“Stammering Children, Laughing Clinton, and Nonsigning Cops” Isn’t that a lovely title? I bet you clicked on this just to see if there could possibly be a connection between all of them. And yes, there is. The connection is this: I can’t believe how stupid people can be. Now you may be shaking your head and thinking, “whoa, slow down a bit there, Julie, aren’t you getting a bit too [...]

Sunday night, I sat down to dinner at a Thai restaurant in Eastern Market with two of my friends. The waiter had just served my dinner, a vegetarian glass noodles dish, and I was about to dig in when I felt the vibration of my Sidekick. I’d been waiting for it all day, really all month. The Board of Trustees had just met to decide whether or not to continue [...]

I won’t deny that right now there’s a jumble of opinions, facts, non-facts, as well as shouts of protest, spirit, and venom. It’s hard to keep your head clear and remember the basic points of the protest. Everyone has their own take on the protest and reasons for supporting it. The two unifying goals, though, is for Jane K. Fernandes to resign and re-open the presidential search. Why do I [...]

I’m sitting on a camping stool just behind the right part of the front gate. I see staff and faculty trying to get on campus and the football players, in their most valiant defensive stop of the season, are blocking them from getting in. I see five news vans parked on the other side of the street. I see tired students lugging their blankets and pillows already blackened by the [...]

A friend of mine, Ben Moore, came over last night to sit on my porch and unwind with some wine. We got to talking. The recurring theme of our conversation? You guessed it! The Gallaudet protest. Earlier that night, when Ben emailed me and said he wanted to stop by, I thought to myself, “This will be a good time to catch up. I’m NOT going to bring up the [...]

Maybe my first blog should be more neutrally toned or even positive. But then again, the subject wouldn’t really be worthy of a blog. I’m going to talk about something that really bothers me. Something that, apparently everyone at Gallaudet University and anyone who’s ever been at Gallaudet University, knew but I didn’t. Rat funerals.

In a statement released by Gallaudet, the Board of Trustees, at the conclusion of their two-day semi-annual meeting, announced that Dr. Jane Fernandes will immediately step down as Provost “to allow for the transition to her presidency. Dr. Fernandes will concentrate her work to carefully review all of the issues brought up during the lst few weeks and to work with the campus community to address them.”

Graduation is today. Hundreds of students are about to get their hard-won degrees–bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D’s. It’s one of the proudest days in a student’s life, but today’s graduation at Gallaudet University comes amid extraordinary circumstances. FSSA has done a great job in ensuring that their protest activities do not get in the way of the festivities.

Last night, Celia May Baldwin, the interim chair of the Board of Trustees, resigned from her position. In her letter, she cited that The presidential search and the controversy that has ensued have put an enormous strain and stress on me. I simply could not ignore the numerous aggressive threats I have received over the past weeks. Aggressive threats? She isn’t the only one who has complained of receiving them. [...]

Yesterday, 145 out of 220 Gallaudet faculty voted on five resolutions concerning Dr. Jane K. Fernandes’s selection. They essentially laid out the gauntlet for Jane Fernandes: the faculty do not support her selection as President and want the search process reopened. (FAILED 96-49) Accept the BoT decision & work with Dr. Fernandes. (PASSED 77-68) Ask Dr. Fernandes to renounce her appointment as President. (PASSED 85-58) Reopen the search process. (PASSED [...]