I King Jordan Uses Force
Today at 7 p.m. I King Jordan ordered the arrests of protestors blocking the gates of Gallaudet University. Eight now.
I am sorry he could not have done a better job. I feel this is a betrayal not only of his duty as a college president but of his own career. It is ironic: the protest at its core was about communication.
I pray for the future of Deaf people in this country.
UPDATE: don't bother with my website right now. Tayler Meyer is chronicling everything on deafread.com-just go there and keep clicking reload. Check google news every so often too - I found the examiner article there.
6 comments:
SHAME on you IRVING!
You are going to burn in hell IRVING. You parasite of the deaf community
IRVING YOU ARE BETRAYING US>>> WE PROTESTED AND BROUGHT IRVING TO BE THE PRESIDENT OF GALLY> NOW YOU BETRAY AND DONT CARE ABOUT US. YOUR FAME WILL BE TAINTED FOREVER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Welcome to reality, there is no free rides, It s as if you wasted time protesting instead of majoring a career to become part of Gallaudet. That s why you cant blame Gallaudet because they cant find enough educated deaf person to run the University. I've seen enough that deaf community there are bunch of pathetic people blaming the system. Nobody can beat the system and you will have to work harder like the rest of the world to get there instead of waiting for it to come to you. Of course bein raised from deaf family, fluent in ASL, fluent in speech language I can understand music and enjoy it. Without Gallaudet I have been successful in life without "assisted-help" b.s. I could see so much stupidity going on just to sit & scream like bunch of morons gettin thrown in jail. It was a good laugh watching the news. I choosed to go to normal university than being racist screaming "deaf power". I wouldnt care who runs the university as long they do the job right. JUST LEARN TO GET ALONG! I ve seen a bozo criticize Dr. Jane K. Fernandes about how she signed but look at this person acting out of stupidity. What is it to be angry for? I m appalled to see that the purpose of "DEAF" is so divided, we re supposed to unite all together no matter how the person is but it will benefit having many types of communications available. Gallaudet is filled with bunch of morons. Once you leave Gallaudet, everything changes and nothing will be same so how will you live your life. I know there will be alot angry people flaring their temper after they read this message, let me say this for once. TOO BAD! =)
And Dr I King Jordan did the right thing. Those protestors deserved to be locked up and disrupting and holding the University hostage is not peaceful.
DR I KING JORDAN IS A HERO!
Were these protesters at an abortion clinic, preventing people from entering the building (workers or patients) they would have been arrested on Day One - they wouldn't have had had time to blink. Were they preventing the work of a construction crew, they would receive the same fate.
The fact that they claim to be peaceful does not significantly change things here. Recall the DC Chief of Police who stated that they would only step in if the public safety was in jeopardy or if asked to by the administration.
Gallaudet is many things. It is a central learning point which brings many of the deaf culture together. It is an educational facility that teaches a worldwide body of deaf and hard-of-hearing students - as well as high school and elementary school students. It is also a business, in a manner of speaking. On a simple scale, this is making money (tuition, etc) for providing an education. It's much larger, with finding and receiving funding from outside sources for programs, signing special presenters for special events, public relations aimed to make the campus more appealing to donors and prospective students. As such, the administration is very much in a position where it can use the DPS or Police to remove people who are disrupting the normal business. By blocking the entrances, the students had closed off the school, thus preventing the education (which they had either paid for or had subsidized), but they had also stopped faculty from performing their jobs; they had prevented high school and elementary school children from getting their education; they had put an unnecessary burden on the parents of those displaced children (miss work or pay for day care); along with disrupting a number of normal operating procedures. As university president, I. King Jordan has obligations. One is to ensure the safety and security of his campus and students. Another is to ensure the continuance of the educational process. In this case, he made a call, and arrests were made. Regrettable as it may be, those students were no different than protesters for any other cause. The fact that they are deaf and protesting at a school for the deaf is only significant (in this case) for sympathy votes in the headlines. This does NOT invalidate the protesters' arguments, but sheds light on the situation a bit better for those blindly claiming the "poor him" argument. Look to the many examples in the past. Political protesters are permitted to use their 1st Ammendment Right - but, they usually will get escorted out of the opposition's rally. Pro-Life protesters can stand all day outside an abortion clinic, but when they block the entrance, they get escorted away.
A decision was made. 135 students decided it was in their best interest to disregard the administration, and they were arrested for it. That's just a fact. Jordan warned of it, the Chief of Police even hinted at it. In fact, it had been made clear that it was merely ONE gate that was to be open. Regardless of how "peaceful" a protest is, there are times and places, and in this case, President Jordan was in a position to make that call. Otherwise, what is next? How long do you deprive the Kendall & Model students from attending classes? Where is THEIR say in this matter?
I'm not knocking the cause here. Keep on protesting, just don't trample the rights of others in the process. That would be hypocritical.
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