Greetings fellow Canuck Gallaudet alumni and friends;
It has been a long night of no sleep and frequent re-loading of popular
Gallaudet Protest sites just wee hours before my flight departed for Washington,
D.C. at 6:55am. I got here bright and early just in time for the start of the week where usually busy students walk to and from the Hall Memorial Building to attend classes, but it wasn’t the case. A large number of students were stuck outside, waiting for the DC police to finish conducting their investigation complete with K-9 dogs and several police officers sweeping the HMB. It turns out that ‘another fishy bumb threat’ was called in and the Dept. of Public Safety (Gallaudet campus police that were caught assaulting the students 3 days earlier) was the one that contacted the DC police (and not 9-1-1….????).
Several good things came out of the second bomb threat warning of the second
part of the protests – 1) students calmly convened to the building’s Atrium, held hands and stood in circles in a gesture of support; 2) the DPS steered clear of the building and PAH Gallaudet University, for this time being, provided the university interpreters to convey messages from the DC police; 3) Students flocked outside after an agreement with DC police that once they concluded their investigation, the students would be allowed back in. Students were amazing – they remained calm and civil.
Later on, I had the pleasure of meeting my FSSA friends from last May, they were
busy buzzing around like bees and especially with very important people, from
the NAD and Howard University spokespeople. The faculty held an emergency meeting today to discuss the building take over. And the majority of them were understanding and supportive for us, BUT very concerned and worried about the safety and welfare of the students. That shows that Gallaudet faculty and staff CARE a lot about us. A lot has happened…. I’m pretty overwhelmed. It’s too real. Reading blogs and seeing videos doesn’t justify it. Being here does. The Bison Saloon with all the drawings and writings from emotionally-stricken and exhausted students striving for a better Gallaudet had prompted me to feel heavy-hearted and emotional.
We had a 10pm rally, which was very spirited. Howard University, the predominantly black hearing university close to us in DC has just voiced their support! Yay! We also discussed King Jordan’s letter to alumni and students and how we dealt with the situation (with the SBG president tearing up the contract because it was a draft….) and we would hear back from King tomorrow to see if he has decided to meet our other demands to get us moving out of HMB.
Also, the organization of Black Deaf Students Union had a healthy discussion with another organizations – International Students Club and Latino Students Union about the diversity scope and how they can encourage students of ethnicity and color to unite for Gallaudet’s future where diversity is concerned. I’m pretty exhausted. A hundred hellos, a thousand hugs equals to an awesome first day.
Continue building support for the students, faculty, staff and the alumni
fighting and fighting for their alma mater here, everywhere and in Canada.
aud wiedersehen – Christine
October 10, 2006...5:45 am
Christine writes from the front lines at Gallaudet
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