20-05-2025
The Gallaudet Four Demanded a Deaf President. Their Legacy Transformed Disability Rights
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When Jerry C. Lee stepped down as president of Gallaudet University, a Washington D.C. higher learning institution for deaf and hard of hearing students, a number of the university's faculty and students felt his replacement should be deaf. This sentiment even extended beyond the university walls and into the halls of power in the nation's capital, where politicians up to then–U.S. vice president George H.W. Bush expressed agreement with the idea that the time had come for the world's first advanced education institution for the Deaf to finally get its first deaf president.
After all, it was 1988; the hard-fought victories of the American civil rights movements of decades past were still fresh in many minds, and a sentiment with its origins in Polish politics—Nihil de nobis, sine nobis—had begun to eke its way into American activist circles as the idea of 'Nothing about us without us.' To people who felt it was past due time that a deaf individual be put in charge of the nation's preeminent deaf university, Lee's abrupt departure after less than four years as president provided the perfect opportunity to rectify the inequity.
It should have been an easy fix to a long-standing issue. What ensued instead, as depicted in the new Apple TV+ documentary Deaf President Now!, led to an explosion of activism, a national dialogue on disability rights, and ultimately, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
The genesis of Gallaudet University can be traced as far back as 1856. Amos Kendall, who had served as postmaster general for both Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, felt a desire to ensure the deaf and blind children of Washington D.C. received adequate care. Accordingly, he donated two acres of land to serve as both a home and a school for children with disabilities.
The following year, Gallaudet was chartered, initially as a grammar school under the name Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind ('dumb' being the term at the time for people who don't communicate verbally). Edward Miner Gallaudet, an academic who, while hearing himself, was the son of a deaf mother, was asked to serve as the first superintendent. Gallaudet's father, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, had cofounded the American School for the Deaf in 1817, and it's after Thomas, not Edward, that the school was eventually renamed.
Under Edward's stewardship, the school survived the Civil War and even served as a hospital for Union troops during an August recess (with some of the deaf students reportedly helping to care for the wounded). On April 8, 1864, the school officially became an institute of higher learning when Congress authorized it to grant college degrees. The newly-minted college, naturally, had Edward serve as its first president.
One hundred and twenty-four years later, a total of six men had served as Gallaudet's president. Not a single one of them was deaf.
Up until the 1980s, Gallaudet's presidents had always served at least a decade in their position. But in 1988, in the wake of the rather swift turnover of the last two university presidents, W. Lloyd Johns (October 1983 to January 1984) and Jerry C. Lee (May 1984 to January 1988), a portion of students and faculty felt the time had come for the university to finally appoint a deaf president.
Although not yet a cause that galvanized the bulk of the student body as it later would, the issue found some support in the early stages. Given that Gallaudet received federal funding, major figures within the government also spoke up in favor of the appointment of a deaf president. This included then–U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush (at the time in the midst of a primary campaign that would ultimately seal his 1988 Republican presidential nomination), who penned a letter to Philip Bravin on the Gallaudet Presidential Search Committee that read in part:
'In the last two decades our society has undergone a quiet revolution. The Congress, the Courts and the Administration have strongly supported the right of people with disabilities to hold positions of trust and leadership. Our government has enacted numerous laws to ensure that disabled people are ensured equality of opportunity.'Accordingly, as an entity funded by the Federal government, Gallaudet has a responsibility to set an example and thus to appoint a President who is not only highly qualified, but who is also deaf. I hope that the Trustees will keep Gallaudet's critical leadership position in mind when they make their decision.'
By the time Bush's letter arrived, the Search Committee had narrowed down their options to three possible candidates: Harvey J. Corson, the superintendent of the Louisiana School for the Deaf in Baton Rouge and a Gallaudet alum; I. King Jordan, dean of Gallaudet's College of Arts and Sciences; and Elisabeth A. Zinser, vice chancellor at the University of North Carolina. Whereas Corson was born deaf and Jordan was rendered deaf in an automobiles accident at age 21, Zinser was a hearing individual who couldn't speak sign language.
On March 1, 1988, according to an article in The Washington Post from the time, a rally of nearly 1,500 formed in anticipation of the selection of a new president. Roughly 20 Gallaudet students and faculty reportedly spoke at the rally. In his remarks, Professor Allen Sussman declared, 'This is a historical event—you could call this the first deaf civil rights activity.'
