Deaf President Now Protest

In the spring of 1988 Gallaudet University’s Board of Trustees was in the process of selecting a new president; their decision set in motion a turning point in Deaf history. Prior to the board’s decision, a growing movement advocated selection of a deaf person. Individuals and groups wrote letters to the board encouraging a deaf president, and the National Association of the Deaf published a special issue of the NAD Broadcaster with articles stating that it was time for a deaf individual to lead the 124-year-old university.

A 2-hour “Deaf President Now” rally on the first day of March started at the president’s residence where one of the organizers, Jeff Rosen, Gallaudet alum and attorney, stood on the back of a pickup truck so his signs could be seen from afar and cited the sacrifices Americans made to gain civil rights, challenging the crowd to consider their cause in the struggle. The rally then migrated to the Edward Miner Gallaudet statue where poet Clayton Valli performed a piece reflecting seeds of change and growth. Protesters moved on in a boisterous show of support as the crowd swelled to an estimated 1,500 at the football field, where 19 speakers stood up to advocate for a deaf president and mobilize the campus. Students became more engaged, but the board was not swayed. In the presidential selection process, two deaf finalists—Dr. Harvey J. Corson, Gallaudet class of 1964 and superintendent at the Louisiana School for the Deaf; Dr. I. King Jordan, Gallaudet class of 1970 and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; and one hearing finalist, Dr. Elisabeth A. Zinser, vice-chancellor at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, remained. The evening of Sunday, March 6 the board released to a crowd waiting in anticipation a printed public relations announcement stating that by a vote of 10–4 the board had selected Zinser, who had no deaf education experience, to serve as the seventh president of Gallaudet. Outraged protesters took to the streets of Washington, D.C., marching without a permit in the dark to the site of the board meeting at the Mayflower Hotel to confront the chairperson, Jane Spilman. Thus commenced the “Deaf President Now” revolution, a non-violent take-over of campus, where students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends locked down buildings and entrances, demanding deaf leadership.

A swiftly formed Deaf President Now Council of students, faculty, staff, and alumni developed four specific demands. The text below is from a Council Fact Sheet:

• 1.
  Resignation of Dr. Zinser and selection of a deaf president.
• 2.
  Resignation of Mrs. Spilman and election of a deaf chairperson of the Board.
• 3.
  Change of the composition of the Board to a majority of deaf and hard of hearing persons.
• 4.
  Guarantee of no reprisals against the faculty, staff, administration, or students for their participation.

On Monday, March 7, the board called a campus presentation in the Field House where chairperson Spilman attempted to explain the board’s selection. Her comments came to a halt when a member of the faculty, Dr. Harvey Goodstein, walked on stage and signed to the packed house that the board refused to meet the demands of the protesters and that the crowd should leave the Field House. His statement came with the intentional pulling of the building fire alarm and while alarms blared and lights flashed and the audience grasped instructions and began leaving, chairperson Spilman tried to hold attention and, ironically, asked how anyone can hear over all the noise. A march to the Capitol, without permit, commenced.

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