Gallaudet ready to close applications for president

The deadline is today for candidates applying to be interim president of Gallaudet University after the dismissal of President-designate Jane K. Fernandes.

The candidates will be interviewed Wednesday and Thursday via telephone by the Interim Presidential Search Advisory Committee, whose 15 members include four students, four faculty and two alumni.

Three to five finalists will be chosen and notified Friday, said committee Chairwoman Jane Dillehay.

The school’s board of trustees will make the final decision, which is expected within a couple of weeks. The interim president will take office Jan. 1 and serve 18 months to two years, giving the board enough time to select a permanent president.

Such a decision will not be easy. The trustees’ selection of Mrs. Fernandes in May sent the 142-year-old school in Northeast into months of protest and turmoil.

Students, faculty members, alumni and others at Gallaudet, the only university especially for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, said Mrs. Fernandes was not responsive to their needs and was an ineffectual leader.

After protesting in the spring, many of the roughly 1,900 students returned for the fall semester and resumed their demonstrations.

On Oct. 6, protesters took over Hall Memorial Building, the largest classroom facility on the 98-acre campus, but classes resumed four days later.

Protesters blocked all five school entrances several days later, forcing the cancellation of classes.

The Metropolitan Police Department joined Gallaudet security Oct. 13 in arresting 135 students who refused to stop blocking a vehicle entrance.

Outgoing President I. King Jordan canceled official homecoming events, and the protesters marched on Capitol Hill before the board met Oct. 29 and withdrew Mrs. Fernandes’ appointment.

Mr. Jordan, who was chosen 18 years ago, is scheduled to leave in January.

Students said during their protests of Mrs. Fernandes’ appointment that other viable candidates were overlooked. They asked to be included in the presidential-selection process.

Who is applying or being considered for the interim or permanent job is not clear, but the board faces issues beyond experience and qualifications.

Mrs. Fernandes, who was a provost for six of her 11 years at Gallaudet, had said critics did not think she was “deaf enough” and that she was caught in a larger argument about the changing world of deaf education, particularly the balance between a steadfast adherence to traditional sign language and emerging technology.

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