Gallaudet students, faculty offer input

WASHINGTON --Gallaudet University is inviting students, faculty and staff members, and alumni to voice their opinions on the qualities they want in a new leader, following protests that led to the ouster of incoming president Jane K. Fernandes, members of the groups say.

The board of trustees extended the invitation Saturday as the nation's premier school for the deaf begins choosing an interim president and deciding ways to restart the presidential search process, they said.

"The board was very attentive," Alexander Zernovoj, president of the Gallaudet Graduate Students Association, told The Washington Post. "They seemed to have a genuine interest in what we were saying. We felt very positive. We felt we were heard."

Fernandes' appointment was revoked last month after weeks of protests.

Protesters complained that Fernandes, Gallaudet's former provost, was an ineffective leader and that she was not the best person to address a lack of diversity, declining enrollment and low graduation rates. They also said the board had failed to consult with students and faculty members.

On Saturday, trustees met with each group behind closed doors and would not comment on the proceedings.

Representatives of the Gallaudet University Alumni Association urged the trustees to select an interim president quickly.

"They've got to do it as soon as possible to bring the university towards recovery and bring it back to the level of academic excellence it deserves," said Kelby Brick, a 1994 graduate who lives near Baltimore.

Longtime President I. King Jordan's contract ends next month. Fernandes had been selected in May to take office in January.

The president of the student government association, Noah Beckman, said trustees told students that they hope to have an interim president within a few weeks.

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