Alison Aubrecht's Take

Gallaudet continues to rid itself of good teachers

by Alison Aubrecht

A week ago I entered a completely different department on the same campus that Iíve come to recognize as my second home. To my awkward surprise, I found myself feeling extremely welcome, faced by the warm and supportive faculty of the Counseling Department. This bothered me, but I couldnít figure out why. Then it hit me. I shouldnít be surprised. I should expect the genuine support of the faculty and staff of my department. It should be reality, not something I hope for. And in the four years I was an undergraduate at Gallaudet, I encountered very few faculty that were supportive. Even fewer that were willing to sacrifice the time to challenge us as students. By the time I was in my fourth year, I found myself feeling rather cynical towards the University and in the midst of crisis I saw a lot of politics that made me sick to my stomach. I do not care to go into detail, not here and now, anyway. I have seen many people speak of wanting to improve the relations between Faculty and Students. And I have seen Faculty tell students off, in class, in front of everyone else. I have seen Faculty who are ìtoo busyî to carry out their duties. Iíve seen Faculty who do not have the means to communicate efficiently in the classroom take their frustrations out on students. I have seen Faculty admit that their co-workers are unethical but were too afraid to side with the students, lest they lose their job. Perhaps the worst was having a Faculty member complain to me about several students in my class, something I found to be rather unprofessional. Yesterday I saw I. King Jordan speak out to the community. It was supposed to be a community meeting. What kind of meeting is a community meeting when it is limited to one hour of one person talking about the past and repeating the same old goals? The faculty, the students did not have a chance to stand up and speak. It would take up too much time. Well, Iím sorry but where I come from it doesnít matter how much time, it matters how much HEART you have for the issue. A flower does not grow with a dabble of rain and sunshine here and there. It blossoms with nourishment. I King Jordan spoke of two things that bothered me. First, he pointed out that everyone, regardless, is welcome at our University. As sad as it is that he had to point that out to begin with, it isnít true. I have known highly paid faculty members who have insulted the sexual orientation of other faculty members. And I have known Faculty members who question the ability of Deaf individuals to succeed. Nice role models we have. Secondly, I. King Jordan spoke of all the things we could brag about. Let me tell you something I have learned the hard way. No matter how much shine you put on the top of your shoes, it still stinks like hell inside if you donít take care of it. We have a lot to fix as well, and that must be confronted. The foundation is no longer strong. We are barely getting by, numbers of students and all. This University did not begin to falter with the tragedies that occurred last year. Last year just blew open what was already there. There are two kinds of politics: good and bad politics. There is a lot of bad politics here at Gallaudet. And the worst part is that itís becoming painfully obvious to us as students. The administration struggles to understand why the numbers are decreasing. Why so many students leave. Perhaps one of the things that should be explored is: The students feel as though the University is for the Faculty and Staff, not for the Students. Yet another good question to askÖ Why do you keep getting rid of all the GOOD teachers? The teachers that challenge and stimulate us? Of course, I wouldnít in a million years expect a response from anyone in the Administration. But I sure hope that people start thinking about what they really started out as. Whatever happened to the dream of making a difference in a honest way? Donít point fingers at anyone except yourself.