WASHINGTON
Classes resumed this week at Gallaudet University, the nation’s premier school for the deaf, while faculty members voted overwhelmingly in support of students calling for the resignation of the incoming president.
The campus was closed for three days last week after protesters blocked all entrances. After 133 protesters were arrested Friday night, one gate reopened.
University officials demanded late Monday that two additional side gates reopen by 6 a.m. Tuesday, although they did not threaten specific action if the protesters did not comply.
Students remained camped out at the main entrance Monday but did not attempt to block access, partially out of respect for the twice-yearly faculty meeting, said faculty member Diane Morton. The turnout of 168 of the 221 members was the largest ever for such a meeting, Morton said.
The faculty voted 82 percent to 18 percent to demand that Dr. Jane K. Fernandes resign as president or be removed. In a similar vote last spring, 68 percent of the faculty voted no confidence in Fernandes. The votes are nonbinding.
“The opposition to her is growing,” Morton said.
