Tent City: Black Friday
The seizure of the entire campus echoed the DPN movement 18 years ago; while the campus landscape had changed quite a bit since then, its borders hadn't. The campus was still surrounded by the same gates that made it possible for students to hold campus grounds (unlike many colleges, which are open and easily accessible to anyone).
Unfortunately, DPN solely concerned civil rights; the Tent City Protest on the surface involved a wide range of issues, but at its heart was about the lack of trust between an administrator and the students and faculty. Some of this trust was grounded in personality conflicts; some of it was about identity politics; and some of it was about perceived or actual instances of conflicts and mismanagment on Fernandes' part. In the background was a questionable search process (regardless of what happens with Fernandes, the protesters and their supporters MUST push for an overhaul of the search process. There remain too many questions, in my opinion, that need to be answered) that was the impetus for some to initially protest or voice concerns.
Because there was no real unity on the central reason for the protest (despite the moniker "Unity for Gallaudet," the split I saw in the community in May and over the summer, and the sniping and personal attacks I've seen on GallyNet-L even unto the present does NOT indicate "unity" across the board. If there was a clear central reason, the FSSA could've and should've made this the centerpiece of their home page online. That they hadn't well into October justifiably raises the question of whether emotions and rhetoric have overtaken logic in many quarters), and because it was clear that this was a stalemate that had no foreseeable end, the decision to occupy campus had almost immediate repercussions.
The main one was that the college was closed; but because Gallaudet is unique in having both a high school and a K-8 program within the gates, securing the campus boundaries meant MSSD and Kendall were closed as well. Intially, the wrath of many was focused on the protesters. Quite a few previous supporters or fence-sitters urged the protesters to reconsider their actions.
One was Jamie Berke, whose original posting about her experiences dealing with Fernandes as a parent of a Kendall School student influenced the thinking of many people, including myself. In two consecutive posts, Berke articulated the feelings of many supporters, fence-straddlers, and opponents of the protest (see here and here (she may have since taken down these posts, since they are at About.com; she has set up a separate site for her own posts at Berke Outspoken)). Like Berke, many frustrated parents resented their children missing school, and in turn, their having to stay home or make alternate arrangements for the kids.
I knew that during DPN (from my own personal experiences) that the protesters had closed the gates by MSSD and Kendall, but that there seemed to be an understanding at that time why it was necessary, and there was no real criticism, compared to the Tent City protesters. Initially it looked like the students were the ones who made the choice to block access to MSSD and Kendall; in their campus-wide letter, the "dissenting students" stated, "[u]ntil further notice, Gallaudet University is closed and all gates are blocked. This includes MSSD and KDES and this letter is out of courtesy to communicate with them."
Soon, however, it emerged that the administration may have made the final decision to close all the campuses, and that the protesters would have willingly allowed MSSD and Kendall pupils to go through. Regardless of who was ultimately responsible, it did not look good for the protesters, and even though the backlash may have been less, it didn't reflect well on the Gallaudet administration either.
By Friday afternoon, October 13, it didn't look good for the students at all-- not only were numerous parents upset with them, FSSA indicated that the students had unilaterally seized the entire campus. This possible schism did not bode well for a successful conclusion to the protest. Additionally, what other available steps were there for the protesters? Peaceful demonstrations gave way to seized buildings, then a campus held hostage. The next logical step would be violence, and anyone with any sense of logic, no matter how emotional, knew this was a boundary that could not be crossed.
But then, the administration, in possibly a necessary short-term solution on their part, but with disastrous long-term implications, made the next fateful step-- one that I think was a monumentally stupid move, one that had irrevocable consequences, and one that guaranteed the survival of the Tent City Protest.
The administration, whether ultimately Jordan or Fernandes, ordered the arrests of the protesters. The order ostensibly came in the afternoon, around 2 or 2:30 p.m. But the arrests finally came after dark, around 8 p.m. By now, most, if not all, of you know exactly what happened, and have seen the pictures, videos, and followed the news. A number of popular blogs crashed under heavy traffic while reporting almost instantaneously events as they happened; the arrests attracted local media. For recaps, check Tayler Mayer's blog, Y3, starting with "live blogging," and going back; Elisa Abenchuchan, whose blog also crashed, related her personal experience here; the well-known site run by Ridor had updates as well, before his site too crashed; numerous others, including MishkaZena (who, next to Elisa, has relatively balanced up-to-the-moment reporting on what's going on; while no one here is impartial, these two women are doing their best to get facts out, compared with a lot of other sources. Ridor does fine overall, but as I've said before, he's the Matt Drudge of the deaf blogosphere- he relates information, but adds quite a bit of personal asides and opinions!), also have information, relayed eye-witness accounts, and the like. DeafRead also aggregated a number of blogs that shared the information globally that night. For good photos, go to eyeth studios.
