Gallaudet University Essay Example for Free

Gallaudet University EssayGallaudet is a premier and the only university dedicated to educating and broadening the locomote choices of deaf, hard-of-hearing and a minority of hearing students as well. Duly accredited, it currently offers 40 Bachelor of Arts or Science degrees in its undergraduate course of study as well as certificates, masteral, specialist and doctoral degrees in its graduate program (Gallaudet, 2008). Gallaudets strong commitment to the education of the deaf is also unmixed in its accomplishment of high-quality research on various aspects of the lives of deaf people. It also maintains the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center catering to deaf and hard-of-hearing children. It is through this center that the university fulfills its federal mandate to pioneer the development, implementation and dissemination of educational strategies for the deaf (Gallaudet, 2008). Gallaudet began as the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf, Dumb and Bli nd, incorporated by Congress in 1857 (Gallaudet, 2008).The original school building was situated on two acres of land in Northeastern Washington, D. C. which was donated by the businessman Amos Kendall the year before. The first set of students was composed of six blind and twelve deaf individuals. The first school superintendent, and later president of the corporation, was Edward Miner Gallaudet whose father, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, founded the first existence for the deaf in the country (Gallaudet, 2008).In 1864, Congress permitted the school to grant college degrees through a law enacted by President Abraham Lincoln and the first kickoff happened in June, 1869 where three young men received their diplomas signed by President Ulysses S. Grant (Berke, 2007). Up to the present, the incumbent U. S. President signs the diplomas of Gallaudet graduates. From then on up to the 1950s, the college underwent many developments as enrollment steadily rose which necessitated the expansion of its physical structure as well as enhancement of the capacity of its faculty and otherwise personnel.Through another act of Congress, the college was renamed Gallaudet College in 1954, in honor of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and in 1969, the two schools that today make up the Laurent Clerc Center were established with the livelihood of the U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and President Richard Nixon (Berke, 2007). The evolution and expansion of Gallaudet as an institution continued on to the following decades.Finally, in October 1986, Congress conferred to the 122 year-old college its university status so that in the succeeding semester, the total number of students enrolled in all programs reached a peak of nearly 2,000 (Gallaudet, 2008). Two years later, students launched the Deaf President Now (DPN) to persuade the placard of Trustees to appoint a deaf president, a position that has always been held by hearing people. The DPN campaigns major impact on the co mmunity, the country and charge beyond was the greater consciousness it created with regards to deaf people.The pressure that the protest created led to the appointment of I. King Jordan as Gallaudets first deaf president plot of ground the appointment of Philip Bravin as the first deaf chair of the Board followed fueling changes that today allowed 51 percent of the members of the Board to be deaf (Jordan, 2007). Gallaudet is also notable for organizing and hosting international gatherings the Deaf Way I in 1989 followed by Deaf Way II in 2002, to honor the history, language, art, culture, and empowerment of deaf people (Gallaudet, 2008).Further, it has plight its commitment to promoting environmental protection as well as respect for diversity (greenreportcard. org, 2008). Finally, the university also employs and adapts modern technology to the needs of the deaf as displace be witnessed at the James Lee Sorenson Language and Communication Center and the Student Academic Cente r (Gallaudet, 2008).List of ReferencesBerke, J. (2007). Deaf History History of Gallaudet University. Retrieved 14 October 2008 from http//deafness. about. com/cs/featurearticles/a/gallyhistory. htm. Gallaudet University (2008). History, Diversity, Fast Facts. Retrieved 14 October, 2008 from http//www. gallaudet. edu/Diversity. xml. Greenreportcard. org (2008). College Sustainability Report Card Gallaudet University. Retrieved 14 October 2008 from http//www. greenreportcard. org/report-card- 2009/schools/gallaudet-university. Jordan, I. K. (2007). Deaf Culture and Gallaudet. Retrieved 14 October 2008 from http//www. washingtonpost. com/wp- dyn/content/article/2007/01/21/AR2007012101118. html? gun=AR.