!”
Bullshit, both figuratively and literally. My heart aches as I try to make sense of all of these events at my alma mater. We could do well to learn from our history, as after all, those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it. In 1789, the good people of France had finally had enough, and revolted furiously, seizing the Bastille on July 5th. The rallying cry was, “Liberte, egalite, fraternite, or la mort!” Translated roughly, it means, “Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death!” In 2006, the good people of Gallaudet had finally had enough, and revolted furiously, seizing the Hall Memorial Building on the night of October 5th. Their unifying cry is, “Unity for Gallaudet.” We all know what happened next with the French Revolution. The people turned on their queen and the rest of the royalty, and they met gruesome deaths with the guillotine.
Now, what exactly caused this protest besides the obvious starvation of the people? According to our old friend Wikipedia, there were many causes. Some of the major causes were a poor economic situation, which was caused by excessive spending of the royal family. Also, there was wide-spread resentment of royal absolution and censorship. The royal family had a royal failure when dealing with these issues. At Gallaudet, the revolution has been caused by factors that seem eerily parallel with the factors for the French Revolution. Let me explain a little bit, to those of you who may not have been as privy as I am to certain documents and sources of information, why this is so.
Let’s start off with the night of the 5th. Dr. I. King Jordan had his retirement gala scheduled for this evening, as we all knew. There was an active protest going on before this gala was to start. The Board had been warned that if they did not take action by 10 pm, drastic measures would be taken. Instead of trying to solve the problem before it reached a boil, they chose to party down at King’s shindig. Wow, what a party it was! The chairs in the conference center were deemed not good enough, and they brought in gold-trimmed chairs to give the event a little more sparkle. The soup was lobster bisque, and there was unlimited wine. A piano was played in one corner of the room.
Every single penny of this excessive event’s funds came directly out of the coffers of Gallaudet University. Nobody who went paid a dime out of their own pockets. There were large posters of King in his heydays plastered outside, and since I wasn’t invited, I’ll just have to guess, probably inside as well. As the protesters shivered in the rain, the Board got drunk on Gallaudet’s dollar. At the end of the party, everyone who went got a piece of Linda Jordan’s pottery. This is just a guess, but I doubt she just gave away all that pottery. I wouldn’t be surprised if she charged the University a few bucks per piece, which they then gave away to the attendees.
This gala is not the beginning, nor is it the end of excessive spending by the administration. The axis of evil, also known as Paul Kelly, Jane Fernandes, and I. King Jordan, all have personal credit cards, and guess who foots the bill. You got it! The university! The physical plant department employees have said that they have been called more than once to repair things and do landscaping work at the private residences of the axis of evil members. Paul Kelly has often been seen using the campus gas station to fill up his car. There are so many examples of blatant abuses of power and misuses of University money that it is just appalling and reprehensible.
I have one experience with Jordan that I would love to share. I took an honors class, and at the end of the semester, we were taken out to lunch with Jordan and his wife, as well as some other VIPs (if I recall correctly, the president of the Salk institute was among them, yes, the cochlear implant advocate that doesn’t sign, plus two on-duty GIS interpreters). The lunch was beyond amazing. We had about 4 or 5 courses, and the food was unbelievable. I later found out that the restaurant was among the most expensive Italian places in Washington DC. This was all paid for by the University.
It really disgusts me to put two and two together, and to realize that Jordan eats like this every day. He basically lives a life of complete luxury, which is totally funded by the University. I thought he was a really nice guy, but now that I realize how much money he must have socked away in his underwear drawer, I finally understand. Anyone would be nice with that much money to their name. I’ve never met any mean millionaires, have you? If he was really nice, he would have paid for our meal instead of letting the University pick up the tab!
Oh no, that’s not all either! Jordan used to own a few properties in NE DC, and those properties, according to the tenants, were basically slums. Rats and roaches were rampant, the houses weren’t up to code, and the pipes leak. They do not meet ADA guidelines (such as flashing lights for the door and smoke alarm), and he has been reported in the past to the DCHA for violations. Most of those tenants were international students, and the rents they paid aren’t what they should be, either. That hits below the belt, really… taking advantage of international students’ naivety with American currency to line your own pockets. Why not just rent them the places for free and do something philanthropic for the community? Jordan sold these houses for more than $400,000 each according to the DC housing records, and had bought them in the early ‘90s for less than $80,000 each. Like his salary isn’t enough (he’s the HIGHEST paid university president in America).
Now, I think you should be able to understand a little better exactly why the Gallaudet community is so angry. The administration treats the community like peons, abusing them and living well off of their blood, sweat and tears. We have had enough. King Jordan will be gone in December, but we must get rid of Queen Fernandes who will carry on his legacy of excessive spending, royal absolutism, and censorship. We are just like the French before the revolution. Shit is literally beneath our noses, while our administration feasts on lobster bisque. Bring the guillotines out, before it is too late.
On May first, Celia May Baldwin signed the fateful words, “Jane Fernandes,” and then implored us to celebrate. Instead, we immediately began protesting. The majority of the student body was out with us on Kendall Green, and then almost as one, flocked to the front gates, where we eventually locked down the University.
From the first spawning of Tent City, there has been an amazing display of unity, faith and courage from all of us who have been involved. For thirteen days in May, we rallied against Jane Fernandes’ selection. It had nothing to do with her deafness, and everything to do with her performance as an administrator. Various individuals and organizations compiled a laundry list of her misdeeds. Believe me, it was long.