A total of 135 people were arrested, including Tim Rarus, one of the famed four leaders from DPN. While it was very clear that the students knew what was going to happen, and they were prepared, thanks to Suzy Rosen Singleton, Kelby Brick, and others, the final decision to arrest the protesters lay with the administration.
The backlash, naturally, was immediate. Where some were speculating the protest would be over by Homecoming, or a little after, now there was near-universal condemnation of the administration, in particular Jordan and Fernandes. While the general public may still have been bewildered by events, people within the Deaf community understood immediately what was happening, and most people had a very visceral reaction (and not a positive one, at that!). Animosity against Jordan, Fernandes, and their compatriots rose, and within days, numerous letters were sent to the administration and the Board of Trustees. Dozens of alumni flocked to Washington, D.C. Donations poured in, sentiments of support were sent from around the globe, and once again, the FSSA and students found themselves with a golden opportunity to capitalize on a turn of events to their benefit.
Personally, I was appalled at the arrests. Even if they were wholly justified (and I felt they weren't completely justified-- after all, it was a Friday night, for one thing-- couldn't the administration have tried negotiations yet again, or at least allowed a little time for both sides to back down?), it was a very bad public relations move-- someone at the EMG PR offices didn't earn their paycheck that night.
Meantime, those of us in the deaf blogosphere (or DeafBlogLand, as some might term it *grin*) began to do our best to educate the deaf community and the public at large what was going on. Allison Kaftan wrote an excellent piece summarizing some of the rationales behind the protest (and it is one of the best pieces I've seen on Tent City Protest so far); Joseph Rainmound over at Deaf in the City wrote an article that was cross-posted at DailyKos; his follow up pieces garnered support, and possibly donations from hearing people. While the initial responses at DailyKos were quite mixed (and reflected the failures of FSSA and the students to clearly articulate the origins and reasons behind the strike), Rainmound was able to concisely explain the background for people who had little, if any, knowledge or understanding about Gallaudet and deaf people, let alone deafness.
Such mixed reactions were apparent in Marc Fisher's blog at the Washington Post; as "Cliff" stated in his response to Fisher's post about Gallaudet,
Regardless, Black Friday irrevocably doomed Dr. Jordan's reputation in the short-term, and perhaps long-term. Deaf people are remarkably forgiving as a group, and as human beings. But one of the few things that will cause ostracization is collective betrayal in any form. I don't see the welcome mat being rolled out for Dr. Jordan anytime soon...
Dr. Jordan's missive on October 14, in the wake of the arrests, said in part,
Dr. Jordan continued:
As far as respect, I agree-- but respect is a two-way street. I haven't gone and called you names, spit or spilled anything on you, and neither have many others that I know of. I don't call Dr. Fernandes "Fernie" or other, more disrespectful names. I don't pretend to know either of you well enough to assume what's going on in your minds. But I have made it clear, as have many others, that this situation is intolerable. For the good of the campus, the community, and the future, it is imperative that Dr. Fernandes either be removed or herself decline the position as president. While there was considerable hesitation last May, the events of the last two weeks have crystallized opinions for a lot of people, and Black Friday just sealed the deal.
Unfortunately, DPN solely concerned civil rights; the Tent City Protest on the surface involved a wide range of issues, but at its heart was about the lack of trust between an administrator and the students and faculty. Some of this trust was grounded in personality conflicts; some of it was about identity politics; and some of it was about perceived or actual instances of conflicts and mismanagment on Fernandes' part. In the background was a questionable search process (regardless of what happens with Fernandes, the protesters and their supporters MUST push for an overhaul of the search process. There remain too many questions, in my opinion, that need to be answered) that was the impetus for some to initially protest or voice concerns.
Because there was no real unity on the central reason for the protest (despite the moniker "Unity for Gallaudet," the split I saw in the community in May and over the summer, and the sniping and personal attacks I've seen on GallyNet-L even unto the present does NOT indicate "unity" across the board. If there was a clear central reason, the FSSA could've and should've made this the centerpiece of their home page online. That they hadn't well into October justifiably raises the question of whether emotions and rhetoric have overtaken logic in many quarters), and because it was clear that this was a stalemate that had no foreseeable end, the decision to occupy campus had almost immediate repercussions.
