Note: there is no transcript of the vlog. 
On February 22, 2008, I commented:
I have so much respect for Alan Hurwitz. But I have personally spoken to him and he implied that removing the AGB plaque was out of his hands.
Again, out of respect to Dr. Hurwitz, I recommend this coalition to bypass NTID and address this issue to RIT directly.
In a short time, the blog received this following response:
Responding to Mr. Tayler Mayer’s comment: The answer provided by President Destler at https://cfapps.rit.edu/askthepresident/question.cfm?id=1463 made it clear that he asked Vice President Hurwitz to lead a group to assess the issues. Let’s leave it that way.
My response was then:
I was afraid someone would say that. I understand going through “appropriate channels”. However, this has been taken up with NTID administration on more than one occasion in the past. Nothing was done. At all. We were given the brush-off. Not a single further thought was given to it.
If the “appropriate channels” are given a chance, and does not work, you take it up to the next level until someone listens.
Believe me, if I felt this “Task Force” was a good opportunity, I would pursue this channel. But I, as a RIT/NTID alumni, know firsthandly that this will go nowhere.
The Provost has said if enough people complains about the plaque, he would look into it. That’s who we should be talking to. Skip the NTID charades and speak to those who can really make a difference. After all, if the NTID “Task Force” takes removing the AGB plaque as an agenda, they would have to put it through RIT anyhow. Skip this round. Take it amongst yourselves to make it an agenda!
The article published in RIT’s student publication, Reporter, is here.
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Posted on May 23rd, 2008 by tayler
May 23rd, 2008 12:54 pm
Good job! I agree! Time to stop audism at RIT/NTID. The terrible people were Dr. Robert Frisina, Dr. William Castle and Dr.Milo Bishop. They were the forefront for AG Bell and it s cronies.
=)
Paul
May 23rd, 2008 1:14 pm
Why not write another article and submit it to RIT with a flashy title like
NTID Honors A Hateful Bigot Who Oppressed Deaf people and ASL?
May 23rd, 2008 1:15 pm
Why not a hunger strike?
May 23rd, 2008 1:24 pm
I hope that comment about a hunger strike was in jest.
At any rate, I agree that you need to go directly to the RIT administration about this. If they brush you guys off again, THEN it’s time to talk about drastic measures.
May 23rd, 2008 1:35 pm
I know what their response will be. I fully expect it. Which is why we need to plan ahead for the worse. I do not hope it comes to that.
May 23rd, 2008 1:45 pm
May 23rd, 2008 3:47 pm
May 23rd, 2008 3:54 pm
With my concern of the audistic practices in NTID, I totally agreed with Tayler’s comment .
I often wondered if Dr Alan Hurwitz and his task force members have ever known that the late 1960’s AGB group strongly opposed the name of AGB on the dorm when they found out that the future NTID will be contained of both oral students and signing students together, not exclusive oral students.
I can’t believe what happened to their lame decision must be a lack of common sense that will never be solved the worst controversial reputation of Alexander Graham Bell plaque problem.. Another possibility, they don’t have enough to be brave by removing the AGB plaque but they rather decided to put their heads in the sand. They will always be faced the future protestors.
May 23rd, 2008 4:10 pm
I have written to Dr. Alan Hurwitz if he is proud that NTID honours an
eugenicist who may sooner or later be discovered to have been a plagiarist! Gallaudet University and CSUN must join to press.
Vox populi!
May 23rd, 2008 5:01 pm
Hi,
You’re right that AGBell plague should not be sitting in there on Tower B, I remember going by the plague often, but at that time, I didn’t know much about him except that he was a telephone inventor and other things. I thought he was amazing because he knew sign language and worked with Helen Keller. Now that I read more about AGBell, I realize what his intentions were.
I wonder about this history of the plaque, what made NTID do this? Did AGBell organization provide a foundation to help build NTID? Is money involved? Cuz money speaks louder and they may be very reluctant to a lawsuit if they remove the plaque? If they remove the plaque, will NTID suffer the consequences? If we could get all the answers, then maybe we need to come up with solutions so that it is easy for NTID to let go of the plaque. We need to get inside the politics and figure out why they are so against removing it because with AGBell’s philosophy, it doesnt make any sense that they would want to support NTID when NTID includes ASL.
May 23rd, 2008 8:24 pm
Good news about the latest update. Alan Hurwitz had reconsidered and had since then withdrew his decision.
