Ideas Exchanged as Protest Continues at Gallaudet

Gallaudet graduate Tawny Holmes addresses a crowd protesting at the university's Florida Avenue NE entrance. (Photos By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)

Polls in the student paper registered minuscule support for Fernandes, and nearly two-thirds of faculty members who responded to a poll said she was "unacceptable."

Some people were angry that despite that message, she was chosen by the board.

Students made their demands yesterday morning: Reopen the search process, they said, and promise no reprisals for protesters.

After 1 1/2 hours of talks, Fernandes and Jordan came to the gatehouse near Florida Avenue, and a few of the student leaders said they now believe the search process was fair. The students encouraged the crowd to ask questions, and a long and heated back-and-forth began with hundreds watching.

How could Fernandes expect to lead without support on campus? one student asked. Fernandes responded that many such conversations would help her build support during the eight-month transition period.

She apologized if she seemed disrespectful of students in the past and promised to do better to be more visible and personable.

Jordan told them this is not another Deaf President Now movement -- it's not a civil rights issue. A student said, "No, they didn't listen to us," just as the board ignored student demands in 1988.

Jordan said: "Students were heard. They just didn't agree with you."

"Are we going to back down? No!" a woman signed, and a roar of agreement rolled through the crowd. Sophomore Christopher Corrigan ran, waving people back to the gates, where blankets still lay on the road from the night before. Some students followed him.

"This is our home until they make the right decision," he said.