Jane Fernandes

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Jane Kelleher Fernandes (b. August 21, 1956 in Worcester, Massachusetts) is a deaf educator and was the former President Designate of Gallaudet University. On 29 October 2006, the board of trustees of the nation's premier school for the deaf voted to terminate the appointment of Fernandes, who had been the subject of protests.[1]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Fernandes was raised in Worcester and is the daughter of Richard Paul and Mary Kathleen (Cosgrove) Kelleher. Her family chose to raise her in an oral education program, meaning her education focused on teaching her to speak, and rejected the use of sign language, in this case American Sign Language (ASL). When Fernandes grew older she made the decision to learn ASL and develop her involvement with the deaf community.

Fernandes attended Trinity College, earning a B.A. degree in French and comparative literature, and the University of Iowa, where she earned her M.A. and Ph. D., both in comparative literature.

[edit] Early career and involvement at Gallaudet University

After graduating from Iowa, she worked for Northeastern University before coming to Gallaudet as chair of Sign Communication. Her next move was to Hawaii where she established an Interpreter Training Program and served for five years as the director of the Hawaii Center for the Deaf and Blind. In 1995 she returned to Gallaudet to become the vice president for the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center. In 2000, she was named provost of the University by President I. King Jordan, who appointed her without consulting the faculty.[2]

[edit] Application for Presidency of Gallaudet University

Fernandes in her application wrote "I am a white deaf woman, the daughter of a deaf mother and a hearing father, with both deaf and hearing brothers, all of whom are white people. The generations of white deaf and hearing people in my family have never signed; they have always been oral people." Application (seems deleted)

[edit] Selection to Gallaudet presidency

Immediately after the announcement of the appointment of Dr. Jane Fernandes, scores of students protested against her appointment. According to The Washington Post, "Students objected to the appointment of Jane Fernandes, who is deaf and is currently the university's provost, because she did not grow up using American Sign Language. Some students also criticized Fernandes for not having warm relations with students."[3] This implies that Fernandes may have been seen as insufficiently associated with the Deaf culture. Opponents of Fernandes claim that the Washington Post article (and, in general, much of the media coverage), were unable to figure out the real reasons for their opposition, although a frequently published reason was that she was "not deaf enough." While this reason for opposition is denied by most protesters today, it is clear to many observers, on both sides, that this protest was at its heart about a signing minority attempting to maintain control over the university that was established in 1864 as an organization that promotes the use of sign language in deaf education.[4] Specifically, Fernandes attracted opposition due to her opposition to establishing an ASL-only environment on campus and what was perceived as an insufficient commitment to addressing the concept of audism (discrimination against or persecution of the deaf). Allegations of racism in appointing Fernandes, who is white, were also raised. It is notable that organizations of students of color had protested the failure to choose as finalist the long-time Board of Trustee Glenn Andersson, a qualified Black Deaf man. However, with many protesters angling for the choice of a white finalist, Ron Stern, this complaint was ignored until Fernandes was chosen Stern. The organizations of students of color therefore did not join the protest over this case of hypocrisy by the protesters. The student paper took polls a few days before the selection. Of those faculty members who responded, 36% gave Fernandes an "acceptable" rating, compared to 53% and 64% for the two other finalists.[5][6]

A significant number of the faculty, staff, students and alumni protested her appointment. Dr. Fernandes' supporters claimed that the protest occurred because Fernandes grew up "oral" (primarily using speech and speech-reading, rather than sign). The protesters point to her past managerial actions that they feel are questionable and don't reflect qualities of a solid leader.

Controversially, I. King Jordan supported Fernandes' nomination. On October 13, 2006, dubbed Black Friday (by some) in Gallaudet history, Jordan ordered mass arrests which detained up to 134 students protesting Fernandes' selection. This set off even a larger protest which had 1,000 alumni, faculty, students and staff members the following day.

On October 29, 2006, the Board of Trustees of Gallaudet University rescinded her contract to be the ninth President of Gallaudet and terminated her in her position as President-designate.

[edit] Personal life

Fernandes is married to James John Fernandes and has two children, Sean William and Erin Frances.

[edit] Notes

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  1. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061029/ap_on_re_us/gallaudet_president
  2. ^ http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:EncKCop9-RcJ:chronicle.com/daily/2006/11/2006110301n.htm+%22protesters+were+ready+to+lock+down+the+campus+again%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1
  3. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/03/AR2006050300920.html
  4. ^ http://surdus.blogspot.com/2006/10/365-history-of-gallaudet-protest-part.html
  5. ^ http://news.gufssa.com/2006/05/08/results-of-faculty-meeting/
  6. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/02/AR2006050201694_2.html

[edit] External links

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