DPN memories: Faculty and staff share their experiences from 1988

For one week in March 1988, student-led protests at Gallaudet captured the nation’s attention–and then made history when the university appointed its first-ever Deaf president. This landmark event is the subject of Deaf President Now!, which will be released on Apple TV+ on May 16th. Producer and alumnus Nyle DiMarco, ’13, and Oscar-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim worked closely with the Gallaudet Archives to create the film, which pulls together archival footage and interviews to chronicle this tumultuous time. Everyone who was there has a story to tell, and some are still here on campus. We asked staffers to share what they remember about the movement and how it changed Gallaudet — and so much more. 

Provost Dr. Khadijat K. Rashid, ’90, was a third-year student during Deaf President Now (DPN). She recalls that she felt hesitant at the beginning of the protests, even though she was friends with the student leaders, or “Gallaudet four.” She says, “Being an international student made me cautious. I was worried about getting into trouble and how it might affect my visa, so I initially kept my distance. However, by Wednesday (the third day), I decided to join in and participate!” 

Rashid recalls DPN was high energy and a lot of fun. “The unity in the Deaf community was a wonderful feeling,” she says. In this reel of DiMarco interviewing Rashid (his former Business professor) at the Sundance premiere of the film, she recalls, “Everyone came together and for the first time, I felt proud to be Deaf. Back then, we often pitied ourselves for being Deaf but during DPN, that changed…. the immense pride. It was such an incredible feeling.” 

Assistant Dean Dr. Paige Franklin, ’91 & G-’95 was a freshman living in Peet Hall, and when the protest began, she had mixed feelings. She was puzzled why students wouldn’t accept the board’s decision to select Dr. Elisabeth Zinser, the sole hearing candidate. “I was raised and taught to respect and accept the decisions made by those in authority. The protest seemed like a radical way of saying, no, we don’t accept your decision,” she explains. She felt uncertain about students deciding who the next president of Gallaudet would be, saying “surely they [the board] knew what they were doing when they appointed Dr. Zinser? I was afraid that we’d push for someone who is unqualified to lead the university.” 

But Franklin says she was also intrigued and awed by the scale of the protest, involving faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the broader D.C. community. After the Board of Trustees announced the selection of Zinser on Sunday, March 6th, she joined the next day’s march as it wound through the streets of the city. “It took an hour of slow marching to get to the Capitol. Once there, we rallied. The crowd was unbelievably huge,” she recalls.

And Franklin could not not become involved, saying “If any of us stayed in our rooms, one of the protesters would pull the fire alarm and all of us would have to go outside,” and so she ended up participating in daily rallies, marches, and other activities. “By then, the protesters would herd us all to the protesting site, which was always at the front gate on Florida Avenue. All other gates (and academic buildings) were locked.” Franklin remembers that the “protest was a 24/7 kind of thing, where students took turns sleeping and eating and protesting.”

A memory that stands out to Franklin was when she sat with the crowd with arms linked and student leaders warned them that the SWAT team was readying to arrest everyone. “Afraid, I looked for SWAT officers, and sure enough they stood around on Florida Avenue waiting for the order to arrest all of us. They were holding the plastic zip ties used to cuff protesters. I almost left the crowd and ran to my dorm room. I am scared silly around the police (or anyone with muscles, cuffs, and guns),” says Franklin, who was relieved that Provost Catherine Ingold called off the SWAT team despite objections from the other administrators.  

Another freshman on campus was Clerc Center Operations Coordinator, Brian Bippus, ’93, who was an active participant and was present at almost all events during the week. “It was a surreal feeling that we, the student body, actually took control of the campus and didn’t relinquish it the whole week!” he says. Bippus was thrilled that there were no classes during the protest and recalled that many felt elated that spring break started a week early. He especially remembers the overwhelming pride he felt marching to the Capitol on Friday, March 11th. “The traffic in DC stopped and we owned the streets marching! There were so many people in front and back of me that the feelings were so empowering!” he says.   

For Gallaudet employees, the unfolding events were complicated by their responsibilities. School Director Dr. Emilia Chukwuma, ’85, who was a young accounting instructor in the Business Department when DPN began, remembers having mixed feelings at first. On a practical level, she didn’t like that students would fall behind and would have to catch up in class, but she acknowledged that she didn’t have the full picture. On the second day, everyone got more information. “I knew Zinser had been appointed and when I saw that, I was excited: For the first time, a woman president had been chosen! Then I came to understand that students did not want a non-signing, hearing president,” she says. 

She tried to go to class to teach but students kicked everyone out and locked up the classrooms. Since she couldn’t teach, she decided to join her students at the gate. “It was FUN. Every day I met friends there and we’d chat and chat, sitting at the gate and meeting new people. Soon alumni descended on Gallaudet and the crowds got bigger every day. I kept thinking it would end, but it didn’t,” she says. Dancing in her chair as she recollected that week, she tells of the cars passing on Florida Avenue, blaring their horns in support, as Gallaudet protesters cheered, danced, and waved in support.

