taken from GU’s PR site:

It is with deep regret that I heard the Board’s decision to terminate my contract.

I love Gallaudet University and I believe I could have made a significant contribution to its future. I hope that the Gallaudet community can heal the wounds that have been created. I trust that we all want a stronger, better, more inclusive Gallaudet where ASL and Deaf culture have been and always will be at the core of academic and community life.

Six BOT members are in Fowler Hall right now (8:20 PM), in a meeting with Carl Pramuk and student leaders. Three of them have been identified: Pamela Holmes, Ben Soukup, and Harvey Goodstein.

The BOT has just announced that students won’t get PNG but they will do community service. However, nothing has been said about any possible consequences for staff and faculty.

Thanks to an alumni who just immed me the above information – I’m waiting for my dinner to be ready and then zoooom back to Kendall Green! Everyone has huge smiles on their faces, its a great night. Everybody knows that the fight is far from over, but this is a night of celebration and then tomorrow it’s back to work.

Thanks, Elisa!

Gallaudet Board Rescinds Fernandes’s Appointment

By Susan Kinzie and David A. Fahrenthold

Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, October 29, 2006; 7:22 PM

The governing board of Gallaudet University today revoked the appointment of the school’s incoming president, bowing to the demands of students, faculty, staff and alumni whose protests have kept the nation’s premier school for the deaf in turmoil for the last month.

The board, meeting in a day-long special session at a hotel near Dulles International Airport, voted to “terminate” Jane K. Fernandes’ position as president-designate, and said she would not take over for current President I. King Jordan as planned on Jan. 1.

They issued a statement this evening saying the decision was made with “much regret and pain.”

“We understand the impact of this decision and the important issues that inherently arise when a Board re-examines decisions in the face of an on-going protest,” the statement said. “The Board believes that it is in the best interests of the University to terminate Dr. Fernandes from the incoming President’s position.”

Protesters have criticized her leadership since her appointment had been announced in May.

Fernandes, the school’s former provost, has said she was caught in the middle of a cultural debate over what it means to be deaf enough. Although she was born deaf, she did not learn sign language until she was an adult. But protesters said that was not the issue. They said the protests were about her inability to lead, an unfair selection process and longstanding problems at Gallaudet that have been ignored.

Supporters, however, praised her leadership abilities and said the presidential-search process was fair.

In a statement after the trustees’ action, Fernandes issued a statement saying that she loves “Gallaudet University and I believe I could have made a significant contribution to its future. I hope that the Gallaudet community can heal the wounds that have been created.

“I trust that we all want a stronger, better, more inclusive Gallaudet where ASL and Deaf culture have been and always will be at the core of academic and community life,” she said.

Jordan also issued a statement saying that he was “deeply troubled by the divisions among us and by the anger that overtook reason, respect, and civility. Now we must all come together for the sake of Gallaudet, particularly for the sake of Gallaudet’s students . . .

“I want to thank Jane Fernandes for her dedication and courage and her standing up for what’s right. . . . Her vision and her plans to make that vision come to life would have guided the university we all love into a bright future,” he said.

Jordan said the board acted as it did to “resolve the current stalemate . . . Now we must all put down our weapons of words and seek to restore a sense of community.”

The trustees’ statement said they are “continuing to meet to discuss transitional issues.”

Staff writers Nelson Hernandez and Judy Sarasohn contributed to this article.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/29/AR2006102900533.html

Gallaudet Rejects Incoming President

AP Photo/CHRIS GARDNER

WASHINGTON (AP) — The board of trustees of the nation’s premier school for the deaf voted Sunday to terminate the appointment of the incoming president, who had been the subject of protests, the board announced.

The vote at Gallaudet University came after a daylong closed-door meeting that followed a month of protests by students and faculty members. Jane Fernandes, the school’s former provost, had been selected in May to take office in January.

“Although undoubtedly there will be some members of the community who have differing views on the meaning of this decision, we believe that it is a necessity at this point,” the board said in a written statement.

Fernandes did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Protesters had said Fernandes, 50, was a divisive and ineffective leader as provost. They said the board ignored surveys by students and faculty during the presidential search that called her “unacceptable.” The faculty voted this month, 82 percent to 18 percent, for Fernandes to resign or be removed.

Fernandes had refused to resign, saying it would hurt the university to allow protests to determine the school’s leadership. She said she had become a lightning rod for those frustrated about changes in deaf culture because she hadn’t learned to use American Sign Language until she was in her 20s.

