Summary Of The Protest At Gallaudet University

The students of Gallaudet University led a protest in March of 1988 that captured the attention of both hearing and Deaf people worldwide. Gallaudet University, established in 1864 as a university from its previous position as a grammar school in Washington DC, was the first college for the deaf and still is the only Deaf liberal arts university in the world. It is considered a place of cultural significance in the Deaf Community, equivalent to Mecca or Jerusalem, and is the alma mater for 95% of the nation’s Deaf college graduates, according to ABC’s Nightline Special Interview. Despite this, prior to the Deaf President Now movement, all presidents, chief academic officers, and the majority of board members and employees in the 124-year history …show more content…
The elected president of the Student Body Government, Greg Hlibok, became a leader in Deaf President Now rallies. He announced the four conditions of the protest supported by everyone involved in the movement. The first condition, current president, Elisabeth Zinser, must resign and a Deaf president must be appointed. Second, chairman Jane Spilman must resign as a board member. Third, at least 51% of the Board of Trustees must be deaf, and fourth, there will be no reprisals for any students, faculty, and staff involved in the protest. After almost a week of protesting the demands were met on March 13th , and Irving King Jordan became the first Deaf president of Gallaudet …show more content…
It's a struggle over civil rights.” The election of Irving King Jordan was a huge victory for the students at Gallaudet University and every other member of the Deaf Community. Greg Hlibok when recalling his experience in the movement twenty-five years later said “the opportunities that they saw just broadened almost instantly … Deaf people really can do anything except hear. That's a mantra that came out of the Deaf President Now movement." The vast amount of national attention drawn from the movement spread awareness of the Deaf Community’s struggles as well as the concept of deafness as an identity instead of a disability or disease. Tom Humphries stated in his article, “Our Time: The Legacy of the Twentieth Century,” that the end of the twentieth century “was a time when deaf people sought to codify their rights and newfound sense of citizenship.” The empowerment of the Deaf Community after Deaf President Now lead to mini-protests breaking out around the world for Deaf civil rights, American Sign Language classes became more popular in schools, the elevation of other Deaf people into positions of leadership, and the Americans with Disabilities