introduction
sun	Mar 6
mon	Mar 7
tue	Mar 8
wed	Mar 9
thu	Mar 10
fri	Mar 11
sat	Mar 12
sun	Mar 13
epilogue

Instead of coming to campus and announcing their decision like they'd planned, the Board of Trustees had the University's Public Relations Office hastily hand out press releases at 6:30 p.m., an hour and a half before many had been expecting it. The press release announced that instead of picking one of the deaf candidates, the Board had selected Elisabeth Zinser, the sole hearing candidate.

The reaction on campus ranged from disbelief to anger—anger at both the decision and the way it was announced. The crowd that had gathered to learn the Board's decision began to mill about. Several hundred spilled out onto Florida Avenue in front of the campus and blocked traffic. Gary Olsen, president of National Association of the Deaf (NAD), got the crowd's attention and suggested that everyone march down to the Mayflower Hotel—where the Board had been meeting— and demand an explanation. Which is what they did. Since the Board hadn't come to campus to make themselves available for questions, the campus decided to go to them.

When the marchers arrived at the Mayflower Hotel, Jane Spilman, Board chair, and Phil Bravin, a deaf member of the Board of Trustees, were in the midst of responding to questions from the reporters. Suffice it to say, chaos broke out when the students and their supporters turned up and demanded an audience with the Board. Finally, representatives of the protestors, including Tim Rarus, the student who had served on the search committee, were allowed to meet with Spilman and other Board members.

It was at this meeting that Spilman supposedly said, "Deaf people are not able to function in a hearing world." Although Spilman has long denied she ever said this, many protesters believed it was true and, to them, it clearly showed how out of touch Spilman and the rest of the Board were with deaf people.

After several hours of discussion with the Board, Rarus told the waiting crowd that Spilman wanted to speak and explain why Zinser had been chosen. Instead of resolving the impending conflict, this meeting only fueled the flames of discontent more. Many of those in the audience that night have since been quoted as saying that it was what they perceived as Spilman's dismissive attitude that evening that made them decide to stand firm for what they believed in. However, as a result of this meeting, Spilman did agree to come to the campus the next afternoon to discuss the issues further.

By midnight, most of the marchers had left the hotel and walked to the White House to meet up with other marchers who had gone to the White House earlier. Together they proceeded to the Capitol Building, then back to Gallaudet's campus in Northeast Washington, D.C.

the week before

Day 1

Day 2