Hello, I'm Gil Eastman, your host on Deaf Mosaic, and with me is producer Mary Lunovitsky. We have a special program for you today. Deaf people all over the world have have been thrilled and excited.
They have been celebrating the appointment of Gallaudet University's first deaf president in 124 years, Dr. I. King Jordan. This was truly a moment in history. So much happened so quickly, but we wanted to show you some of the events that led to the significant change in the deaf world.
Deaf people had had enough of hearing peoples controlling the deaf world. That was the beginning. Deaf people rallied and marched together to show their support for Deaf President Now as well they should.
On the Gallaudet campus, faculty, staff, students, and leaders of the deaf community were sending a clear message to the Board of Trustees, and that message was, it's time for a Deaf President Now. The peaceful rally that continued from Tuesday to Sunday took a drastic turn when it became a protest. At the front line of this movement were four determined and skillful young people, Greg Leibach, Tim Rariss, Brigetta Bourne and Jerry Covell.
Today, we want to let them guide us through the events of this week of protest. One of the four team leaders, Tim Raris, will describe for us the events of that Sunday night, March 6th, when the Board of Trustees made its announcement that they had chosen a hearing woman as the seventh president. The pictures will tell the story better than words could describe it.
I want to talk about our first rally. A crowd of about 1,000 to 2,000 deaf people were screaming in support of a deaf president. There had never been one in 124 years.
The Board of Trustees claimed they were acting in Gallaudet University's best interest. But many of the people didn't believe that and didn't trust them. I had been feeling positive, and I was unprepared for the worst because I thought the board would act in the best interest of Gallaudet University.
Then on Sunday, the moment drew nearer. At about 7.15 or 7.30, the members of the board of trustees made their announcement. It was like we had been punched right in the face.
We couldn't believe that Zinsser had been chosen as our seventh hearing president. It couldn't be true. Our spirits sank. Obviously, they didn't understand how we felt. But then we started really getting angry.
We picked Dr. Elizabeth Ann Zinsser as the seventh president of Gallaudet. No! Because she is...
A very talented educator. Oh! The world got covered!
The board has chosen a hearing president, preventing deaf people from getting what they want. They want to bring deaf people down. When deaf people prepare to succeed, hearing people bring them down. They're still afraid that deaf people can't do it. That's what I believe.
They're afraid. We will get the information out that this is the greatest insult to deaf people of America. ...6 million of them, and they are disgusted.
No question about it. And I do not intend to sit back. We'll have an organizational meeting tonight to discuss what we will do about it. This shows that we are not the ones who are really deaf, but it is they, the board, who are deaf. I feel like this is a nightmare.
I can't imagine that Gallaudet University Board of Trustees would have chosen a hearing president, especially after our support at the Deaf President Now rally. This is the end of the deaf world. The end of the deaf world.
Incredible. The students on Monday morning actually took control of the campus. They locked all the gates all around.
Some of the administrators and some other people couldn't get onto campus. They had to stay out. That forced the board of trustees to come here to meet with the students. with some of the students, faculty, and staff, that's when we presented our four demands.
The first one was that Zinsser resign and a deaf president be selected. The second one was that the chairman of the Board of Trustees, Spillman, resign. Third, there would be a 51% majority of deaf members on the board.
And fourth, that there be no reprisals. These were the four demands. The board decided to ignore them.
I meant that one, all the one way. Hold it for me. Until she resigns. Spillman said today the time hasn't arrived yet for a deaf person to function in the hearing world.
No, no, wait a minute. Now is the time for us to have a deaf president. We want deaf with louts!
We want deaf with louts! We want deaf with louts! We want deaf with louts!
Woo-hoo! We just met with the board and they have refused to meet our demands. So shall we leave?
Hey! The Gallaudet community calls for an end to this plantation mentality. Well, I think that's weird.
She was into it because she didn't know Simon and I had a family experience. Get the right information. Know what's going on. We don't want the university to open. We want a Deaf President first.
Deaf President now! I think that I would rather stay here. This rally happens only once in a lifetime. We should stay here during the spring break. I think it's too important.
We should stay. All that I want to know is what's going to happen exactly. Before you do anything, if you don't tell us, if anything happens and people are hurt, something's going to happen.
Get ready to go! Get ready to go! Get ready to go!
We do not make any deals with the police or the university until they make a deal with us. The board is behind me and as any board of trustees in any university it is simply the it is the role of the board of trustees to select a president they have done that it is the role of the board of trustees to remove a president they have not done that Lady against the far wall in the white block. I think it's time to enter into a meaningful dialogue with the new seventh president of Gallaudet. This is ABC News Nightline.
Reporting from Washington, Ted Koppel. Why not now? Why not now?
Look at me. Look at me. I'm having a very hard time.
No, that's old news. I'm tired of that statement. One day, again and again, someday a deaf person. We've got to break this cycle. We were impressed with Zinsser.
She seemed like a nice woman. I thought she'd be more aggressive, come in, sit down, and announce that she is the president. But she was nice, very concerned, very kind and sincere.
So we were able to get her to come in and talk to us. able to get along and talk with her, but we were firm and straight with her. We did not get nasty, we just said what we had to say. She seemed to understand and she wanted to work with us and try to work it out. She agreed to our demand of a board meeting.
majority and with our last demand, but she wouldn't resign and wouldn't let Spillman resign. She wanted to learn and she thought that she recognized our need to improve Gallaudet as a role model for all of the deaf community, for deaf schools all over the world. But that wasn't enough.
