American Sign Language (ASL)

ASL University | Bookstore | Catalog | Dictionary | Lessons | Resources | Syllabi | Library

Also see: Thomas Hopkins and Edward Minor Gallaudet
Also see the sign for GALLAUDET
Also see: Gallaudet University (2)

Gallaudet University:

Heather Sheffield
November 12, 2001

Gallaudet University

    Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. is the only liberal arts college for deaf and hard of hearing students. The University has over a hundred years of history behind it. It is responsible for producing many leaders in the deaf and hard of hearing community. The University has progressed into much more than a place to learn for its students. Although the University has experienced many trials and tribulations it is a respected school and carries great honor in its name.

    Gallaudet University is named after Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, who was born is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1787. Mr. Gallaudet was a brilliant student and entered Yale University at the age of 14. He graduated from Yale first in his class three years later. Having deep Protestant roots, Mr. Gallaudet decided to join the ministry. Reverend Gallaudet meet Dr. Mason Cogswell and his daughter Alice. The child was deaf and Mr. Gallaudet and the girls father were concerned about the child’s education. Dr. Cogswell persuaded Mr. Gallaudet to travel to England and study their methods of teaching deaf students. He was very pleased with his findings and traveled home with a companion and the two started the first school for the deaf, the American School for the Deaf. Alice was one of the first students and the school still educates today.

    The University began when Amos Kendall donated two acres of his land in Washington D.C. for deaf and blind students that were seeking aide. Mr. Kendall became involved with the children and petitioned the court to make them his wards. Kendall received aide from the government and began the Columbia Institute for the Instruction for the Deaf and Dumb. He made Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet’s son, Edward Miner Gallaudet, the superintendent of the school. At the turn of the 20^th century Gallaudet University briefly shifted to more technical fields of study. However, when Dr. Percival Hall became the second president of Gallaudet University he made the curriculum more liberal. In 1954, by an act of Congress, the Institution’s name was changed to Gallaudet College. The 1970’s continued as a period of growth for the University. The school was being effected by laws passed by the government that involved disabled individuals. Gallaudet University expanded its program to meet the demands of the new laws.

    Perhaps the event that put Gallaudet University on the map and many individuals remember as the civil rights movement for the deaf was the events that started on March 9, 1988. The board of trustees at Gallaudet University announced that the seventh president was going to be a hearing person. Angry with the decision many students, faculty, alumni, and staff shut down the campus. The protests lasted a week until all the demands of the protestors were met. The protestors terms were that a deaf person must be selected as president, Jane Spilman step down as the chairperson of the board of trustees, deaf people must have a 51% majority on the board, and there would be no reprisals against any student and employee involved in the protest. Dr. I. King Jordan was selected the eighth and first deaf president. The incident proves that deaf people can band together effectively for a common cause and succeed.

    Gallaudet University plays a crucial role in the lives of deaf and hard of hearing people everywhere. The school has become a safe haven for students with a hearing disability because they learn and grow with other students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Gallaudet may be remembered by the world because of the events of March 9, 1988 but the students that graduate from the University will always know it as their alma mater.

Bibliography

Christiansen, John B. & Barnartt, Sharon N.(1995)Deaf President Now! Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press. 1995.

Gannon, Jack R.(1989) The Week The World Heard Gallaudet Washington D.C.: Gallaudet University Press. 1989

No Author. (1997, Nov. 7) Gallaudet University. Copyright 1996 Retrieved 24, Oct. 2001: http://pr.gallaudet.edu/VisitorsCenter/GallaudetHistory/index.html

The sign for "GALLAUDET."

Note: The sign "Gallaudet" is similar to the sign for "glasses."

More on Gallaudet University...

Note: photo credit for photograph of Gallaudet University: Ira Meinhofer 2008