May 26th, 2008 8:37 am
Thank for the news. It would be nice replace the plaque as who do you like we honor to special person?
Davy
May 26th, 2008 9:16 am
In responce to Davy’s question above, I would like to see Laurent Clerc being honoured. He loved his birthplace in France and his teaching position at St. Jacques’s in Paris so very much he wanted to return to Paris after training teachers at the ASD for several years, but, after visiting in NYC, he immediately fell in love with the state of New York and decided never to return to France! He stayed and helped Americans — CT, NY, PA, Canada, and more for 40 years. Now is the time to name a building with a bust or statue along with a plaque in honour of Laurent Clerc.
May 26th, 2008 9:23 am
Davy and Jean,
To choose a replacement is to celebrate what hasn’t taken place. When that time comes, there is no shortage of figures who helped shape and provide deaf education.
May 26th, 2008 2:38 pm
Jean & Tayler……. Yes my understanding for this person Laurent Clerc goes as on Gallaudet Universary as history of course. Now on this campus NTID got to do with maybe other person honorable as valuable Deaf person as well know by him or her back old history times.
I was wonder if again Laurent Clerc on NTID related history there too ???
I know AGBell is not 100 percent honor at all. Pick other Deaf person him or her to make honorable.
Try George Veditz ??? on NTID ? I know it tough for all about NTID on Property……..that I don’t understanding how it got there on first place. It should all the deaf people by USA to vote to pick for whose honorable. Not AGbell .
Davy
June 25th, 2008 4:52 pm
As much as we should honor Clerc, let’s not rush around naming everything after him. When the time comes, why not honor someone who REALLY did something for or related to NTID, rather than Bell, Clerc, or some other historical figure?
Off the top of my head: Frisina, Castle, Golladay, Davila… not all are deaf, but they all had connections/ties to NTID. NTID alumni and faculty could probably come up with a more comprehensive list of names than I could.
June 25th, 2008 5:25 pm
Puhleez! Leave Frisina and Castle out of names honoring…..they do NOT deserve it after all the audistic oppression for many years.
Dr. Frisina and I used to have discussions. He wondered how Deaf can have more scholarship (the brain that works in his thinking of how deaf should improve) I told him that deaf can learn better using ASL. Oralism does not work.
As for Castle, he can take hike! He is like wolf in sheep’s clothing trying to sneak in audism and the Bell plaque.
Loy Golladay… I loved him and he was special guy at NTID. Same for Curtis Robbins and others down the years. Bob Davilia is cool, too. They are the right candidates for the naming.
To enlighten on Dr. Hurwitz, his hands are probably tied in regards to Hearing and Speech Association, AGBAD and other audistic organizations. His sister-in-law is the principal of oral school in St. Louis….so someone has to deprogram him from oralism world. He is nice guy but his heart is in wrong place.
To be blunt, I knew Alan for many years. I learned leadership pointers from him, but of course, I am not oralist anymore. i chose my deaf identity in deafhood as well as keep my faith in ASL and Deaf Culture. This is where I belong.
Like some others recommended “NTID ALUMNI HALL”, I am in favor of that at this stage.
=)
June 25th, 2008 6:12 pm
Sandman:
Dr. Robert Frisina? Non, jamais de la vie! Audistically, he told my former school superintendent Ambrosen that he would found the NTID to surpass Gallaudet College within 20 years in that he was not happy about something in GU’s Audiology Department. Himself specialising in orthoepy, Frisina was (has been [?]) affiliated with AGBell.
I cannot comment on Castle mentioned in your comment because I do not know him. I knew Loy Golloday. He was a Clerc scholar and used to teach at the American School for the Deaf for many years and was a poet..
June 25th, 2008 6:16 pm
Post Scriptum:
Sandman:
Dr. Davila is deaf.
June 30th, 2008 5:41 pm
Well, I guess Frisina isn’t anyone’s favorite choice. That’s okay by me. I’m a Gallaudet alumni, and I think NTIDers are the people best qualified to make suggestions. I merely wanted to point out that we don’t need to name EVERY SINGLE building in the United States after Clerc! I also was trying to make a larger point: name the building after someone who is/was connected with NTID. The owner of this blog could probably come up with twenty names on his own.
Jean,
I said, “not all are deaf, but they all had connections/ties to NTID.” I know Davila and Golladay are deaf (and Gallaudet alumni as well!).