The main one was that the college was closed; but because Gallaudet is unique in having both a high school and a K-8 program within the gates, securing the campus boundaries meant MSSD and Kendall were closed as well. Intially, the wrath of many was focused on the protesters. Quite a few previous supporters or fence-sitters urged the protesters to reconsider their actions.
One was Jamie Berke, whose original posting about her experiences dealing with Fernandes as a parent of a Kendall School student influenced the thinking of many people, including myself. In two consecutive posts, Berke articulated the feelings of many supporters, fence-straddlers, and opponents of the protest (see here and here (she may have since taken down these posts, since they are at About.com; she has set up a separate site for her own posts at Berke Outspoken)). Like Berke, many frustrated parents resented their children missing school, and in turn, their having to stay home or make alternate arrangements for the kids.
I knew that during DPN (from my own personal experiences) that the protesters had closed the gates by MSSD and Kendall, but that there seemed to be an understanding at that time why it was necessary, and there was no real criticism, compared to the Tent City protesters. Initially it looked like the students were the ones who made the choice to block access to MSSD and Kendall; in their campus-wide letter, the "dissenting students" stated, "[u]ntil further notice, Gallaudet University is closed and all gates are blocked. This includes MSSD and KDES and this letter is out of courtesy to communicate with them."
Soon, however, it emerged that the administration may have made the final decision to close all the campuses, and that the protesters would have willingly allowed MSSD and Kendall pupils to go through. Regardless of who was ultimately responsible, it did not look good for the protesters, and even though the backlash may have been less, it didn't reflect well on the Gallaudet administration either.
By Friday afternoon, October 13, it didn't look good for the students at all-- not only were numerous parents upset with them, FSSA indicated that the students had unilaterally seized the entire campus. This possible schism did not bode well for a successful conclusion to the protest. Additionally, what other available steps were there for the protesters? Peaceful demonstrations gave way to seized buildings, then a campus held hostage. The next logical step would be violence, and anyone with any sense of logic, no matter how emotional, knew this was a boundary that could not be crossed.
But then, the administration, in possibly a necessary short-term solution on their part, but with disastrous long-term implications, made the next fateful step-- one that I think was a monumentally stupid move, one that had irrevocable consequences, and one that guaranteed the survival of the Tent City Protest.
The administration, whether ultimately Jordan or Fernandes, ordered the arrests of the protesters. The order ostensibly came in the afternoon, around 2 or 2:30 p.m. But the arrests finally came after dark, around 8 p.m. By now, most, if not all, of you know exactly what happened, and have seen the pictures, videos, and followed the news. A number of popular blogs crashed under heavy traffic while reporting almost instantaneously events as they happened; the arrests attracted local media. For recaps, check Tayler Mayer's blog, Y3, starting with "live blogging," and going back; Elisa Abenchuchan, whose blog also crashed, related her personal experience here; the well-known site run by Ridor had updates as well, before his site too crashed; numerous others, including MishkaZena (who, next to Elisa, has relatively balanced up-to-the-moment reporting on what's going on; while no one here is impartial, these two women are doing their best to get facts out, compared with a lot of other sources. Ridor does fine overall, but as I've said before, he's the Matt Drudge of the deaf blogosphere- he relates information, but adds quite a bit of personal asides and opinions!), also have information, relayed eye-witness accounts, and the like. DeafRead also aggregated a number of blogs that shared the information globally that night. For good photos, go to eyeth studios.
A total of 135 people were arrested, including Tim Rarus, one of the famed four leaders from DPN. While it was very clear that the students knew what was going to happen, and they were prepared, thanks to Suzy Rosen Singleton, Kelby Brick, and others, the final decision to arrest the protesters lay with the administration.
The backlash, naturally, was immediate. Where some were speculating the protest would be over by Homecoming, or a little after, now there was near-universal condemnation of the administration, in particular Jordan and Fernandes. While the general public may still have been bewildered by events, people within the Deaf community understood immediately what was happening, and most people had a very visceral reaction (and not a positive one, at that!). Animosity against Jordan, Fernandes, and their compatriots rose, and within days, numerous letters were sent to the administration and the Board of Trustees. Dozens of alumni flocked to Washington, D.C. Donations poured in, sentiments of support were sent from around the globe, and once again, the FSSA and students found themselves with a golden opportunity to capitalize on a turn of events to their benefit.
Personally, I was appalled at the arrests. Even if they were wholly justified (and I felt they weren't completely justified-- after all, it was a Friday night, for one thing-- couldn't the administration have tried negotiations yet again, or at least allowed a little time for both sides to back down?), it was a very bad public relations move-- someone at the EMG PR offices didn't earn their paycheck that night.
