Hi5—July 19, 2019

Welcome to Hi5! Every week, we will share five newsworthy highlights from the desk of President Cordano. If you are interested in keeping up to date, open this email and check out all the new buzzworthy content! You may also watch Hi5 in American Sign Language. We welcome back GIS staff interpreter Kirsi Grigg-Langdon, G-’10, as our anchor!

Harlan Lane, 1936-2019

The Gallaudet University community mourns the passing of Harlan Lane. Dr. Lane died on Saturday, July 13, at 82 years of age. He was the Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University in Boston, and the author or co-author of several seminal texts, including those shown here. He held the Powrie Vaux Doctor Chair of Deaf Studies at Gallaudet in 1987-1988, and was here during the Deaf President Now movement. In 1991, he was named a MacArthur Fellow, and donated his prize money to establish a deaf school in Burundi. Dr. Lane was a visionary, decades ahead of his time, and we thank him for his lifetime of service to our community.

Disability:IN: Three Gallaudet students shine at Procter & Gamble

Several members of the Gallaudet University community attended the Disability:IN Annual Conference and Expo this week in Chicago. Disability:IN is a network of over 185 corporations that expands opportunities for people with disabilities across enterprises. One of these corporations is Procter & Gamble, which has three Gallaudet student interns this summer: Mustafa Hussein in cybersecurity, Jonathan Tikhonoff in digital forensic security, and Harendra Udurawana in security operations. Board of Trustees member Claudia Gordon says that it is wonderful to see corporations like P&G offer internships in these fast-growing, high-demand fields.

Gallaudet at WFD

The XVIII World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf will meet in Paris July 23-27. President Cordano is leading the Gallaudet delegation to this quadrennial conference. Gallaudet in Nigeria-Africa (GAIN-Africa) will conduct three information sessions on July 23, and an alumni mixer will be held on July 24. Our alumni will witness the signing of a cooperation agreement between Gallaudet and WFD. This agreement will encompass expanding access to language, education, and economic opportunities; advocacy on matters of mutual concern, consulting and research, learning opportunities for our students, and more. 

Trustee Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen named to influential committee

In June, Trustee Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen, ’92, G-’05 & H-’09, was sworn in to her fifth term in the National Assembly of the Parliament of South Africa. She now has been named to the Committee on Justice and Correctional Services, which oversees the South Africa Human Rights Commission and several other departments and units. It is possible that South African Sign Language (SASL) will come up for national official language recognition. We congratulate her on this important appointment!

Gallaudet student-athletes shine academically

Our student-athletes uphold the NCAA Division III commitment to academics! During 2018-2019, Gallaudet finished third overall among 12 schools in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) in the Faculty Athletics Representative Cup (FARC) competition. Our 134 student-athletes had a 3.08214 cumulative grade point average, the fourth highest GPA in the conference. Congratulations to all our athletes, their coaches, and the Athletics Department! 

Enjoy your weekend!