Deaf President Now!

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As we walked into the building that was once a gym and has since been renovated into the alumni building, everything changed. The meeting room was filled with pictures, signs and signatures. It was quiet, not an awkward silence, but a respectful peace. This was a tribute to the 1988 protest for DPN (Deaf President Now). We all looked at the pictures and signs that had been preserved; even the jackets of the student body who arranged the protest were on the walls. I stared in awe at the history that was in front of me. We as students had been learning or already had learned about this historic event in Gallaudet University’s history. After 124 years of having hearing presidents of the University, the student body had enough and were ready for a change (“History behind DPN”). The room was darker than other areas on campus, you could see through the floor to the former pool they used when the school first opened. There were so many emotions and history in such a small area that it was hard to take it all in. I watched our tour guide sign to us about the history of the building as well as DPN.

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March 6, 1988, Washington DC, this was a day that the future of Gallaudet University would be forever changed. This was the day the students would fight to have a Deaf president of their university. For a week many rallies, protests, and boycotts took place. Students refused to eat, go to class, and some even chained themselves to the front gates (Perry, 2018). They were fighting for their right to have representation in their school from a former Deaf person. Someone who understood what they must go through and could stand up for their needs. The students won and got their first Deaf president after 124 years.

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When the tour guide finished telling us about DPN, I sat in one of the chairs at the same table some of the student body gathered to plan DPN. It felt very spiritual to see and feel the history that changed not only Gallaudet University but many other Deaf schools. After Gallaudet won, other schools realized they could fight for their representation. In terms of Deaf education across the country, many things changed. Schools got Deaf principals and presidents, more and more teachers of the Deaf were Deaf or hard of hearing rather than hearing. While this is still an ongoing issue and even some Deaf schools in Utah are under hearing administration, it sparked a revolution. This was the beginning of a big change in Deaf education, what will be the next?