Sussman's assessment was ultimately correct, though not perhaps in the way he had anticipated.
On March 6, Gallaudet quietly announced via a flyer that the university had made a historical appointment: the first female president in its history, by selecting the hearing candidate, Elisabeth Zinser, over the two deaf candidates.
Outraged, a large group of students marched to the nearby Mayflower Hotel where the board had gathered to make their decision. Board member Jane Spilman eventually emerged to try to quell the crowd but allegedly explained the board's decision by stating 'Deaf people cannot function in a hearing world.' Deaf President Now! featured archival interview footage of Spilman denying that she said those words, but Spilman is unable to recollect exactly what it was she said that was allegedly misquoted.
Zinser's selection and the board's dismissiveness tossed a proverbial match on the powder keg of student outrage. 'Deaf President Now' had been the slogan on buttons and flyers handed out at the March 1 rally, but now, it had become the rallying cry of a campaign of protests and civil disobedience aimed at ensuring that the demands of the deaf students of Gallaudet could be heard loud at clear.
At the forefront of this movement were four students, known as the Gallaudet Four: Tim Rarus, Greg Hlibok, Jerry Covell and Bridgetta Bourne-Firl.
In his capacity of student body government president, Rarus had been involved in the search that led to Zinser's appointment. But his time in office was coming to an end, and Hlibok was elected to replacement him just one day before the protests broke out. Their student government background and Rarus' experience with the search committee made both men natural leaders of the protests.
Covell and Bourne-Firl had run against Hlibok for student body government leadership. Although they lost, the campaign had elevated their names among their students. Covell was additionally established as an outspoken activist who knew how to rally a crowd. He became the 'spiritual leader' for the student movement. Bourne-Firl similarly help direct students during group actions. She shares in the documentary that she utilized her past experience as a deaf cheerleader guided by rhythm to organize an amorphous mob of students into a disciplined collective of chants and movement.
On the ground, students barricaded the campus with bike locks and buses whose tires had been deliberately deflated. They marched on the U.S. Capitol Building. They outlined a list of demands, which included four key points:
The selection of a deaf president for Gallaudet to replace Elisabeth Zinser
The immediate resignation of board member Jane Spilman
Reconfiguring the Board of Trustees to comprise a 51 percent majority of deaf board members, as the current board had 17 hearing members to 4 deaf members
No reprisals against the student protestors
A watershed moment for the protests occurred when Hlibok appeared opposite Zinser and recent Oscar-winning deaf actor Marlee Matlin on the ABC news program Nightline. 'I felt so nervous and anxious until the broadcast began,' Hlibok later shared. 'Once it did, I felt at ease and comfortable because I allowed the truth to take over the entire time. With the truth of our compassion, nothing comes easier than expressing it.'
As the young Hlibok gained his confidence over the course of the televised debate, his principled ferocity reached an audience of millions, igniting a public sentiment in favor of not just the Deaf President Now movement, but also a broader disability rights movement across the country.
On March 10, Zinser resigned as Gallaudet president. Three days later, Spilman resigned from the board, with Philip Bravin taking on her former leadership role. It was Bravin who then announced that I. King Jordan had been appointed the new Gallaudet University president and that the students involved in the Deaf President Now protests wouldn't be reprimanded.
The fight for a deaf president of Gallaudet had concluded, but the broader movement it inspired carried on. The impact of the Deaf President Now protests was swiftly felt across the country, inspiring a wave of new reforms and legislation aimed at correcting centuries of disabled Americans being denied agency.
Within two years of the student-led movement, U.S. President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination based on disability and required workplaces to provide reasonable accommodations for disabled employees.
Looking back, Rarus sees the progress that has been made since the Deaf President Now protests (DPN) and the opportunities still ahead. 'Since DPN, Deaf America has seen changes—the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Closed Captioning bill, the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and most importantly, the attitude of 'Yes, I can' being adopted by deaf children and adults everywhere,' he shared. 'The fight is not over, we will always need to strive for equality in our world. Yet, we have started that journey. And today as we continue to carry our torch, Deaf President Now symbolizes Deaf People Now.'
Deaf President Now! is now streaming on Apple TV+.
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