Meantime, those of us in the deaf blogosphere (or DeafBlogLand, as some might term it *grin*) began to do our best to educate the deaf community and the public at large what was going on. Allison Kaftan wrote an excellent piece summarizing some of the rationales behind the protest (and it is one of the best pieces I've seen on Tent City Protest so far); Joseph Rainmound over at Deaf in the City wrote an article that was cross-posted at DailyKos; his follow up pieces garnered support, and possibly donations from hearing people. While the initial responses at DailyKos were quite mixed (and reflected the failures of FSSA and the students to clearly articulate the origins and reasons behind the strike), Rainmound was able to concisely explain the background for people who had little, if any, knowledge or understanding about Gallaudet and deaf people, let alone deafness.
Such mixed reactions were apparent in Marc Fisher's blog at the Washington Post; as "Cliff" stated in his response to Fisher's post about Gallaudet,
I've been following The Post's excellent and informative coverage of the events at Gallaudet. Unfortunately I still don't get it. The President says it is because she is not deaf enough. The student leaders say that is not it; that it's because the board did not involve the students in selecting the President and that the President herself is autocratic. Now you provide another explanation that is well though out. I still don't get it. I've decided that you have to be deaf to understand the issues. I hope they find some common ground between whatever their positions are, which I don't understand.Even though quite a few of us checked in and responded and educated people as much as we could, comments like this one made me cringe:
If students are truly concerned about being dependent on third parties to mediate their communication, they need to make a commitment to fluent lipreading and speech, not protest because Fernandez learned to communicate verbally before she learned ASL...Again, it comes back to language, and communication. Yes, language and communication IS a part of why the students are protesting, but it's not everything. These comments are yet another example of how much work all of us are going to have to do, now and in the aftermath of the protest. It's one of the things I hate sometimes: having to constantly educate others, when I should just be expending my energy and efforts on ME.
Regardless, Black Friday irrevocably doomed Dr. Jordan's reputation in the short-term, and perhaps long-term. Deaf people are remarkably forgiving as a group, and as human beings. But one of the few things that will cause ostracization is collective betrayal in any form. I don't see the welcome mat being rolled out for Dr. Jordan anytime soon...
Dr. Jordan's missive on October 14, in the wake of the arrests, said in part,
Having said that, I also want you to know that last night was one of the saddest of my life. After a week of fruitless negotiations we were forced to reopen the campus with the help of the Metropolitan Police. I want to be clear that we did not choose to arrest the students, they chose to be arrested. But the result was the same.I disagree, Dr. Jordan. You were not "forced": No one stood there and held a gun to your head and told you you had to arrest the students. You are correct; the students chose to be arrested, but you also chose to arrest them. It was a CHOICE on both sides. The students positioned themselves in waves; they understood what was about to happen, and they made the choice to remain where they were. You, in turn, had the choice to order the arrests or to back down and consider other alternatives. It was a CHOICE. Just as the protesters will have to live with the consequences of their actions (a misdemeanor on their record), you will have to live with the consequences of yours. From what I'm seeing, that means your name is mud, and will be for quite some time.
Dr. Jordan continued:
We need to work together to heal the rift that separates us. We need to work together to address the issues that confront us. We need to accept our next President Jane Fernandes and help her as she leads this University we love to new heights. Encourage your sense of fair play to surface and give Jane Fernandes the respect that is due her and the opportunity to bring us all together in pursuit of academic excellence.I agree with your first two sentiments-- we are going to have to undergo healing. We will have to work on a number of issues-- some of which are wholly internal topics, and some of which overlap and concern the deaf community and Deaf-world at large. However, I think the protesters and their supporters have made it clear they do NOT accept Jane Fernandes as the next president. As I have said all along, the sole issue of the divisiveness which her appointment has caused is alone an excellent reason to deny her appointment. As I type these words, it does not seem that you or Dr. Fernandes has wholly accepted this yet. For the sake of everyone, I hope you do soon.
As far as respect, I agree-- but respect is a two-way street. I haven't gone and called you names, spit or spilled anything on you, and neither have many others that I know of. I don't call Dr. Fernandes "Fernie" or other, more disrespectful names. I don't pretend to know either of you well enough to assume what's going on in your minds. But I have made it clear, as have many others, that this situation is intolerable. For the good of the campus, the community, and the future, it is imperative that Dr. Fernandes either be removed or herself decline the position as president. While there was considerable hesitation last May, the events of the last two weeks have crystallized opinions for a lot of people, and Black Friday just sealed the deal.
posted by Mr. Sandman | 8:46 PM
<< Home