I’m not sure Gallaudet would lose endowments- perhaps you could explain further why you think this is the case? Right now, Gallaudet promotes itself as a “big tent” for all kinds of deaf students (at least this was the line Jordan and Fernandes promoted!), and Gallaudet, through its graduate programs, has supported research on deafness in areas that are rather diverse. So Gallaudet could very well support changes in one type/form of deaf education, yet still maintain funding related to different types of education, etc., on the grounds that it’s working to improve deaf education across the board (which I think it should do anyway).

Where I see a need is that too many students enter Gallaudet (or expect to go to Gallaudet) unprepared for college at a fairly fundamental level. Gallaudet can tighten its own admission standards, keep them the same, or even loosen them a bit more (although perhaps maybe not– they’re pretty loose as it is, I think, and probably bumping against certain minimal standards now…), but the problems in K-12 programs will still remain, regardless. By working to improve K-12 programs, Gallaudet can help deaf students across the board, whether they choose to go to Gallaudet or not. For educators, Gallaudet, and the community, going to the root of the problem will be a far more long-lasting solution than any short-term fix on campus that people might dream up.

However, as you know by now, that fear is moot: Dr. Davila is the next president.

(Meryl: I too decided to withhold an endorsement, for many reasons. However, I look forward to seeing what Dr. Davila has planned, and I hope he can successfully address crucial issues, such as those I listed in this post. We’ll see…)

I like your proposed laundry list.

Regarding Dr. Marshall’s limited ASL skills, I think your concern that we would be revisiting the “Not Deaf Enough” notion by calling attention to his inadequate signing skills is moot. After all, one of the job requirements for the Interim President is fluency in BOTH ASL and written English. The degree of a candidate’s “cultural Deafness” is entirely beside the point. Suppose we have a candidate who signs fluently in ASL, but does not read and write English at a satisfactory level of competence, we would instantly say that candidate is unacceptable. The same should go for any candidate who writes brilliantly, yet signs poorly. We are not discriminating. Dr. Marshall just doesn’t satisfactorily meet one of the job requirements.

Don’t you agree, Mr. Sandman?

I strongly think that Gallaudet needs to reaffirm through *both* words and actions its commitment to ASL, not just pay lip service. This is one of the reasons I think an overhaul of DOSS/DPS is warranted.

As for the “identical” pool, I wouldn’t say it was identical, and it’s difficult to know just how similar the process is without knowing for sure who applied. Last time there were 24 applicants, 21 of whom were deaf. This time there were, I believe, 13. That’s a smaller number, and some of the same people obviously applied twice. A smaller pool, a similar cast of characters, etc., and you’re going to wind up with a similar choice of finalists, regardless of whether IPSAC and others wanted different people.

Carl, I’m sorry you’re disappointed in Steve Weiner. As you may know from my earlier posts, he was my compromise choice the first time around. I wouldn’t give up hope yet– there have been cases at other universities where the interim president becomes the permanent president after demonstrating their value in the job. Even though right now the interim president is bound by an 18-24 month period, that could very well change.

I’m a little disappointed not because of your views; I too agree Marshall has sub-par signing abilities. Where I’m concerned is that by calling attention to that, we risk dragging the bogeyman of “Not Deaf Enough!” out again, and that could skewer other critcisms and obvious flaws of candidates. Since this is the interim position, and the community is desperately in need of new leadership, and all three have good qualifications across the board, I’ve chosen not to endorse any of them and not to dismiss any of them. Rather, I’d hope they pay attention to lists like mine, and see if they can put Gallaudet back on course again.

Raphael J. St. Johns, C-87, G-00