To name a few: she fired several people mere days or weeks before they were due to retire, screwing them out of federal benefits. While she worked at the Clerc Center, she dismantled a program of low-achieving students, integrating them into regular classrooms without giving teachers training, or support. Parents have come forward with stories of these students attacking other students, and causing disturbances in classrooms. This influenced the quality of education for the rest of the students, resulting in a mass exodus of students flocking to the Maryland School for the Deaf.
There are many more stories of Jane, and none of them are good. She alienated a large donor to the university, by not saying one word to that person, even though he sat at her table for two hours and tried to get her attention repeatedly. He has said he will not donate any money to the University while she is president. Jim Macfadden, a prominent deaf businessman, has said the same thing. Bernard Bragg has suspended a one million dollar donation, and who knows how many more people have stopped donating. To date, over a dozen students have withdrawn from the university. This is the woman that is supposed to lead Gallaudet into tomorrow? We knew that was unacceptable.
We had been protesting for 13 days, until the executive order came, saying that since school was over… we would need to leave. Many of us lived far, and had plans or jobs for the summer, so we erected a sign saying, “We will be back,” and left. However, the sleeping giant was dormant, not dead. The embers of our fury were still glowing red-hot. Much of our discussion that summer was about one thing: Gallaudet. Our hearts bleed buff and blue, and there was no way that they were going to do this to us. When we came back in the fall, it was quiet for a while. Tara Holcomb, my roommate and friend since childhood, is the director of ethics and conduct for the student body government, and she decided to erect a small tent-city, following the guidelines for expressive activities. The tent city was supposed to be taken down by 11 PM and could be re-erected each morning. However, the first day of the tent city, the students refused to leave, despite pleas from the SBG officers, worried about being sanctioned by the administration. Next thing we knew, something started to stink, quite literally. It was earth juice, a type of fertilizer that was spread on the grounds. So, it was decided to move the protests to Kendall Green, while the board was on campus. Student leaders, as well as the FSSA, pleaded the board to take a hard look at the issues on campus.
Furious, frustrated, and disenfranchised, we decided to seize the Hall Memorial Building on a cold rainy night. This took place while the board was drinking wine with Dr. King and sitting in gold chairs, having disregarded our requests to take a look at this serious situation. They chose to party, so that was the last straw, and we decided to stop classes from proceeding. Boy, did it work! We stayed in HMB for one week, and the sense of community, pride, and strength had never been stronger. Different types of deaf people, with implants, cuers, oralists, ASL advocates, you name it, came together for a united cause. We stood hand by hand, and many hearing people joined us. The faces were the colors of the rainbow, truly the epitome of diversity. We were all Deaf enough, despite our hearing status or signing status.
After continuing stalemates with the administration, a group of football players had enough, and at 3 am, the university was locked down for the first time since DPN. This lockdown continued until the fateful Friday the 13th. I got a page from Leala Holcomb, saying that police were getting ready to arrest the protesters, and to come to the 6th street gate right that minute. Of course, I ran over, and I saw people standing near the gates, watching. Welders had taken off the gate, and the police were blocking off the road. Tara was standing in the midst of it all, and at first I was unsure what to do as I took in the scene. Then, Tara beckoned to me and it became clear that I needed to do what had to be done. I went to her side, just like I have since the beginning, and when she sat down in front of the gate, of course, I sat down next to her. I knew and continue to know that this cause is just, and I was willing to be arrested to show my faith in this belief.
The police stood around. There was a lot of talking, as we held hands and chanted “Unity for Gallaudet,” and “JK Out Now.” It was cold, but the courage of my fellow protesters kept me warm. We knew that we were making the sacrifice for the future of our deaf community, for our deaf children, for tomorrow. Finally, the head of Gallaudet’s DPS came forth and uttered a warning, using interpreters. She did this four times, as we jeered and told her to go ahead and arrest us. After what felt like forever, four cops finally moved forward, as the chief pointed at our mayor, Chris Corrigan. Chris immediately went limp as Tim Rarus squeezed his hand. The officers dragged him from where he was, obviously hurting him, and scraping his body across the concrete. They finally got a clue and picked him up. We were a little scared after seeing how they treated Chris, but stayed determined. Tara Holcomb took his place, and became the second person to be arrested. As I watched her be carried off, my heart was beating wildly.
One by one, the protesters were carried off as they became limp. Officers dropped several people, and more than one head hit the concrete. Finally, it was my turn, and I just went limp as the officers grabbed my arms and legs. They had trouble holding me, and dropped me twice. I started to laugh at their incompetence. I tried to look heroic and rebellious, but all the pictures taken have me cracking up on the ground while they tried to pick me up. I lolled my head back on my neck, and saw all the rest of the students smiling, cheering, and saying they loved me. I could not help but to smile, knowing I had so much support. It was truly a dark day, but the protesters’ courage was a ray of sunshine. Finally, they got me down to the paddy wagon, where we were photographed. Then we were taken to jail. After a long wait to be booked, we were released. Of course, I came back to Gallaudet right away. We continue to fight, and we know that this is the good fight. We will win, we must win. Jane Kelleher, this is not your time. This is our time. You need to resign.
