Open Letter to Alumni
October 9, 2006
Dear Alumni,
I want to take this opportunity to let you know what’s happening on campus and to ask your support. We all have an important role to play.
Last Friday, a group of dissenters occupied the Hall Memorial Building. Since then, Interim Provost Michael Moore, ‘68, Dean Carl Pramuk, ‘84, and Enrollment Services Executive Director Debby DeStefano, ‘77 & G-’79, have been meeting with the dissenters who have been in HMB to peacefully resolve the occupation. I appreciate their dedication and hard work.
I feel sure that many of you are as saddened as I am by the current discord on our campus. We are working to restore civility and mutual respect. We have continuously met in good faith with the dissenters, only to have the students’ demands change.
We want to assure a positive educational experience in a safe environment for all of our campus community, but we cannot do that alone. It will take not only every student and member of the administration, faculty, and staff to come together, but also our alumni to restore trust and a sense of security to a badly shaken community.
I believe we all need to be part of the resolution. I feel compelled to set the record straight on a number of issues. The Board of Trustees and the administration have heard and considered the dissenters regarding the search and selection process. In fact, they met with students on a number of occasions during last week’s board meeting. The dissenters are unwilling to accept the Board’s selection of Dr. Fernandes.
We are committed to free speech, and so it is doubly painful to have some faculty, students, alumni and staff threaten and intimidate the rights of others to differ from the dissenters. Indeed some of their actions have been shameful. Nothing excuses their assault on me and the disrespect shown to my family last Thursday at what should have been a celebration for the entire campus. They have tried to impose their will on everyone at Gallaudet by taking over HMB. Those who have acted unlawfully must take responsibility for those actions and will face the consequences of their actions. And now they have phoned in a second bomb threat diverting critical police and fire resources from legitimate needs.
The dissenters have vandalized one of your alma mater’s most cherished locations, College Hall. They have encouraged the harassment of board and administration members and their families by publishing the home and work numbers as well as other personal information, and then encouraged others to use that information to continuously disrupt their lives. They have disseminated misinformation and cried foul when the administration has tried to set the record straight. An example is their claim that a DPS officer assaulted students. The board has requested, and we will have, an outside investigator review this allegation. They have misrepresented the Board chair’s support of Dr. Fernandes on a blog and falsely claimed that the Board did not meet with them. What the Board did not do is agree with them.
Despite these provocations, we have continued to look for common ground. Gallaudet University has a rich tradition of caring and community spirit. We want to invoke that sense of family to resolve the occupation of HMB.
Let us remind our students and colleagues in HMB that their actions hurt us all, not only on Gallaudet’s campus, but around the world. We welcome dialogue, but cannot allow a group of dissenters to lock us out of one of our own buildings. They promised not to interfere with others’ rights; however, they have broken that promise. I ask you to use your influence to support our efforts to address the issues confronting us and begin the healing process. It’s important to me to keep our alumni informed of our University’s efforts, so please check our homepage (www.gallaudet.edu) for up-to-date information and messages.
I. King Jordan
President
