Q & A: Jane K. Fernandes, president-elect of Gallaudet

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The moment Jane K. Fernandes’ name was announced as the ninth president of Gallaudet University, the campus erupted in protest.

The president of Gallaudet, the world’s only liberal arts college for the deaf, is considered by many to be “the president of the deaf world.”

But critics say her appointment was rigged and that qualified rivals — such as Glenn Anderson, the first black deaf man to obtain a doctorate, and Roz Rosen, a former Gallaudet official — were excluded early in the selection process to make it easier for Fernandes to become president. They say Fernandes, who has served as provost since 2000, was a favorite of outgoing President I. King Jordan.

Fernandes was born deaf but grew up speaking, went to mainstream schools and didn’t learn American Sign Language until she was an adult. In a meeting Friday with some members of the news media, Fernandes talked about her controversial appointment, the culture war in the deaf world and her hopes of salvaging her relationship with outraged students, faculty, staff, alumni and donors.

Q: What do you say to critics who say that your appointment was rigged?

A: I’m not aware of any flaws in the process.

Q: Are you satisfied that you were the best candidate of all of the people who applied and that your selection was fair?

A: I don’t want to say “the best,” because I think all three of us finalists were fine, but I might be the best match for what Gallaudet needs now.

Q: Dr. Jordan didn’t have his finger on the scale? You didn’t discuss this with him beforehand?

A: No, I did discuss it with him. I asked him if he would serve as my reference. And actually he thought about it for a while, because he understood that he probably shouldn’t take a position in this. But he’s been my supervisor for 11 years. I have to have my supervisor as a reference.

Q: What do you say to critics who say that you’ve been abrasive and that you’re too hard to work with?

A: I find that very difficult, actually. Generally, I think I’m reasonable. I think that as provost, I have made some hard decisions, especially for students. I’ve been involved in suspending students and expelling students, and I do take the reputation of Gallaudet seriously and I want the students to understand their role in maintaining the good reputation of Gallaudet. So perhaps I’ve alienated some students in the process.

Q: What about the 75 students who went over to the Maryland School for the Deaf from the Gallaudet pre-college program while you were in charge?

A: There was a “white flight.” And at that time, there was a program [here] called the Special Opportunities Program. And of the 50 students [who] were in the program, 49 were African-American. And that was a program that did not have very high academic standards, that didn’t have high expectation for the students. So I restructured the schools so those students would be integrated with deaf white students. And parents who didn’t want to work with that made a decision to move to other schools. And that’s their right to do that. And I hope they’re getting a good education.

Q: But the White House Office of Management and Budget last year said that standards at Gallaudet had fallen and in fact rated you guys “ineffective” with the money you’re receiving. That was under your provost ship, yes?

A: Yes, I was provost then. [But] right now we’re working to correct the erroneous information that was used to lead to that evaluation.

Q: What about this concern that you may not be “deaf enough?”

A: I think that’s probably at the heart of this matter. I think the other messages that are being sent out are distractions. Some people think I’m not deaf enough. There’s a kind of perfect deaf person. It’s someone who was born deaf, has deaf parents, learns [sign language] at home, goes to a deaf school … gets married to a deaf person, has deaf children. There’s a lot of people like that here, and they have been the core of the university. But then other deaf people don’t fit that core are some degrees removed from what is ideal. Some people have said that [D.C.] mayor Tony Williams isn’t “black enough” — I think it’s the same concept.

Q: Are you afraid that the protests have poisoned the well for you?

A: When I become president — and I fully intend to be president — I’m going to have a huge challenge to re-establish good relationships with students, faculty and staff. It’ll certainly affect my work as president, because that will have to be the top priority.

bmyers@dcexaminer.com

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