Students at Gallaudet University, a local college for the hearing impaired, have barred access to university facilities and shut down campus operations as part of an ongoing protest against the selection of the university’s next president.

The students, along with faculty, staff and alumni, gathered Wednesday morning at the university’s front gates in Northeast D.C. to protest the selection of Jane Fernandes, the university provost, to replace retiring President I. King Jordan.

Fernandes came under scrutiny after her selection because of her low popularity with students at the school for the deaf and a perceived disconnect with the Gallaudet community because she is not deaf herself.

The protesters demanded that the search process be reopened, and refused to move from the front gates even when university faculty became worried about interrupting traffic.

Protests remained active yesterday, and Gallaudet faculty and staff were on campus to translate protesters’ sign language to the media.

“We’re ready to be peaceful, and we’re ready to be arrested,” student Tara Holcomb said. Holcomb spoke during Wednesday’s protest and helped orchestrate the campus-wide shutdown. “The university threatens us everyday and we’re tired of their threats.”

Alison Aubrecht, an alumna and protest organizer, said that the protests began last May when Jordan announced his retirement and university administrators opened the search process for a new president.

Aubrecht said students were asked to participate in a survey to gauge student interest in three presidential candidates. Out of those candidates, the board of trustees chose Fernandes against polls showing that less than 20 percent of the student body supported her appointment.

During the spring, student protesters set up tents, wrote letters and demanded an opportunity to negotiate with administrators. University administrators did not respond to the calls for negotiations.

Aubrecht pointed to Fernandes’s track record during six years as university provost and poor leadership during her time as president-select.

“She manages by intimidation – she buys people,” Aubrecht said. “She doesn’t fight for communication access.”

Mercy Coogan, a spokesperson for the university, said that the administration supports the Board of Trustees’ decision to appoint Fernandes and pointed out that Fernandes was actually born deaf and has been immersed in deaf culture for much of her life.

Coogan added that the administration advocates a civil, cooperative approach to negotiating with protestors.

“The Board of Trustees did everything to ensure the process was fair,” she said. “We invited an outside search company to guide the search process for the President. It was best for Gallaudet community.”

On Oct. 5, students frustrated with the Board of Trustees took over the Hall Memorial Building on campus. Though students and faculty were prevented from using the building, professors moved their classes to other locations on campus and university operations continued.

When students received no response from the administration, they took over more university buildings.

The Gallaudet campus has been locked down since early Wednesday morning. Classes remain cancelled and no date has been given for resuming studies.

Aubrecht said that protestors won’t back down until they receive a response from the administration.

“The current president-select refuses to resign,” she said. “Students are not going to negotiate.”

Many students and faculty have denounced the lockdown, claiming that it restricts the freedom of other students on campus to attend classes and continue their education.

Drew Robarge, a senior at Gallaudet, said that while he agrees with the message of the protest, he doesn’t believe in the actions of some students.

“I’m against the current president, but I disagree with them taking over the classroom,” he said. “It should be about individual choice. Locking down the campus only creates a separation between students with different opinions.”

Many teachers and students continued to meet on Wednesday, if not in university buildings then on the grass, during what would have been a midterm week.

The current protests are not the first time the Gallaudet student body has vociferously opposed administrative decisions. In 1988, students fought for the appointment of the first deaf president to Gallaudet.

For most students, the issue is one of unity and understanding.

“The deaf community is so small,” student Samantha Dill said. “We don’t want to lose it. We want to really cherish it.”