Deaf President Now!: The 1988 Revolution at Gallaudet University

by John B. Christiansen, Sharon N. Barnhartt

In March 1988, the students at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., surprised the world by rising up in protest over the appointment of another hearing president. Deaf President Now! reveals the groundswell leading up to that history-making week when the students and other advocates seized the campus and closed it down until their demands were met. The authors conducted more than fifty in-depth interviews with the principals and others, including student leaders Greg Hlibok, Bridgetta Bourne-Firl, Jerry Covell, and Tim Rarus, Gallaudet Board Chair Jane Bassett Spilman, Elisabeth Zinser, the president for two days, and I. King Jordan, Gallaudet's first deaf president.
More telling disclosures in this book reveal the critical role played by a little-known group called the "Ducks." A tight-knit band of six alumni determined to see a deaf president at Gallaudet, the Ducks began formulating their plans for a protest when former President Jerry Lee first announced that he would be leaving, some nine months before the actual revolution. Deaf President Now! details how they guided the student leaders to ultimate success, including an analysis of the reasons for their achievement in light of the failure of many other student movements.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Disability, Politics

264 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1995

Reviews

[Jason Pettus · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I sat down this morning to write my review of this book, it quickly got so unwieldy that I decided to just spin it off into a standalone essay for the general public at my blog. I strongly encourage you to go read that, if you want to know more about what this book is about and why it's so important to learn, if you're to understand anything about the modern Deaf community as it exists in the late 2010s. As far as the book itself, it's serviceable but no great shakes, the last few chapters in particular written in a "graduate school term paper" style that make them a challenge to non-academic readers like me. But I'm giving the book a good score anyway, simply because it covers a subject so critically important to Deaf history, and does it in a much more thorough and enlightening way than any other book does, literally a sometimes hour-by-hour breakdown of this so momentous week back in 1988. It comes recommended in this specific spirit, not because it's particularly well-written but because its subject matter is so important.

[Jaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and informative description and analysis of a significant historical protest for Deaf self-actualization. I'm not giving it five stars because I would have liked to see analysis of how race, class, and gender impacted the protests, which appear to have been largely led by white men, quite unusually for protests. However, I learned a lot, and it definitely provides food for thought regarding how to organize successful protests.

[Ricky Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many years ago, I was required to read certain chapters for a class under the Deaf Studies at Gallaudet. I could have easily sell the book but I chose not to because I always told myself that I'd read it completely. And that day has come and I was able to read from the start to the conclusion.

The book focused on what led to the DPN and what transpired during the DPN and what the DPN has impacted upon us all and the world. As of today in 2025, the book is still relevant.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I didn't finish this book. I read all the chapters that directly described the protest then stopped. There's a ton of analysis that makes up the last third that I'll probably never read. The first seventy percent or so, though, has been super super helpful as I work on my senior writing project.

[Jimmy Brightly-Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

highly recommended. very interesting book..

[Ana Katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring. Thankful to have minored in ASL and have learned from the Deaf community. An important story within the Civil Rights saga for equality.

[Athena · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

wonderful, empassioned account of the movement for a Deaf President at Gallaudet University. Replete with images of the movement, quotes, various accounts, etc.

[Kara Harkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for any successful protest, like the Occupy movement.

[Kara Harkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any successful protest, like the Occupy movement.

[David Hemphill]

Wonderful in-depth book about the 1988 DPN movement at Gallaudet.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Educational and inspiring.