Pioneer in deaf education to retire

[Harold F. Schiffman]

>>From the Chronicle of Higher Education
Tuesday, September 6, 2005


http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/09/2005090607n.htm

First Deaf President of Gallaudet U. Announces He Will Step Down Next Year
By PAUL FAIN


The first deaf president of Gallaudet University, I. King Jordan,
announced on Thursday that he would step down on December 31, 2006. He was
also the first deaf American college president. Mr. Jordan, who is 62,
became Gallaudet's president in March 1988, after the Board of Trustees'
decision to hire a new president who was not deaf sparked protests by
students and alumni that shut down the institution.  The board's choice
for the job, Elisabeth A. Zinser, resigned after four days, and Mr.
Jordan, then a dean at Gallaudet, was selected to lead the university.

"I became president in a very public way," said Mr. Jordan during a speech
to students, faculty, and administrators at Gallaudet on Thursday. Mr.
Jordan said that as Gallaudet's president, he has been a spokesman for the
larger movement touched off by the 1988 protests, which is still known as
"Deaf President Now," or DPN. The protests were seen by many as a seminal
moment for deaf equality, and have been hailed by civil-rights leaders and
politicians as having helped spur the Americans With Disabilities Act of
1990, which Mr. Jordan championed.

Mr. Jordan overcame initial concerns about his ability to raise money as a
deaf person. Gallaudet's endowment has grown from $5-million to
$150-million in his time as president, while the federal aid the
university receives has increased from $62-million to $104.5-million a
year. In a letter to the board, Mr. Jordan wrote that he was resigning in
part to allow a new president to take charge of the university's long-term
strategic plan. In his retirement, Mr. Jordan plans to remain active as "a
voice for deaf empowerment and achievement at Gallaudet University and
across the country," according to a news release from the university. He
also plans to travel with his wife, Linda Kephart Jordan, and hopes to
continue running ultramarathons, such as the 100-mile event he completed
on August 20.


http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/09/2005090607n.htm
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Copyright  2005 by The Chronicle of Higher Education