History

Deaf President Now at Gallaudet University

In March 1988, students at Gallaudet University — the world's only university designed for Deaf students — shut down the campus for a week to protest the board of trustees' selection of a hearing president over two highly qualified Deaf candidates. The protest succeeded: the hearing appointee resigned, and I. King Jordan became Gallaudet's first Deaf president.

Gallaudet University and Its Context

Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. was founded in 1864 and is the world's only university designed for Deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Its founding was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. For more than 120 years after its founding, Gallaudet had never had a Deaf president — every president had been hearing.

By 1988, the Deaf community had been building political consciousness and activism for decades. The debate over oralism versus sign language — deeply shaped by the 1880 Milan Conference's devastating rejection of sign language — had evolved, and American Sign Language (ASL) had been formally recognised as a full natural language by linguistic research (notably William Stokoe's 1960 work). The Deaf community's sense of cultural identity and rights was strong.

The Board's Decision

In March 1988, the Gallaudet Board of Trustees was choosing between three candidates for university president: two highly qualified Deaf candidates (I. King Jordan and Harvey Corson) and one hearing candidate (Elisabeth Zinser). When the board selected Zinser, the chair of the board — Jane Spilman — reportedly said: "Deaf people are not yet ready to function in the hearing world." Whether she said these words exactly is disputed; what is not disputed is that the selection of a hearing president over equally or better-qualified Deaf candidates sparked immediate outrage.

The Protest

Students shut down the campus on March 7, 1988. Locked gates, student demands, and rallies drew national media attention. The four demands were:

  1. Elisabeth Zinser must resign and a Deaf president be selected
  2. Jane Spilman must resign as board chair
  3. The board must have a 51% Deaf majority
  4. No reprisals against protesters

The protest was peaceful, organised, and profoundly effective. Students, faculty, alumni, and community members — Deaf and hearing — rallied around the cause. The slogan "Deaf President Now" became a rallying cry far beyond Gallaudet.

The Outcome

Within one week:

  • Elisabeth Zinser resigned
  • I. King Jordan was appointed Gallaudet's first Deaf president
  • Jane Spilman resigned
  • The board agreed to move toward a Deaf majority

Legacy

Deaf President Now is remembered as a watershed moment in Deaf civil rights. It demonstrated that the Deaf community could organise, that Deaf identity and cultural pride were powerful forces, and that the hearing establishment's assumptions about Deaf people's capabilities were deeply flawed. It became an inspiration for disability rights movements worldwide and reinforced the principle that institutions serving a community must be led by that community.