Fernandes’ Statements – Washington Post Online Discussion

Jane Fernandes participated in an online discussion group hosted by the Washington Post. She made several comments that were blatantly false, seriously distorted, or completely glosses over her failures.

Text of Transcript: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/10/20/DI2006102001223.html

(It should be noted that while I was comparing Fernandes’ responses to the questions, I was struck by how pat or “perfect” her responses were. I strongly do agree with Ridor’s assessment [www.ridorlive.com] that a large portion of her discussion was “planned out” in advance. [EDIT: Mishka Zena concurs with this as well. http://mishkazena.wordpress.com/] After all, who would memorize Gallaudet’s mission statement or an African-American spiritual hymn and would actually get questions specifically expecting such answers?!) 

The following are just a sampling of her responses:

Fresno, Calif.: Dear Dr. Fernandes,One of the roles of a college president is to assure that the actions of the institution reflects the mission. Would you please talk about Gallaudet’s mission and how the protest does or does not support that mission. Thank you.

 

Jane K. Fernandes: The mission of Gallaudet University is to serve as a comprehensive, multipurpose institution of higher education for deaf and hard of hearing citizens of the United States and the world. . .

Fernandes’ response was cut and pasted from Gallaudet’s own webpage: http://www.gallaudet.edu/x237.xml. She also did not even address whether the protest supported the mission in her response.

Jane K. Fernandes: . . .My African American friends seem to understand the pressures the deaf community is feeling. One of them shared this spiritual with me:We’ll stand the storm, it won’t be long, we’ll anchor by and byWe’ll stand the storm, it won’t be long, we’ll anchor by and by

It reminds us that life is full of storms of different intensity and the struggle is not to avoid them, but stand through them.

I had to laugh out loud at yet another reference to “storms” as I remember all too well the ridicule she gained in May by unwittingly comparing herself to the doomed boat in “The Perfect Storm.” Well, here she goes again! Break out those “Perfect Storm” posters again if you hadn’t thrown them away!

 

It should be noted that Fernandes bizarrely emphasized her own color as she disclosed in her letter of application for the presidency:

 

“I am a white deaf woman, the daughter of a deaf mother and a hearing father, with both deaf and hearing brothers, all of whom are white people. The generations of white deaf and hearing people in my family have never signed; they have always been oral people.”  Why on earth is there a need to emphasize that not only is she white but generations of her family were white as well? It’s almost as if she’s bragging “Nuh-uh, not a shred of color in me!” and lends an undeniable hint of racism to the debate at hand. 

Jane K. Fernandes: . . .The selection of the Gallaudet University president is made by the Gallaudet University Board of Trustees. Students at Gallaudet and at NTID do not and cannot make such a decision. . .

She conveniently leaves out the fact that it’s not only the students who are protesting but also friends, alumni, and faculty. She also does not mention that while the protestors cannot make such a decision, they certainly can influence the board of trustees in their decisions.

Anonymous: To the outsider, it seems as though nothing was done over the summer months to address this issue. Why was the issue not addressed by you or the administration before students returned to school?

Jane K. Fernandes: I have been working since May to address the issues that were raised. I have been meeting and talking with students, faculty and staff about their issues. Several times, the meetings continued for up to three hours with a tremendous outpouring of concern for the future of Gallaudet. I worked very hard throughout the summer to resolve the issues.

Jane actually did spend a substantial part of her time immediately after the protests flared up in May for a worthwhile cause for the deaf. Too bad it was the Deaf Thai and not the students of Gallaudet…she herself says:

“I will visit Thailand in May to observe firsthand the outcomes and impact of the project, meet with the Princess of Thailand, and make a keynote presentation at the
First World Congress on the Power of Language.” – Letter of Application – Jane K. Fernandes http://pr.gallaudet.edu/presidentalsearch/?ID=8639 

Canceling an academic trip and turning down a chance to meet a real live princess in order to deal with a scattered group of rabblerousing students who’ll fade away over the summer anyway?

 

Of course she’d want to meet the princess!

 

Why Fernandes felt that it was academically important to note that she was going to meet a princess, I have no idea.

Trip to Thailand, Gallaudet PR Summary: http://www.gallaudet.edu/x3172.xml

And boasting about meeting with people for up to three WHOLE hours?! That leaves her with only twenty-one hours a day to lovingly review her Thailand trip pictures! This isn’t the sign of an administrator who has displayed sincerity in trying to resolve the issues confronting her. Her appearance at the National Association of the Deaf conference was also widely considered a publicity fiasco noted not so much by her lack of interaction with the attendees but rather the negative impression she gave to those she did interact with. 

Rochester, N.Y.: Is it true that you won’t resign because you would lose out on a severance package that was described by one Board of Trustees member as worth up to $1 million?

Jane K. Fernandes: The rumor about a million dollar severance package has no basis in fact.

Because it’s actually TWO million dollars, muwhahahaha!

Actually, there’s no concrete proof of just what her severance package entails. Such an agreement is a closely held one.

Some believe Fernandes is holding out until January 1^st in order to collect her severance package.

 

Some believe that she truly thinks she is capable of reining in the protestors and afterwards running an effective university.

 

Some believe she is simply adamant about becoming president because she would have no place to go if the BoT asked her to resign or terminated her, since she had already shot whatever credibility she had so far by her divisive comments and actions. She’s essentially damaged goods and is practically unemployable as a result.

 

 In closing, the above are just a portion of Fernandes’ responses that just don’t ring true or obscure the truth. I’m sure other bloggers will point out Fernandes’ other discrepancies as well.

 

-PI