User:Memphis2027/Deaf President Now

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Background

- Throughout Gallaudet’s history, the Deaf community has always felt more or less unsatisfied with the Deaf representation within the faculty. Prior to 1980, there hadn't been any Deaf chief academic officer or president. A significant push for a Deaf president, however, came when Jerry C. Lee, who had been president since 1984, resigned in 1987. An argument against a deaf president ensued due to the fact that there was no "sufficiently well-trained deaf people." In the months following Lee’s resignation, Gallaudet's Board of Trustees looked at candidates for the next president; during this time, several organizations campaigned for a Deaf president. These organizations wrote letters to the board recommending qualified deaf candidates and reached out to the media to gain support. People such as Vice-President George H. W. Bush and Senators Bob Dole, Bob Graham, Tom Harkin, and Lowell Weicker wrote letters of endorsement for the cause. Efforts during this time were unsuccessful in garnering a powerful and unified student backing for a Deaf president.

Protest

- The following morning, March 7, 1988, students barricaded the campus gates using heavy-duty bicycle locks and hot-wired buses, moving them in front of the gates and letting the air out of the tires. The locked gates forced people to use the front main entrance whereupon protestors allowed only select persons to enter.

The protesters had four demands:


 * 1) Zinser's resignation and the selection of a deaf person as president.
 * 2) The immediate resignation of Jane Bassett Spilman, chairperson of the Board of Trustees who elected Zinser.
 * 3) The reconstitution of the Board of Trustees with a 51% majority of deaf members (at the time, it was composed of 17 hearing members and 4 Deaf members).
 * 4) There would be no reprisals against any students or staff members involved in the protest.

On Sunday, March 13, 1988, Jane Spilman officially resigned and was replaced by deaf board member Phil Bravin. Bravin announced that the board had selected King Jordan as the next University president. Bravin also informed that no punitive action was going to be taken against those who participated in the protests. Students, faculty, and staff celebrated in Gallaudet's field house.

Major edit

Disability rights movements before DPN typically had a negative public frame. Before 1988, the Deaf community had not been accurately portrayed in the media, alongside the tension that was rising throughout the University. As more journalists, mainly from The Washington Post and The New York Times, started covering the movement, a more positive outlook started to emerge. The reporters used four main frames to cover the DPN campaign: effective conduct, external support, internal unification, and justifiable action. External support and internal unification were both used towards the start and the middle stages. They framed the movement in a way to gather more people to talk about the things that were occurring within Gallaudet. The New York Times produced a headline that said, “Campus Protest by the Deaf Is Widening,” and it focused on the main groups who joined the movement to fight for a new president. Justifiable action and effective conduct were used in the later stages of the movement and supported the movement's goals. The New York Times produced an article that stated the movement, and the protesters had a right to ask for change. The Washington Post said there is pressure being placed on Capitol Hill due to the protests. Almost all of the photos taken of the protesters were positive. All images showed the protesters as large groups to show the unified determination to elect a deaf president.

Both Elisabeth Zinser and Jill Spilman wanted nothing to do with the protests. They were both pictured alone, with one another, or with an interpreter. Neither Spilman nor Zinser knew sign language. There is an image of Zinser signing "I love you," one of the very few learned signs. This image is important because she wasn't signing it to anyone within a conversation, instead she was using it more as a symbol. The pictures of Spilman and Zinser being alone go against the unified front the protesters made. It is thought that Deaf President Now gained so much acceptance from everyone, ranging from the media to the public, due to the idea of standing with disabled communities within a non-disabled society.

Background

Upon learning of the appointment of Zinser, an angry student body marched to the Mayflower Hotel, where the board members were meeting. The crowd waited outside until board member Jane Spilman came out to address the students. She responded to multiple questions surrounding the selection of Zinser as president, whereupon she allegedly said, "Deaf people cannot function in a hearing world." The student body then met back on campus to launch a full-scale protest.

Protest

The interpreters would only be used for important rallies and meetings. They would also help with media interviews, rallies, interactions with the police, and other demonstrations. One of the interpreters for DPN did an interview and stated, “I was trying to reflect the fact that it was the media that needed the interpreters as much as the deaf people did.” Letting people, such as interviewers, know they were also the ones who needed the interpreters tells them, “No, I’m here interpreting because you guys can’t communicate directly with each other.” Interpreting for the DPN movement was not an easy task. While attending school, they were taught to translate English into ASL, but for this movement, they had to translate from ASL to English, which was something they were not used to. This led them to not be able to prepare for interviews or other events happening for the movement. Interpreters knew how important it was for them to interpret the right information for both sides of the party. To make sure the interpreters would have the right understanding, they would tell the deaf protesters that they did understand what they said, but they just wanted to make sure they had the correct information. By doing this, they would show the deaf person that they did understand what they said, but they just wanted to get the right information from the other party.

Aftermath

The Deaf President Now movement had a lifelong effect on the Deaf community, such as a great deal of new bills and laws that were established that help further deaf and other disabled people’s rights. DPN also allowed for better rights and also gave more access for deaf people when compared to the previous 216 years of the nation’s existence. Eventually leading the Deaf community to having more protection under Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA gave protections from wrongful termination in the workplace and other acts of discrimination based on their hearing status.