The Deaf Community And The Board Of Trustees At Gallaudet University

In March of 1988, Gallaudet University elected its seventh hearing president. Gallaudet University, a school designed specifically to educate the Deaf and hard of hearing, had yet to have a deaf president in the 124 years that it had been open. The Board of Trustees at the University thought they were acting in the best interest of the school when they elected Dr. Elizabeth Ann Zinser as their new president. The Deaf Community was outraged and demanded that the Board of Trustees make changes. Their refusal led to boycotts and protest to force the Board to meet their demands. After a week the Board of Trustees finally met the Deaf Communities demands and elected Dr. I. King Jordan as the first deaf president of Gallaudet University. There two sides of this movement included the American Deaf Community and the Board of Trustees at Gallaudet University. The Deaf Community believed that they should be

I did not realize that so many people doubted that the Deaf Community would be able to function without a hearing person to lead the way. This was very shocking to me because I believe it is very evident that people in the Deaf Community are very capable of doing whatever they choose. I was inspired by the quote from Dr. I King Jordan, “a deaf person can do anything a hearing person can, except hear”. I believe this message is very important that some people do not understand. I also learned how offended the Deaf Community was when they found out that a hearing president was elected. It is very important for a community to be represented by someone who can directly relate to them. It was also extremely offensive for the Board to doubt that the Deaf Community could function without them. The last thing I learned from this video was that Dr. Zinser did not know American Sign Language. The fact that they would elect a president of a community who did not even speak their language is extremely shocking to