Deaf President Now-25th Anniversary
President's Panel
President T. Alan Hurwitz
with former presidents I. King Jordan (left) and Robert Davila (right).
President T. Alan Hurwitz
with former presidents I. King Jordan (left) and Robert Davila (right).
Gallaudet’s deaf presidents discuss impact of DPN
The University's first three deaf presidents
shared their insights on the impact of
the Deaf President Now movement
of 1988.
In the first of a series of events celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Deaf President Now (DPN) movement, the University's first three deaf presidents shared their experiences and insights at a February 5 panel on the transformative changes and impact of DPN over the last quarter century.
Before DPN, all seven presidents who served over the course of Gallaudet University's history were hearing. That changed in March of 1988 when many people in the campus community and numerous off-campus organizations and individuals protested the Board of Trustees' decision to select Dr. Elizabeth Zinser, a hearing woman, as the University's eighth president. The groundswell of support for the cause brought national and international attention to Gallaudet and culminated with the board reversing its decision and naming Dr. I. King Jordan (G-'70), a deaf faculty member at the University and one of the finalists for the position, as president. It also led to a majority of the board members being deaf. Jordan served as Gallaudet's president until his retirement in 2006. Dr. Robert Davila (G-'53) followed in his footsteps as Gallaudet's second deaf president in 2007, and Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz became the third deaf president in 2010.
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Source: GallaudetDPN25
