This news is already out (and I still cannot blog any news or latest info from work) but here is it:

The chair of the Gallaudet University board of trustees resigned last night [Tuesday], the day after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) stepped down from the board because he disagreed with the decision to end the appointment of incoming president Jane K. Fernandes.

In my opinion, Sen. John McCain made the right decision to distance himself from Gallaudet University not because of the protest but for his lack of participation in the Gallaudet Board of Trustees meetings and that may hurt his credibility with his planned 2008 Presidential run. I don't know who gave him the "bright" idea to leave the BoT but if it was an advice to do so, it was a bad one. My good friend thought his leaving the BoT over Fernandes' firing would hurt him more than staying in the BoT and not attending the meetings. Honorary trustees are not always obliged to attend every meeting (Gallaudet bylaw 2.2.4 spell this out).

I'm glad the acting chairperson Dr. Brueggemann come to the wise, albeit too late, conclusion to leave the Board of Trustees for good. She hasn't been all that effective enough to move actions in responding to the united Gallaudet movement's demands appropriately. It was only the ordeal, the length of the protest and the humane concerns of the hunger strikers that moved the Board of Trustees to take action immediately, of which they did on October 29th when they terminated Fernandes from the position of the university president.

I hope the national deaf leaders would move fast and reach out, in person, to Sen. McCain to clear up some misunderstandings he had over the protest, no thanks to the media's negative, misguided perception of the protest organized by the united Gallaudet movement.