Canucks for FSSA

Dear Canuck ALUMNI of Gallaudet,

Our alma mater, our beloved Gallaudet University, is now deep in crisis because students, staff, faculty and alumni have felt for so long, oppressed and ignored by the University’s administration and Board of Trustees. The protests started in May of 2006 after the selection of the new President, Dr. Jane Kelleher Fernandes, sparked an outcry, citing a flawed presidential search process resulting in the selection of someone who a majority of the Gallaudet students, faculty and alumni consider the wrong choice to lead the University. After a long hiatus over the summer break, no attempt by the administration of Gallaudet has been done to neither improve the dialogue, and trust between the students and the administration nor make any changes on the campus. Therefore, Gallaudet students now are protesting against the Board of Trustees and administration’s decision. Therefore, we are leaders of the Faculty, Staff, Student and Alumni Coalition of Gallaudet University, representing the Alumni that reside in Canada. Our group is called the Canucks for FSSA.

1. Oppression 
Students at Gallaudet feel oppressed. People of color feel oppressed.  People with cochlear implants feel oppressed. People who aren’t fluent in ASL feel oppressed. People who aren’t fluent in English feel oppressed. Faculty feels oppressed. Staff feels oppressed.  Everyone feels oppressed and scared here, especially after acts of assault and intimidation by security officers and the administration as evidenced at Gallaudet. This is not healthy for any one who comes on campus, especially on a campus that brags to be the ONLY liberal arts university for the deaf. Which leads us to the next point…. 
 
2. Lack of Shared Governance 
The Board of Trustees has a long history of not listening to the community. DPN happened because of this: the BOT did not listen to the consensus of the community and chose a hearing president. This protest happened because the BOT did not listen to the consensus of the community; both the Deaf community and the Deaf People of Color community. We were forced to open our eyes to every kind of prejudice that occurs here at Gallaudet, and that led to the forming of FSSA. It is absolutely necessary to share governance of Gallaudet with each group of stakeholders: faculty, staff, students, alumni, with the addition of the deaf community at large. Gallaudet is an unique place, and it should be treated as such. Otherwise, why does the public relations department at Gallaudet even bother to send out pamphlets reinforcing this idea. 

3. Jane K. Fernandes is not an effective leader.
She has not raised educational standards at Gallaudet in her six years as provost. She has almost no support from those at Clerc Center where she was dean before she became provost. The faculty that served under her gave a 66 percent vote of no confidence in her
abilities as a president of Gallaudet University. That same faculty, at a recent town hall meeting, raised concerns of being depressed because of their employment at Gallaudet. They also raised concerns that many faculty were counting down the days to their retirement because they are not happy here at Gallaudet… a so-called “Mecca” of Deaf people? Of ASL? The staff here is terrified of expressing their opinions because they may be fired. Has Jane Fernandes opened the way for open communication and understanding here at Gallaudet?  The answer is an obvious NO. She has done nothing to unify the community after the protests in May. She has not contacted SBG once since the beginning of the school year- this says a lot, we believe. How can this woman lead Gallaudet if she is clueless about the concerns and issues of the community? 
 
Therefore, we must continue with our protest. It is necessary to preserve the integrity of Gallaudet University and the community in which it serves. I repeat our two demands: 

1. Reopen the search process (with multi-cultural lens in place)

 2. Absolutely no reprisals for protestors (to protect everyone on  campus so they can express their opinions)

More specific reasons why the process is flawed leading to the wrongful selection of the new President can be found on www.gufssa.com in the About Us section, look up various of questions and answers in the FAQ section. It is fair to warn you that the Gallaudet University Public Relations Office, Dr. I. King Jordan and the Board of Trustees are now conveying an entirely different message to the public and to the media, causing confusion and misunderstandings on why the protest exists. You can find their opinions and comments posted at www.9thprez.com. We are hoping that you will better understand what is going on at the sole liberal arts University for the Deaf in the World and how the situation truly defines oppression within our community and how important it is for all Deaf people to be able to speak out without resistance or oppressive attitudes in charge.

We want to show our support for the protest by spreading awareness, writing letters of support, and donating money to correct organizations. We, Canucks for FSSA, are here to help spread awareness among Canadian Alumni about the crisis at Gallaudet University. As alumni, we have the power to help promote positive changes at Gallaudet University. We would like to remind you that Gallaudet University is not just for Gallaudet students, Gallaudet does have an impact on the deaf community in the United States of America, Canada and the rest of the world. We would like to show the Board of Trustees, the Congress, and the media that we, Canadian Alumni and Canucks of FSSA, are also impacted by the crisis at Gallaudet University. We can do that by do everything in our power to aid the protestors by using our resources.
For more updated information about the Protest, check out the www sites;

www.elisawrites.com - a blogsite by Elisa Abenchuchan who is a protester and Alumni
www.9thprez.com - a blogsite for and by Dr. Fernandes’ team
www.gufssa.com  - the official FFSA site; for your information, if you decide to support the FSSA with letters of support and encouragement, as well as donations that are very much needed, you can go to the FSSA site and learn more about donations.
www.signcasts.com  - ASL VLOGsite filled with protesters’ opinions and recollections of the protest.
www.joeybaer.com  - ASL VLOGsite that expresses opinions of national alumni of Gallaudet
www.austinforfssa.blogspot.com - a blogsite by the Austin Alumni group supporting FSSA
www.bayareapovongally.blogspot.com - a blogsite by the Alumni of Bay Area in California supporting FSSA.
www.deafbison.net  - a blogsite run by Gallaudet student-run tv crew, a lot of firsthand experience at the protests shown here.
www.ridorlive.com  - a blogsite with controversy and opinions including latest updates of the protests and very supportive of the FSSA coalition and protest.

Please feel free to contact us at canucksforfssa@gmail.com to see how you can help the protest from Canada .

 Alumnusly yours,

Megan Youngs ‘03
Christine Roschaert ‘06

P.S. One of the ideas we want to do is have a volunteer arrange for a night where alumni and the Deaf community can gather and discuss the crisis at Gallaudet University and sign supportive words on a Canadian flag and start up a donation basket for the FSSA, needing only one night at London, Milton/Toronto and Belleville.  After this is done (and hopefully ASAP), Megan will send the package to Christine in DC where she can share the donations and the flag with the FSSA protesters during Homecoming week. 

Volunteers, do not hesitate to email us at CanucksForFSSA@gmail.com .