Irving King Jordan (born June 16, 1943) is an American educator who became the first deaf president of Gallaudet University in 1988 after the Deaf President Now protest. Gallaudet is the world's only university with all programs and services designed specifically for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
After the week-long protest known as Deaf President Now, the Board reversed its decision and named Jordan, one of three finalists for the position, the eighth president of Gallaudet, the first deaf president since the institution was established in 1864.[1][2]
He appears in the 2011 disability rights documentary Lives Worth Living.
Background
Jordan is a native of Glen Riddle, Pennsylvania, a small town near Philadelphia.[3] Jordan was born to hearing parents, with no other instances of deafness in his family. After graduating from Penncrest High School in 1962,[4] he enlisted in the US Navy and served four years. Jordan became deaf at the age of 21, when, after driving a motorcycle without a helmet, he was flung into the windshield of a car and suffered two skull fractures, a fractured jaw, and a concussion. His injuries severed the nerves in one ear completely and damaged the nerves in the other.[5][6]
Jordan became president of the university on March 13, 1988, after the Deaf President Now protest.[9][10] He holds twelve honorary degrees and is the recipient of numerous awards, among them: the Presidential Citizen's Medal,[3] the Washingtonian of the Year Award, the James L. Fisher Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the Larry Stewart Award from the American Psychological Association, and the Distinguished Leadership Award from the National Association for Community Leadership. In 1990, President Bush appointed Jordan Vice-chair of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. He was reappointed to this position in 1993.[11] In 2006, Jordan received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by the Jefferson Awards.[12]
On-campus, he was widely applauded for his successful efforts to increase funding, including funds for expanding and constructing two new large-scale centers for education research and support.
On September 1, 2005, Jordan announced his intentions to retire from the presidency effective December 31, 2006. Jordan became the subject of controversy when he supported the controversial decision made on May 1, 2006, by the board of trustees to appoint Jane Fernandes as president-designate. The announcement of her selection set off a campus-wide protest.
Critics claimed that Fernandes was not highly regarded by both the faculty and students. Jordan, taking a line from page 10 of the 1995 book Deaf President Now (by Christiansen and Barnartt), publicly accused some critics of rejecting Fernandes because she was not "Deaf enough." The protestors claimed that Jordan was accepted as president, even though he did not become deaf until he was 21. They insisted that they protested for other reasons, such as their perception that Fernandes lacked charisma.
Jordan resigned from the Gallaudet presidency in December 2006 and retired from the Gallaudet faculty in December 2008. On April 6, 2010, it was announced that Jordan had been appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the Commission on Presidential Scholars.
References
^Brueggemann, B. J. (1995). The Coming out of Deaf Culture and American Sign Language: An Exploration into Visual Rhetoric and Literacy. Rhetoric Review, 13, 409-420.
^Jordan was assisted by Gallaudet staff member Paul Kelly in applying for the presidency: "Paul Kelly helped me before I was president. Paul tutored me on financial issues and budget issues. Without his help and guidance during the application process, I know that I would never have become a finalist for the position. After that, during my presidency, he's been a wonderful friend and supporter. Thank you, Paul Kelly, for all you've done for me." Accessed: May 2006: http://tv.gallaudet.edu/KingJordanAnnouncementArchived 2006-11-16 at the Wayback Machine.
