Sunday, September 24, 2006

  • An open letter from Zoltan, Testing_the_truth

    Dear Protestors,

    a recent letter signed by six Gallaudet professors is like revelation of
    the smear tactic the administrators unleashed against the protesting
    community. The letter written by six women in support of the
    president designate looks like a clear attempt in sliming protestors
    with pre-fabricated changes in front of the highest decision making
    forum of Gallaudet University, the Board of Trustees, and possibly
    at national media.

    What are the pre-fabricated charges that will probably be unleashed
    against the protestors? Well, claims that they are
    -- angry, hateful, unreasonable people
    -- intolerant, oppressive toward hearing folks
    -- arrogant and aggressive in manner
    -- despicable in philosophy and
    -- racists in effect.

    This line of charges follows closely the falsely made-up "not hearing
    enough" argument, and tries to exaggerate this deception to a point
    where reasoning on the side of the protest would become impossible.

    How would those people who perpetrate these charges (not necessarily
    the same six women who wrote the letter) achieve this deception?
    Well, they will provoke protestors in all possible manners in order
    to elicit angry or desperate response, or whatever that can be
    falsely explained or perceived as such. Then, they will trumpet the
    case(s) at all possible forums and media outlets with maximum DB
    volume, especially for communication intended to the Board of
    Trustees or even to the Congress, in order to forge their deceptive
    charges:

    A. They want to prove that Deaf people who use ASL as exclusive
    form of communication and protest the selection of Jane Fernandes
    as Gallaudet president, are infected with anger and hatred toward
    those who were not born Deaf and don't use ASL as their mother
    tongue. What a lie! I for one am hard-of-hearing and I completely
    support the protest.

    B. They want to prove that protestors are intolerant toward these
    people and they want to exclude and expel them from the Deaf
    community by arrogance, intimidation and oppression. Ridiculous!
    These are the very tools employed against the protestors!

    C. They want to prove that protestors are similar to hateful
    "nationalists" who reject everyone who is different from them and
    do not belong to their "nation". What a vicious smear, invoking
    totalitarianism from history! In fact, totalitarian power at Gallaudet
    does not belong to protestors but to somewhere else!

    D. They even want to prove that behind these emotions there is a
    rejection of all whose genetic make-up is more like "hearing" than

    "deaf". This is the most devilish and obnoxious charge of all!
    In its sophistication this is the one revealing their unbridled desire
    to lie, smear and slime protestors

    I ask all protestors to fight these charges and reject the pre-fabricated
    lies that are behind these changes! How can we do that?
     
    1. We should show our love toward others and embrace those who
        disagree with us.
    2. We should respect them and honor them as persons, but we
        should make it clear at every turn that we don't share their views!
    3. We should express our protest against what is not right, and we
        should stick to our convictions until there is a resolution to our
        demands.
    4. But at the same time we should keep ourselves guarded and
        led by our love to every member of our community, and by our
        embrace even toward those who accuse us with vicious lies.

    Please keep the protest free from exhibiting undue emotional
    eruptions, even if there are obvious provocations. But keep the
    issues of the protest at your heart and don't relent under pressure.
    We are the people at Gallaudet. And people have the power!
    Therefore we shall overcome, as those who provoke us will reveal
    themselves as manipulators of the truth.

    "An evildoer listens to wicked lips;
    A liar pays attention to a destructive tongue."
    "He who has a crooked mind finds no good."
    (Proverbs 17:4, 20)

    Let the spirit of wisdom and truth be with us all!

    Zoltan Szekely Ph.D.
    former Gallaudet professor
    "testing_the_truth"

    Reprinted with permission by the author. The opinions expressed by the author does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Mishkazena.

Comments (4)

  • brianriley1987gallygrad
    Zoltan,   Correction! You area a "Gallaudet professor in exile" and you will have your job returned to you soon when we win the protest.   The propaganda that you mention that they are cooking up will not fly with the American people.  The antidote is simply to mention Jordan's exorbitant salary (around $650K, including benefits) and how the Board of Trustee members are personal friends of Jordan and Fernandes and that they elect themselves, i.e., they are an undemocratic, oligarchical illegitimate entity.   They are a type of nefarious "academic cabal."  This will be easy for the American people to see. Every time they open their mouth, you should simply tell the media: "Jordan makes $650, 000 per year and he has been maneuvering behind the scenes to put his protege in office..." Etc.    They will not be able to deflect this criticism. They Board elects their own members.  That stinks.  They stink.  The whole thing reeks to high heaven.  This will be easy for the American people to see.    What were Fernandes' supposed qualifications?  Why did they choose her?  Why did they not see and/or not take into account Fernandes' lousy rating in the trienniel evaluations of administrators conducted by the Faculty Senate?  (Mark Weinberg says that they did not see it.)  What was the unknown reason that they (BoT) used to reject the PSC's recommendation and choose Fernandes anyway?
    It's cronyism run rampant!
    Brian
  • testing_the_truth
    Brian, you are absolutely correct about King Jordan and Jane Fernandes. Their time is up! I surely hope that the BOT/ Congress/ OMB/ Dept. of Education etc. will also realize that.

    As about myself, I can't see any way back to Gallaudet University, as the Board of Trustees already threw out my appeal to them, and I even received the final word from BOT chairwoman Brenda Jo Brueggeman. There is no way to change the final decision of BOT.

    I would like to make it clear that my support for the protest is NOT about getting my job back. That opportunity is gone forever, and my former students will never see me again! I am sad but I cannot change that. My support for the protest came from the very first days of its eruption by realizing how much damage this admin does to Gallaudet University, and how seriously they endanger its future by appointing an unfit person to the seat of presiodent.
  • testing_the_truth
    Hi MishkaZena, thanks for fixing the typos in the letter! I hope students will be cautious during the Tent City resurrection. No violence, no anger, but forcefully and peacefully communicated message! A point need to be made for the BOT before their coming meeting. BOT cannot ignore the protest anymore! If police intervenes, and invades Tent City then an urgent social justice plea to Congress will probably be unavoidable.
  • brianriley1987gallygrad
    Testing_the_truth,   You were there with us during Tent City I.  We were the most peaceful and harmonious bunch of people I've ever seen in my life.   Now we just need to keep our eye on the ball and make sure that Tent City II thrives with the same spirit.  We need to be especially watchful to detect provocateurs that will be placed there by the Jordano-Fernandinistas (or is it Fernando-Jordanites?)   I brought up the idea of you getting your job back (without talking to you about it) mostly as a rhetorical device to boost morale.  You know, there's nothing written in stone saying that THIS Board is going to survive and outlast you.  I think they are all on their way out, except for maybe 2 or 3 members at the most.

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