Deaf Dean Now Protest

A protest erupted in 2004 at Ohlone College in Fremont, California, when Deaf students there learned that a hearing person might assume the position of dean of the Deaf Studies Division. Ohlone College has what is considered to be the country’s largest enrollment of deaf students at the community college level. The Bay Area Deaf community takes pride in the fact that it played a major role in getting the program started in 1972 and has since nurtured it to become one of the finest postsecondary programs in the country for deaf students and for those who wish to study sign language. It is for this reason that the prospect of having a hearing dean was considered an affront to deaf students and alumni.

Ohlone students ...