CLEVELAND 3 HOLD PEACEFUL SIT-IN PROTEST AT GALLADUET BOARD OF TRUSTEE CHAIR OFFICE IN COLUMBUS OHIO
 

At approximately 10:45 yesterday morning several protesters from the Deaf & Deaf-Blind Committee on Human Rights (DDBCHR) of Northeast Ohio attempted to meet with Dr. Brenda Jo Brueggemann, Acting Chair of the Gallaudet University Board of Trustees. The Cleveland, 3 Hold DawnMarie Fucile (Deaf), Judy Groner (Deaf-Blind) and her guide dog Pheonix, and Heather West (a hearing interpreter), went to meet with Brueggemann during her regularly scheduled office hours at Ohio State University where she is a professor in the Department of English.

The protestors first made sure there were no students waiting to speak with Brueggemann and then entered her office requesting to speak with her about resolving the crisis situation at Gallaudet University. Brueggemann became visibly upset and defensive almost immediately and asked the group to leave. The DDBCHR members said they wanted her to call an emergency meeting of the Gallaudet Board of Trustees. Brueggemann quickly called campus security when she realized the protesters were not going to leave her office. Fucile, Groner and West then brought in their protest signs and sat down to wait for campus security to arrive.

Brueggemann argued for several minutes with the protestors saying there was nothing else she could do, that she was very aware of the situation on the Gallaudet campus but it was not her role to interfere with how the administration runs the University. The DDBCHR leaders responded
that it was precisely her duty as president of the University Board of Trustees to take action to resolve the growing crisis situation, particularly with the serious nature of the seven student hunger strikers now in their 10th day without any food. Fucile said to Ms. Brueggemann by both signing and using her voice, You have the power and authority to end the crisis at Gallaudet. The hunger strikers are suffering and we are asking you to do something about it.

Brueggemann soon left her office while another staff member stayed to monitor the situation.

When campus security arrived they told the protesters they would need to leave the office or face arrest so the leaders moved their sit-in to one side of the hallway outside Brueggeman office. No one was blocked from walking through the corridor. One officer went to discuss the situation with Brueggemann and returned saying she would not talk with the protestors about their concerns and they would have to leave the building or face arrest. The three quickly discussed their options and decided to end the protest for the time being, re-group and call for more support. The sit-in lasted about an hour and a half.

The vast majority of Gallaudet faculty, students, staff, and alumni do not support the Board choice of Jane K. Fernandes to be the next president of Gallaudet. Gallaudet faculty, recently voted 82% against Fernandes in a vote of no-confidence. The Student Body Government has also voted not to recognized Fernandes as President and the Alumni Association has also called for her resignation. Many who have worked with her on campus in previous positions state Fernandes has created an atmosphere of distrust and fear and has proven an ineffectual leader. Over the past several weeks Gallaudet students and supporters have protested by taking over a campus building, blocking entrances to the school, setting up a tent city and marching to the US capital. I. King Jordan, the University outgoing president, ordered the arrest of over 135 protesters last week to re-open the campus. Seven students & alumni believe so deeply in the issue, they have been on a hunger strike for the past week. Despite her growing opposition, Ferndandes refuses to resign from her position and the Board of Trustees has taken no action to resolve the crisis.

The Cleveland are gaining widespread support from the Deaf & Deaf-Blind Community Nationwide and are planning further actions this week to pressure Dr. Brueggeman to take immediate action to end the crisis at Gallaudet.

The Deaf & Deaf-Blind Committee on Human Rights, founded in 1988, is a grassroots organization working to organize and educate around the issues of housing, healthcare, education, communication and living wage jobs for all Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing People.