Gallaudet University ― It is home to some two thousand undergraduate students and eight hundred and ninety employees (“Fast Facts”). The students walking the campus or on the sidewalks of Florida Avenue are not all that dis-similar to any other walks of life in the Washington, DC area. In fact, you wouldn’t notice a difference if you were just observing or people watching. They are a university that has multiple athletic programs, including football, basketball, and baseball. The conversations, however, may be a little different to someone not familiar with sign language.
Gallaudet University is the only university in the world with programs and services designed to accommodate deaf and hard at hearing students. Only five …show more content…
During this time people questioned the importance of deaf people. They were judged, discriminated against, and doubted.
Fast forward to 1988. By this time, people who were deaf had made outstanding strides in the world in relation to education. According to the Gallaudet website, more than one hundred deaf people had doctorate degrees by this time, there were also others who held administrative positions (“The History Behind DPN..”).
At this point, Gallaudet had never had a deaf person as president of the university. When the position was open in 1988, people at Gallaudet thought that was going to change. Two of the three finalists for the position were deaf. Support over having a deaf president poured in through the mailboxes, and even in the news. Political figures, members of office, and civil rights activist showed their support for Gallaudet to hire a deaf president (“The History Behind DPN..”).
Deaf People Now …show more content…
It was as if DPN sparked a change to the world towards the recognition to people who are deaf. Interestingly enough, in 1993, The Television Circuitry of 1990 required that televisions provide closed captioning (sub-titles) or have the option to do so (“The Impact”). The DPN ripple effect spread out internationally, too. Deaf people no longer had to prove to anyone that they could be self-sufficient in the world.
Lastly, Gallaudet was “on the map”. When someone heard the word “Gallaudet”, chances were he or she knew what it was. It was a place of change. It was a place of voice for the deaf and hard at hearing community, and America heard it loud and clear.
I can think of only one protest that dealt with a university in a similar facet. The University of Missouri football team threated to boycott practices and games when they wanted the president of the university, presumed to be a racist, to resign. They stood together-- and not just black athletes. It was people of all races. Now, there was no eight day rally, but, there was support from the faculty as in the Gallaudet