Qualla: Gallaudet University

Gallaudet University: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Daniel Lobo, CC BY 2.0. In the spring of 1988 the students at Gallaudet University locked the campus gates. Their demand was simple: a deaf president for the only university in the world that taught its classes in American Sign Language. The board of trustees had just chosen a hearing candidate over two deaf finalists, and the students had had enough. The week of protest that followed, known as Deaf President Now, became one of the most successful civil rights actions in American higher education history. The board reversed itself. Within seven days I. King Jordan, a deaf professor and Gallaudet alumnus, was named the university's first deaf president. The protests are taught in classes across the country today. The school they happened at is taught much less, mainly because most hearing Americans do not know it exists.

Read more: Gallaudet University on Qualla

Image: Daniel Lobo | CC BY 2.0

Gallaudet University: Lincoln Signs the Charter

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Sdkb, CC BY-SA 4.0. Gallaudet University was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for deaf and blind children. Its origins trace back to philanthropist Amos Kendall, who had donated two acres of his farm in northeast Washington in 1857 for a school for deaf and blind children. The school operated as ...

Read more: Gallaudet University on Qualla

Image: Sdkb | CC BY-SA 4.0

Gallaudet University: The Visual Campus

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Sdkb, CC BY-SA 4.0. The 99-acre campus in northeast Washington was designed deliberately for a visual culture. Buildings are arranged so that students walking outdoors can see each other and converse from a distance using ASL. Doors are wider than standard to accommodate two-handed signers walking t...

Read more: Gallaudet University on Qualla

Image: Sdkb | CC BY-SA 4.0

Gallaudet University: Deaf President Now

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit daveynin from United States, CC BY 2.0. By 1988 Gallaudet had existed for one hundred and twenty-four years. It had never had a deaf president. The board of trustees announced on March 6 that it had chosen Elisabeth Zinser, a hearing administrator from North Carolina, over two deaf finalists. The chairwoman of the boar...

Read more: Gallaudet University on Qualla

Image: daveynin from United States | CC BY 2.0

Gallaudet University: Two Languages

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Edward A. Fay, ed., Public domain. Gallaudet is officially bilingual. American Sign Language and written English are the languages of instruction. Hearing students are admitted in small numbers to the graduate school, and a handful to the undergraduate program. Classes can include simultaneous voicing for hearing ...

Read more: Gallaudet University on Qualla

Image: Edward A. Fay, ed. | Public domain

Gallaudet University: After 1988

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit USDAgov, Public domain. The university has faced internal challenges since Deaf President Now. A 2006 controversy over the appointment of Jane K. Fernandes as Jordan's successor sparked another student protest, called Unity for Gallaudet, that resulted in Fernandes's withdrawal before she took office. T...

Read more: Gallaudet University on Qualla

Image: USDAgov | Public domain