Gallaudet as an institution really cannot represent us when our president is not deaf. With a deaf president running the institution, then Gallaudet could represent us to the world. Thank you. What we have set up here are hearing graduate students who are working and helping us take phone calls from various businesses in the community and from hearing friends in the community. They're donating money, donating food, donating paint, and many other things.
So again, in demonstrating our solidarity, this is what we want to tell you. Thank you very much. You know where we are? We are growing and growing, getting bigger and bigger. Since Monday we've become stronger and stronger and stronger, and now we've become even stronger.
So yesterday, because I had been a candidate and wanted to be both reasonable and fair, I gave a statement recognizing the legal authority of the board to name... the president of Gallaudet University. In fact, my personal reaction to the board's decision was and is anger.
The students, joined by the staff and faculty, have focused the world's attention on the larger issues. I must now publicly affirm my support for the point of view held by the Gallaudet community. The board demands... I concluded therefore that the best way to restore order and return this university to its business of education was to pave the way for the Board of Trustees to consider the selection of a president who is hearing in impaired.
I tendered my resignation last night. Death to President now! Death to President now!
Yeah! The night is now, Today, I find the way. The time is now, Last night, only one door was opened. And there are still many, many, many more doors that haven't been opened yet for us.
And I challenge them to help us open those doors with your support. You have done so good! A deaf president, King Jordan, had been selected.
There was excitement everywhere. Everyone was jumping up and down, shouting. Even the faculty and staff, even older people were jumping and shouting.
We were thrilled. We couldn't believe it. Jordan was chosen.
All of our demands had been met. There would be no reprisals. But the chairperson.
Who would the chairperson be? Phil Braven answered that he had been chosen. What a blessing.
After that whole week of... of hard work. Many students didn't know what to do. There was so much excitement. Everyone was running around.
They were supposed to go to the field house. We all ran over there and people were drinking. That wasn't legal, but it was the law of the land for that week, so we didn't care.
It was what we wanted. Today I submitted my resignation from the chairmanship of the Board of Trustees of Gallaudet University and from the Board. I took this step willingly because I believe strongly that it is in the best interest of the university.
We must give the highest praise to the students of Gallaudet for showing us exactly, even now, how one can seize an idea with such force that it becomes a reality. Now you have an opportunity to meet our eighth president of Gallaudet University. Welcome, Dr. King Jordan.
Thank you, Gil. I'm very happy to be here today. I have a question for you.
As one of the three candidates for president, did you ever think that there would be a protest if a hearing candidate was selected? And what did that protest mean to you? I did expect some protest because of the rally they had Tuesday before the selection was made, but I really never predicted or expected the protest to become as deep and as wide as it was.
It was very, very significant to me. It was more than a protest. I don't like the word protest. It's much more than that.
It's hard for me to find the right word. What difficulties did you experience during the protest? The difficult is very, very difficult time for me.
I was a candidate for the position. I was a dean of the university and I was a deaf person. And all three roles were very different.
I had different responsibilities for each role. That explains why I changed my position in the middle of the week. When you assumed the position as president of Gallaudet, what was the first thing you did?
The first thing I did at home was jump up and down and celebrate with my wife and my family. We were all very thrilled at the decision. Then I drove to a hotel for a press conference to announce my selection. Monday morning, six o'clock, I showed up in a TV studio to be on Good Morning America, I believe.
That was an indication of what the week would be like. I was on TV and interviewed by newspapers every day. Considering the worldwide support for a deaf president, what goals, what message do you have?
I'm happy you asked me that question because my message is very brief but very important. That message is a deaf person can do anything a hearing person can except hear. What are your academic goals for Gallaudet University? That's another very easy question for me to answer.
My academic goal for Gallaudet is excellence. Excellence in everything at Gallaudet. Excellence in student performance.
excellent in teaching all of our programs. I want the very best for Gallaudet. How does your family feel about your being the president of Gallaudet University?
My family life has changed a lot. The responsibilities are... of a president, very, very time-consuming.
And my wife now is a first lady responsible to host many guests at House One. But all, all of the family, very, very thrilled to be in House One and to be president of Gallaudet. I understand you've been involved with Congress recently.
What's been your role there? I've had the opportunity to testify before committees of the House and the Senate three times already. My first week on the job, I testified before the House. committee on their response to the commission on education of the deaf report you probably know that many of the recommendations in that report would impact directly on god that university saw i had the opportunity to testify before both the Senate and the House.
Then last week I went and testified before the House Committee on our appropriations hearing. Very, very important to God at university. That's when the House decides how much of a budget increase God will get for 1989. So I believe I was very effective.
I was very, very well received there, and I think that the congressmen and senators are very pleased to see a deaf pro... president. As for the future, what major projects are planned for Gallaudet?
We have some exciting plans for this year and next year at Gallaudet University. First in October, we will have a big university week. Part of that week will be my inauguration and part of the week will be homecoming. You know our football team is very strong in the past, so homecoming will be very important to our students. and alumni.
Then in April of 1989, Gallaudet celebrates its 125th anniversary. 125 years ago that President Lincoln signed our charter. Around the same time we celebrate our 100th anniversary of the GUAA.
Then in the summer, July 9th to 14th, we will have a big international conference called the Deaf Way. That conference will include a perspective on deaf history, culture and language, plus, very important, we'll have a major festival of deafness-related things. Thank you, President Jordan. Everyone involved with Deaf Mosaic gives you our full support. You have seen this story become part of our deaf history, a history which affects the entire world.
I'm Gil Eastman. And I'm Mary Lou Nowitzki. So long.
So long. you