Gallaudet president: ‘We’ll be a stronger university’

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Chastened by two weeks of protest over her selection as president of Gallaudet University, Jane K. Fernandes says she’ll focus on “really, really listening” to her critics when she takes office next year.

Protest leaders say they’ll keep up the fight, but the tent city that once dominated the campus green has folded up, and the online message board once buzzing with furious exchanges now only works at a steady hum.

Barring a surprise, Fernandes, 47, will become the ninth president of the world’s only liberal arts college for the deaf early next year. It’s a key seat in the deaf world.

In an interview with The Examiner on Tuesday, Fernandes said she never thought about giving up, “but from time to time, I asked myself if it was this important to stay on.”

“For one thing, the consequence of not continuing would really make governance at the university questionable,” she said. “So could the board [of trustees] ever make a decision again if every time the board makes an important decision it’s subject to a protest?”

Fernandes refused to answer when asked if it was true that protesters had gone to her suburban Maryland home.

“I can say that everyone involved in this has received threats,” she said, “including myself.”

All that is past, though, Fernandes said. As rough as the protests over her presidency were, she says she’s grateful for them.

“All of the issues that came out are issues that the university needs to address. And when we address them, we’ll be a stronger university,” she said. “People who took part in the protests can know that Gallaudet will not be the same after this.”

Fernandes’ top priority is repairing the rift between herself and students, staff and faculty at Gallaudet.

“Right now, I’m listening,” she said.

She plans to create representative committees to help search for a new provost. She’s also considering forming advisory committees to reach out to disaffected faculty members, staff and students.

And despite early worries that the protests would hurt Gallaudet’s funding, Fernandes said she’s been reassured by recent conversations with leading members of Congress and from Gallaudet’s donors that the university’s funds won’t be affected.

Gallaudet University

» About 1,900 students enrolled last year.

» Of deaf people who obtain a bachelor’s degree, 80 percent of them obtain it at Gallaudet.

» Over two-thirds of its budget — more than $100 million — comes from the federal government.

» A 2005 White House report rated Gallaudet “ineffective.”

bmyers@dcexaminer.com

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