Celebrations broke out on campus when the decision was announced. Professor Diane Morton, who joined protesters for a rally at the university gymnasium, said students were “elated” when protest leaders received the e-mailed announcement.

“The leaders made it very clear that her resignation is not the end,” Morton said. “We still need to make sure that the presidential search process is fair, equitable, transparent and diverse.”

The board said trustees regretted the decision to reverse course on Fernandes’ appointment.

“It has certainly been a difficult and trying time for our Gallaudet community,” the statement said. “Now is the time for healing.”

It was the second time in 18 years that protests have forced presidents from office at Gallaudet. In 1988, students rallied on Capitol Hill, demanding the board appoint a “Deaf President Now.” Then-president Elisabeth Zinser resigned after about a week in the position.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GALLAUDET_PRESIDENT?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

We are all celebrating like crazy. I took some great photos which will be up soon- am editing them now. As for the BOT’s statement about students being punished for violating code of conduct… well, that only shows our fight isn’t over…. we will continue. It is not yet a complete victory.. but for now, we are all celebrating. We deserve it.

As for the hunger strikers, they are starting easy- drinking broth and fluids.. they can’t eat right away for their body is used to being without food… but gradually they will start eating again, and their smiles wrap around their whole faces.

I talked to a lot of leaders- Chris, Ryan, Tawny, etc. The mood is of elation, but nobody is forgetting we still have a long fight ahead. Right now, people are dancing on Kendall Green, and students are taking down the barriers on the Gate. I would give anything to be a fly on JKF’s wall. This is an unbelievable night. If I get more news or see/hear anything of note, you will be the first to know.

As Tim Rarus said just now, pop open an ice cold beer and start partyin’!

huge bonfire and more than a thousnad ppl are here celebrating nothing but beautiful smiles, this is a beautiful day

Statement by I. King Jordan

“The struggle during the past several months has been very painful for all of us. I am deeply troubled by the divisions among us and by the anger that overtook reason, respect, and civility.

” Now we must all come together for the sake of Gallaudet, particularly for the sake of Gallaudet’s students–those who are our students now and those who will be students in the future.

” I want to thank Jane Fernandes for her dedication and courage and her standing up for what’s right. I am personally saddened–for Gallaudet and for Dr. Jane K. Fernandes–that she will not have the opportunity to show Gallaudet and the world what a great president she could have been. Her vision and her plans to make that vision come to life would have guided the university we all love into a bright future. The Board of Trustees saw that promise when they selected Dr. Fernandes as president. In order to resolve the current stalemate the Board has deemed it necessary to steer a different course, and I accept their decision. Now we must all put down our weapons of words and seek to restore a sense of community.

“ In my Town Hall speech last November I said there is more that unites us than divides us. I think we lost sight of that for a time and we must work together to refocus on the core values that unite us. We should not look for a resolution to the struggle of recent months in terms of winners and losers. If we do, Gallaudet and our students will be the losers. “

—–Original Message—–
Gallaudet’s Board of Trustees votes to terminate Dr. Jane Fernandes’ appointment as president
Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2006 17:41:10 -0500

Signature: Gallaudet University – Public Relations/Visitors Center

TO: Campus Community

FROM: Board of Trustees

DATE: October 29, 2006

RE: Board of Trustees Meeting

Today, we announce with much regret and pain that after serious
deliberation in a special, all-day Executive Session of the Board of
Trustees, we have voted to terminate Dr. Fernandes’ appointment
as President-Designate (currently effective) and President
(effective beginning January 1, 2007) at Gallaudet University.

We understand the impact of this decision and the important issues that
inherently arise when a Board re-examines decisions in the face of an
on-going protest. The Board believes that it is in the best interests of
the University to terminate Dr. Fernandes from the incoming President’s
position. Although undoubtedly there will be some members of the
community who have differing views on the meaning of this decision, we
believe that it is a necessity at this point. The Board is continuing to
meet to discuss transitional issues.

It has certainly been a difficult and trying time for our Gallaudet
community. Now is the time for healing. The hope of the Board of
Trustees is for our beloved community to come together to work for a
stronger and better Gallaudet. 

THE BOT JUST VOTED TO TERMINATE JANE FERNANDES

May be tonight, if not, the lockdown will happen at 6am and the BoT is already aware of this so we just have to wait for word from them, keep ur eyes peeled on the news and this site!