Former deaf university president starts ‘revolution’

‘ ‘ ‘ When Irving King Jordan became the first deaf president of Gallaudet University in… ‘ ‘ ‘ When Irving King Jordan became the first deaf president of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., a reporter asked him, ‘What can a deaf person really do with a college degree?’ ‘ ‘ ‘ His answer, ‘Deaf people can do anything except hear.’ That became his personal mantra. ‘ ‘ ‘ Yesterday in Pitt’s Barco Law Building, 65-year-old Jordan spoke to a crowd composed of both the hearing and the deaf as part of the law school’s Thornburgh Family Lecture Series in Disability Law and Policy.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Jordan, who has been deaf since he was 21, served for 18 years as president of Gallaudet University, the world’s only university designed specifically for deaf or hard of hearing students. ‘ ‘ ‘ Using both speech and sign language, he told the story of his tumultuous path toward becoming president of the university, an achievement that he called a revolution in the disability rights movement. ‘ ‘ ‘ When Gallaudet’s former president resigned in 1987, the university considered hiring a person who was deaf as the new president. ‘ ‘ ‘ Jordan became one of three finalists for the position. Two of the finalists were men who were deaf, including Jordan, and the third was a woman’ who could hear and didn’t know sign language. ‘ ‘ ‘ At the time, Jordan thought he had a very good chance of becoming the new president, because the other deaf man didn’t match his own academic credentials and the woman didn’t know sign language. ‘ ‘ ‘ But Gallaudet’s board of trustees appointed the hearing woman as president, triggering a firestorm of protest from Gallaudet students and faculty who wanted one of the deaf men as president. ‘ ‘ ‘ They organized a protest movement called Deaf President Now and marched to the White House from Gallaudet’s campus in northwest D.C. ‘ ‘ ‘ The D.C. police first tried to quell the protest by opening their trunks and taking out blow horns on the mostly deaf crowd, but according to Jordan, ‘(It) didn’t work.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ The protests eventually caused Gallaudet’s board to reverse its decision. Jordan, suddenly thrust into national prominence, was under intense pressure to succeed. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘When I first became president, there were a lot of doubters,’ said Jordan.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ He was also concerned that if he failed as president, the ‘revolution’ his appointment had started would lose its steam.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ But despite external doubts and internal fears, Jordan excelled as president of Gallaudet. ‘ ‘ ‘ During his tenure, he increased the university’s endowment from $5 million to $175 million, strengthened its ties to Congressional funding and increased the quality and quantity of its enrollment.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Success really carried a strong message,’ said Jordan. ‘All people with disabilities should certainly have the ability to lead the disability community.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Jordan’s newfound fame attracted many in the disabled community, and Jordan suddenly became a symbol of the disability rights movement of the early ’90s. ‘ ‘ ‘ National politicians invited him to testify at a congressional committee in support of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. ‘ ‘ ‘ Jordan said he couldn’t remember well the testimony he gave, but he remembered that it was well-received because ‘it was presented by a person who had become a symbol.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Jordan also remembered that while reading to a pre-kindergarten class in a Rhode Island deaf school, a deaf student walked up to him, placed his arm on his shoulder and left it there the whole time Jordan was reading. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘He knew, like him, I was a deaf person, but that I could be important,’ said Jordan. ‘He knew, in his head, that he could be important, too.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ After his personal story, Jordan talked about the attitudes that society takes toward the disabled. ‘ ‘ ‘ He said the most crippling aspect of being a disabled person is not the disability itself, but the socially constructed stigma that comes with the condition. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘The word disability, with all its negative connotations, needs to be changed,’ said Jordan. ‘ ‘ ‘ If people could change their thought patterns about disability, Jordan said, the disabled would be able to achieve so much more. ‘ ‘ ‘ He explained that when the American Disabilities Act of 1990 came into effect, electronics manufacturers originally complained about the high cost of adding a chip to televisions, which would provide captioning for the hearing impaired. ‘ ‘ ‘ But in less than two years, the cost of a television set rose only $1 because of the chip. ‘ ‘ ‘ He also told a story he had heard about a worker who decided to shovel only the stair entrance to a building, neglecting the ramp entrance because he was tired. ‘ ‘ ‘ A girl asked him why he wouldn’t just shovel the ramp, so that everyone could get in the building if he was too tired to shovel both. ‘ ‘ ‘ Jordan used these examples to explain why the Americans with Disabilities Act has failed to achieve its goals. ‘ ‘ ‘ Today, 24 percent of people who are disabled live in poverty, said Jordan, compared to only 9 percent of people without disabilities. ‘ ‘ ‘ He also said that in 2007 only 36.9 percent of working age people with disabilities had a job. ‘ ‘ ‘ After his lecture, a few audience members who were deaf asked him questions in sign language, including a deaf and blind man who signed that he didn’t want to be labeled as an expendable person because of his disability. ‘ ‘ ‘ Jordan walked up to the man, clasped his hands in his and signed with him, saying that no person with a disability should ever feel expendable.