| October 18, 2006 Dear Dr. Jane Fernandes, My name is Davina Brimmer, an alumnus of 2004 and 2006 at Gallaudet. Last May when I returned from my full time internship in the Philippines, I arrived in utter chaos, confused as to what was happening on campus. Being out of the country for four months, I did not know about the Protest. I had not expected a protest on my return. When other students told me about the Protest, my first reaction was to remain neutral because I did not know what was going on; I had not realized that they chose you as the next President. Once I did, my second reaction was excited because I had faith in you from the past 6 years. I remember the first year I entered Gallaudet fall of 2000 when the first murder happened. I remember meeting you upon the situation where you were a leader and I knew that in the future it would improve. When the second murder occurred, I was scared and wanted to go home. That was when I met you for the second time. You told me that it would get better. I trusted you. The third time I met you was at the end of the year when you developed a mentor program for my class. You sat at my table, you chatted with me about many things that was happening on campus. I thought you were listening; however, by the next few years, I realized that you did not do anything about the problems on campus. For the past 5 years, I have rarely seen you and when I do, you do not recognize me. Your smile was not a smile like that first year I met you. You have changed. I was disappointed because as Provost, you were supposed to reach out to the students but you did not. There came a time when I had a meeting with you with student members for the new contract for the cafeteria, at the time, you did not recognize me again. Now that I look back, I realize that you could have been a leader. I had respected that position. I thought that things would get better the same as you told me before but it did not. There has been three weeks of turbulence at Gallaudet, this wounds me because I have been there for six long years, fought my way to get an education and my brother is there as well. What I see at Gallaudet hurts me because it was my second home, a place where I could feel comfortable with everyone; however, now that I have graduated, I feel that my second home has torn apart. Who made this happen? I could blame the Board of Trustees. I could blame whomever, but the decisive moment has come, I blame you. You have lost your leadership, respect and faith with more than thousands of people including me. As of the beginning of the semester, I changed my mind about you. I believe that you really do not understand what the Protest is about; it is not about deafness, it is not about you being a person who can recruit the best students for the future, and it is about your leadership. You have made some unwise decisions in the past that cannot be changed; therefore, I am here to tell you that I support the FSSA 100%. The time has come to make a decision, resigning is what is best for the community. So many people are against you that are part of the university; they are who makes things happen. Without us, a university cannot continue. I know you have had many emails from people all over the world who support you or those who do not support you; however, think of those who are on campus or have been though the system at Gallaudet, they know how Gallaudet is. Those who have never been to Gallaudet have no idea what Gallaudet is really about. All I am asking is for you to resign. It is time to think of the community, not about your job, not about yourself. You cannot be a leader if the FSSA are not supporting you. I think you need to do some research on what an effective leader needs. Please resign. Sincerely, Davina Brimmer Alumnus ’04 and ‘06 |