Chukwuma says some students, especially international students, were emotionally drained. “That was really touching to me, so I changed my own role. I listened to their worries and tried to alleviate their concerns, telling them that they would go back to class, that Gallaudet would go on, and that their futures were secure,” she says. “There were a lot of mixed feelings.” She calmed them with hugs as some cried, fearful about what was happening.

She recalls the students worked tremendously hard and that there was a high level of planning and coordination during the protest with faculty and staff working behind closed doors to encourage and support students. At the same time, she worried too, saying, “I thought we may not succeed: All of the Board members were powerful, most of them were hearing, and some were even congressmen. But with time we made progress.”

Chukwuma reflects, “King Jordan did an outstanding job. He learned quickly and enjoyed nationwide popularity. Ultimately without DPN, Gallaudet would be a completely different university.” 

Sarah Burton Doleac, ’82, who retired in the fall, has been a force in Physical Education and Recreation (PER) since she joined as faculty in 1984. “DPN was the most beautiful movement I ever saw. We fought for what we needed for Gallaudet,” she says. As a relatively new PER faculty, Doleac did not have tenure at the time and feared losing her job, but felt relieved by the 4th demand that there be no retribution for protesters. “So I was able to participate in protests and marches,” she says.

Doleac recalls that staff, faculty, and students all worked together, although some employees were not supportive of the movement. “Some of them were adamant that the choice was made and should be respected, period. I respected those folks and I’m a rule follower, but that was challenging as a Deaf woman and faculty member,” she says.

She participated in late-night organizing meetings, driving back and forth from home to campus. Although faculty decided for themselves whether they would hold class, Doleac says: “I don’t like to miss class, and I respect that some students didn’t want to be involved, so I was there for them.” Doleac set aside her lesson plans and talked with students about what was going on: “I showed up to class and had an open door policy for students to come and chat. Some of them were scared and didn’t want to participate in the protest.” 

One of her best memories has to do with her being the head coach of the softball team, a position she held for 25 years. “My team came to me and told me they all supported DPN and would not come to practice that week.” Doleac was as strict about missing practice as she was about missing class. She had mixed emotions since it was the week before Spring Break, and couldn’t believe that the team would have two entire weeks of zero practice time. 

“They asked me to put my trust in them and reluctantly, I agreed.” But Doleac had three terms: “One: be safe, two: support one another, and three: exercise and stay in shape!” They all agreed and were off. Tears come to Doleac’s eyes when she remembers the tight-knit team that ended up with a record 17-7, ranking 8th in the Mid-Atlantic region for the first time in a decade. “We had only one pitcher to pitch all the games but her teammates were so supportive of her on the field. It was amazing to see this special team,” she says. Because of these two events, Doleac reflects “Each of the years I spent at Gallaudet is my favorite, but 1988 was truly unique.” 

She encourages younger generations to understand and respect the value of rules and follow them, but also not to be afraid to go after what they need for their programs, school, or places anywhere Deaf people are. “Gallaudet is a beautiful place and we were very blessed to get what we needed: a Deaf president. It was time.” 

Ena Harrison, ’93, is herself an institution, having attended Kendall Demonstration Elementary School, Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD), and Gallaudet, and has worked at MSSD as a residential educator for over 25 years. Harrison was a Junior in a new program at the Northwest campus of Gallaudet during DPN. At home doing her homework, she switched on the TV to see images of the protest near Gallaudet’s gates on Florida Avenue. 

“I wasn’t really aware of what was going on at that time, and didn’t understand why the protesters wanted a Deaf president and someone who signed. I thought maybe the hearing person selected was fine and I felt a sense of awkwardness really. I felt some disappointment that the whole world was looking at Gallaudet,” she says. “Now I feel differently.”

Harrison didn’t know the Galludet four, and because she was at the Northwest campus, hadn’t socialized with the protesters. Growing up as the only Deaf person in her family, she says she didn’t have a strong sense of Deaf pride or the strong ties that multigenerational Deaf people grow up with. “I was told many times that Gallaudet [Edward Miner Gallaudet, founder of what is today Gallaudet University] was hearing himself, so it was fine for hearing people to run Gallaudet,” she explains. “Those constant teachings influenced me, and that’s also why I found the protests confusing.” 

Through the filter of time, she saw that the protest leaders did have that sense of pride and Deaf experience that pushed them to insist that Deaf people could do anything. “The ambiguity I felt changed to support over time. DPN showed the hearing world that we can do it,” she says. Harrison feels grateful for the student leaders and their courage to stand up for their beliefs.

She says, “Now people know about it — there are deaf-owned businesses, and people from all over the world come to Gallaudet to learn. Deaf awareness has really increased, that’s also partly due to DPN.”