VIDEO: (American Sign Language) - Deaf President Now: A News Footage Perspective.
On August 24, 1987, Gallaudet's 6th president, Dr. Jerry Lee, announced that he would be leaving the presidency of Gallaudet University. It prompted new (or rekindled) discussion among the Deaf community that it is time for Gallaudet to have a Deaf president leading the one and only Deaf university in the world. The search committee narrowed down from 67 applicants to 3 finalists: Dr. Harvey Corson (Deaf), Dr. Elizabeth Zinser (hearing), and Dr. I. King Jordan (Deaf).
On March 6, 1988, it was expected that the board would announce the new 7th president in the field house at 8:30 pm. Instead of making a formal announcement, the audience was told that "a news release had been hastily distributed two hours earlier" revealing that Dr. Elizabeth Zinser has been selected as first 7th president of Gallaudet University.
The reaction to the news was "met with shock, anger, disbelief, and, in some cases, tears" because every effort were made to the Gallaudet Board of Trustees with strong urgency that it is time for Gallaudet to have a Deaf president to lead the university. Upon the selection of Dr. Zinser, the birth of the now well-known Deaf President Now (DPN) protest officially began.
VIDEO - The Kojo Nnamdi Show: The Legacy Of Gallaudet's 'Deaf President Now' Movement, 03/07/13 (Full Hour)
Since its founding in the mid-19th century, Gallaudet University has been an academic and cultural hub for the Deaf community. But until 1988, the university never had a Deaf president.
Twenty-five years ago this week, students launched a protest on the Northeast D.C. campus, dubbed the "Deaf President Now" movement. The protest resulted in the school's first Deaf president, and helped spur passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act two years later. Kojo explores the legacy of student protests at Gallaudet.
Gregory Hlibok: Former Gallaudet University Student Body President and student leader of the Deaf President Now movement in 1988; Chief of the Disability Rights Division in the Bureau of Consumer and Governmental Affairs at the Federal Communications Commission
VIDEO: Washingtonpost.com - Gallaudet University uses all-sign language episode of ‘Switched at Birth’ to air new commercial.
Gallaudet University is taking advantage of a special episode of ABC Family’s ‘Switched at Birth’ Monday night, as a commercial for the university will air during an episode of the show that is told entirely in American Sign Language and based on real-life events that happened at the school itself.
The all-sign language technique for the episode is a first for a scripted series on mainstream television, according to the network, which will air Gallaudet’s commercial twice during the hour. The episode takes place on the 25th anniversary of the Deaf President Now movement at Gallaudet in March 1988, when students and faculty protested after the university instated a hearing president over two Deaf candidates.
‘Switched at Birth,’ which wraps up the first half of its second season next week, follows the chaos that takes place when two high school girls find out they were sent home with the wrong families as babies in the hospital. One of the daughters is Deaf, resulting as a driving plot force in the series. The show, which debuted in June 2011 to more than 3 million viewers, has attracted around 1.7 million people per episode this season.
Nytimes.com - On Monday night, ABC Family did something that no commercial television outlet in the United States had ever done: it broadcast an entire episode of a show in sign language, with closed captioning turned on by default.
Advocates for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing cheered the move, and they wondered: would viewers tune in specifically for the almost-silent episode of the series, ‘Switched at Birth,’ one of ABC Family’s most popular? Or would viewers turn it off, potentially perturbed by the lack of audio? There was a normal musical score, and a scene at the beginning of the episode with audible dialogue, but the rest of the dialogue was in sign language.
Broadly speaking, neither outcome came true. The show’s overnight Nielsen ratings were down, but only slightly. Most fans of the show stayed with it 1.6 million, according to the overnight ratings. The series this season has averaged 1.7 million viewers.
In the show’s target demographic, women 12 to 34, 748,000 viewers tuned in, down just a little bit from the season average of 777,000. About a quarter of those viewers usually record the show and watch it later, so the final ratings won’t come in for a while.
‘Switched at Birth’: ABC Family’s The teen soap Switched at Birth explores self-expression and the communication gulf between the hearing and Deaf communities. List of Switched at Birth characters: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Switched_at_Birth_characters
WJLA - Gallaudet University marks 25th anniversary of 'Deaf President Now' protests.
WASHINGTON - Gallaudet University is marking the 25th anniversary of the “Deaf President Now” protests. The grassroots effort was launched by students in 1988, generating national and international headlines and resulting in the university’s first Deaf president.
When the Board of Trustees selected the only hearing candidate as Gallaudet University’s next president 25 years ago, students organized a week of protests, chanting “Deaf president now.”
“I can remember when we were looking for a Deaf president I actually made a comment that I hope we see a Deaf president in my lifetime. So I think that gives you an example of how far away it seemed to me,” says Fred Weiner.
Since 1988, three Deaf men have served as president of the university. This week, they gathered to reflect on the so-called DPN movement’s anniversary.
“Expectations were very high, very, very high,” says Dr. I. King Jordan, Gallaudet’s first Deaf president. “But there were also expectations that I couldn’t succeed.
