Gallaudet Reopens With Protesters Still At Front Gates

She says this protest is not really about her.

The anger is amazing, Fernandes said in an interview yesterday. "I really don't understand. So I have to believe it's not about me. . . . I believe it's about evolution and change and growth in the deaf community.

"It's something we have to go through, turmoil, to get to a higher place," she added.

She explained that she sees herself at the center of colliding forces. With genetic developments, cochlear implants and other technology, and more deaf children going to mainstream schools, many are asking what will happen to deaf culture.

"I'm leading the community into the future," Fernandes said.

The community is watching: For many deaf people, Gallaudet is as much a symbol of opportunity and pride as a university.

Tent cities supporting the protesters have popped up across the country. The school's alumni association called for Fernandes to resign, citing "overwhelming support" for the protesters and unfurling a banner: "Take back Gallaudet."

Using police force to control students carries particular resonance in the deaf community. Many rely on their hands and eyes to communicate, rendering nighttime arrests, handcuffs and pepper spray potentially dangerous.

The arrests, starting about 9 p.m. Friday and continuing into early yesterday in the bright glare of police spotlights, were watched and filmed by an emotional crowd of several hundred students, parents, professors and alumni. Some climbed fences or trees or pickup trucks to see over the crowd. Some wept; others shouted, demanding that Fernandes resign, denouncing Jordan and asking who the school officials expected to lead, when so many had been dragged away.

A lawyer used sign language to ask a police officer, "Why? Why?" A board member hugged a father whose daughters had just been hauled away by police.

Interest from afar was so intense that four of the most popular deaf blogs on the Internet crashed from overuse.

After a night spent on mats at a police training academy, released students wrote their booking numbers on T-shirts, converting them into badges of pride.

"I'm going to stay here until Jane resigns," Gallaudet junior Vanessa Arp said. "Where is she now? She's hiding while the students try to make the university better. That's not what we want in a leader."

A commotion broke out midmorning yesterday at the university's main entrance when a police officer asked students to allow a van to pass. When a small group of protesters refused, the officer tried to push them out of the way and Timothy DeCelles, 22, fell and struck his head. He was treated at Howard University Hospital and released.

"There was no communication," protester Robert Mason said.

It was a recurring theme. Jordan and Fernandes decided that negotiations had failed after she met with students Friday afternoon. They told her that 600 to 700 people would continue to protest unless she resigned, she said.

Jordan came into office in 1988 on a tide of student protests, in a movement that has become a rallying cry for the deaf. They demanded a "Deaf President Now." Friday night, one of those 1988 student protest leaders, Tim Rarus, was among the first to be arrested. "I helped put you in office, now you're arresting me!" Rarus shouted.

Jordan said yesterday that the protesters chose to be arrested. They refused to open the gate, which he said needed to be done for educational and safety reasons, and sat and waited for police. "I've been president for 18 1/2 years," he said, "and I've never had a more difficult decision."

Asked whether he has heard from people saying it was a betrayal, he said he has received many e-mails, some supporting and some opposing.

"I know in my heart it was the right decision," he said, "but my heart's really pained."

Fernandes watched the arrests from a security office for a bit. "It was horrible," she said. "This is Gallaudet University. This is deaf people's home." So she left.

"I'm really," she said, pausing. "I'm struggling to find the words. I'm torn up inside."

She knows she has to face more angry people. By now, she said, it's routine. She went to the cafeteria the other day, and students confronted her. That, she said, is how they will move forward -- keep talking. Keep working through it. "I am not stepping down," she said. "I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Staff writer Megan Greenwell contributed to this report.