Enough is Enough at Gallaudet (I copied and pasted below from that link)

WASHINGTON – It doesn’t matter whether Gallaudet University students had reasonable grounds for being unhappy at the choice of Jane Fernandes as incoming president of the well-known school for the deaf in Northeast D.C. By going so far as to shut down the campus for three days, the protesters made themselves into nothing better than hooligans. As such, they deserve neither sympathy nor respect.

With even the elementary and high school students denied access to their own classrooms on campus, university officials had no choice but to ask the police to start making arrests.

Of course, every American enjoys the right to peaceful assembly, to protest and to unhindered political speech. But nobody has the right to deprive other people of their liberty or their property (including intellectual property or the pursuit thereof) without due process of law. The other Gallaudet students who weren’t involved in the protest over Fernandes paid for their education — to the tune of $11,359 per semester. To deprive them of that education by forcibly blocking their entrance to campus was robbing them just assuredly as if the protesters had taken their wallets. It was a criminal act — and university officials finally treated it as such.

Even worse was the bad example set for the deaf children in elementary school who share the same campus. These young students did not have access to other venues where they could get education tailored to their special needs. The example of lawlessness that the older protesting college students set could do lasting damage, giving the younger students the idea that free speech is not a respectful exchange of ideas, but instead a matter of brute force.

And despite the fact that there was no physical violence by the Gallaudet protesters, their blockade nevertheless used force to make a point. What would have happened if somebody tried to cross the blockade in order to exercise their own legal right to the education they paid for?

Back during the campus unrest of the 1960s and early ’70s, anti-war activists made the same mistake, thinking their cause more important than other people’s rights. Ronald Reagan, then governor of California, knew what to do with those protesters: He had them arrested. His tough stance did not make him a pariah but a hero in his state. He was re-elected to a second term by a huge margin of 600,000 votes, and went on to become president. Gallaudet President I. King Jordan demonstrated similar courage by ordering the arrests and reopening the campus on Saturday. Jordan is not a “traitor,” as some of the students who once supported him are now calling him. By standing up to the mob, he demonstrated precisely those qualities of character and leadership that earned students’ initial respect. His will be very big shoes to fill.

The lesson here is that protesters who take things too far often do their own cause more harm than good. The American people are more than willing to listen to reasoned — and sometimes even strident —arguments. But they have no patience with self-absorbed law-breakers.Gallaudet’s campus should never have been closed in the first place.But it was necessary to reopen it by the force of law — which is the only legitimate force there is.

What do I think of this?

Well, I think it is wrong to block Gallaudet entrances… why ? Students have classes. Teachers have to teach for those students who come to the class. You realize how much it costs to have an education? 11,359 dollars a semester! That is alot of money. The entrances should be permanently open.

Well, I am not there. And I dont know if any students, faculty, and staff are still going on with their daily lives either working or going to classes or join the protests completely, but I am sure some of them still want to continue their education and not part of the protest. I think there are about 1,100 students. I doubt that all are joining the protest.

It is not like that I am against what is going on with Gallaudet. I support you 100 percent! I support the non-violence protest. I support a peace assembly! I have no problem with that. I say you keep up with it, until you get what you want. I think Jane should be resigning. I think we need a new BoT … But why choose to block the whole Gallaudet’s entrances? I think they can do better than that. They have not done nothing wrong — I mean students, faculty, and staff who want to enter Gallaudet — while you block them, they are stuck. Let them have the access to Gallaudet completely. Well, I am glad that it is not blocking any more. But please don’t do that again

I realize that it said MSSD elementary students are not going to classes because of the blockage. That is pretty serious. I think they should be in the classes, not out of class. I thought the leaders should have allowed them enter to their school. The education is very important. I understand that the protest is very important, too, but blocking them is not helping. It makes us look bad.

FYI, I have written a longest entry in my blog history, the title will be: What do I think of Jane Fernandes? It will be published shortly after I proofread … so far it is my third time proofreading.

Correction: I was informed that MSSD and KDES (high school and elementary schools) were allowed to open for students to come to school. Protestors did not close that entrance. But IKJ forced to close it. I was also told that IKJ told the PR to lie to the media… If that is true, it is a very bad image for IKJ and PR!

However, my opinion about closing the entrances still stands. It is very wrong, either by protestors or by IKJ.

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