The History of Gallaudet University (page 6)

Transitions
page 6

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Gallaudet prepared to absorb the impact on its programs of the rubella epidemic that had spanned several years of the mid-1960s, almost doubling the deaf population that would reach college age in the early 1980s. In response to the need for more accommodations, the School of Preparatory Studies moved to the new Northwest Campus in 1983 with 300 students enrolled.

At the Pre-College level, Kendall Demonstration Elementary School moved into its new building. MSSD became accredited by both the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools for the Deaf and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. A Pre-College Outreach Program was initiated to provide curriculum materials and assistance for educators serving deaf and hard of hearing students in elementary and high school programs across the country.

Dr. Merrill retired in 1983 and was replaced by Dr. W. Lloyd Johns, who resigned before his formal inauguration. Five months later, in 1984, Dr. Jerry C. Lee, vice president of Administration and Business, was installed as Gallaudet's sixth president. Under Lee, a new master plan, entitled Gallaudet College—Mission and Goals, proposed that the demands of the times and the needs of deaf and hard of hearing people called for new and expanded emphases and broadened services from Gallaudet.

[photo]
Students at the Capitol Building during the Deaf President Now protest

1983

The Gallaudet University Western Regional Center opened at Ohlone College in Fremont, Calif.

1985

The Gallaudet Southeastern Regional Center opened at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla.

1973

Public Law 94-142, the Education of all handicapped Children Act, was passed, and Gallaudet began providing resources to the nation about the implications of the law for deaf children, especially regarding the least restrictive environment concept.

1986

The Education of the Deaf Act (Public Law 99-371), signed by President Ronald Reagan, accorded university status to Gallaudet, and the University became a full member of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. The School of Management opened, and a master's degree program in mental health counseling was initiated. Gallaudet's fifth regional center, serving the southwestern region, opened at Eastfield College in Mesquite, Texas. 1987 Dr. Lee resigned as president. A survey of college presidents, conducted by U.S. News and World Report, rated Gallaudet as one of the top five regional liberal arts colleges east of the Mississippi.

1988

The sixth and seventh regional centers were added, one at Kapiolani Community College in Honolulu, Hawaii, and the other on the Gallaudet Campus, serving the Mid-Atlantic region and Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio (the Gallaudet University Regional Center).

At the graduate level, the School of Education and Human Services added a new doctoral degree option (Ph.D. in education: deafness) to its program of studies.
The Board of Trustees announced the selection of Dr. Elisabeth A. Zinser as the seventh president of Gallaudet. Protesting the selection, the students mounted a Deaf President Now (DPN) movement. This student-led movement united students, faculty, staff alumni, and members of deaf communities across the United States and abroad to support the selection of a deaf president for the University. The DPN movement, which closed the University for a week, captured worldwide attention and created more awareness about deafness, deaf people and their language and culture. Two days after her appointment, under pressure from the DPN movement, Zinser resigned. Gallaudet's eighth - and first deaf - president, Dr. I. King Jordan, '70, was selected. Philip Bravin, '66, became the first deaf chairman of the Board of Trustees, and the board began the process that would fulfill a demand of the student protesters that 51 percent of the members of the Board of Trustees be deaf.

1989

More than 1,000 alumni returned to Kendall Green in July for the Gallaudet University Alumni Association's centennial reunion. Gallaudet hosted "The Deaf Way Conference and Festival," which attracted more than 5,000 people from 80 countries, among them scholars, advocates, and numerous artists such as performers, painters, storytellers, and poets. The Ph.D. degree in clinical psychology was approved by the Board of Trustees.

1990

Dr. Harvey J. Corson, '64, was appointed the University's first deaf provost.

1995

The Kellogg Conference Center (GUKCC), a state-of-the-art, 150,000- square-foot conference and training facility, opened its doors in 1995. The center is a model of accessibility specifically designed to create an environment for excellence in communication and education. The GUKCC accommodates a variety of conference needs from small committee meetings to national conferences, teleconferencing capabilities, and 93 guest rooms and suites.

	5	6	T. H. Gallaudet