Deafweekly Seeks Stories About Jane K. Fernandes

From: DeafWeekly - Jun 30, 2006

News Release

DEAFWEEKLY SEEKS STORIES ABOUT JANE K. FERNANDES

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (June 30, 2006) – Deafweekly is seeking stories about Gallaudet University’s president-designate, Jane K. Fernandes, for a book with the working title “FERNIE: The Case For and Against Jane K. Fernandes.”

Deafweekly editor Tom Willard said the need for such a book has become obvious since students, staff, faculty, alumni and others began protesting the Board of Trustees’ decision to name Fernandes as Gallaudet’s ninth president upon the retirement of I. King Jordan in December.

“Much has been said and written about Jane Fernandes in regard to the presidential selection,” said Willard. “We need to get it all together in one place so people can decide for themselves if Jane Fernandes is the right person to lead Gallaudet into the future.”

Noting that much of what has been said about Fernandes has come from unidentified sources on the Internet, Willard said that he will require people who submit their experiences for publication to identify themselves and their relationship, if any, to Fernandes. However, people can request anonymity if they have a good reason (i.e. they work at Gallaudet) – and their identities will not be released by Deafweekly.

People who have had personal experiences with Fernandes are invited to write up their accounts and send them to Deafweekly. “We’re not looking for something a friend of a friend heard about,” said Willard. “We want to hear from people with first-hand stories of their own interactions with Fernandes.“

It could be something you saw her say or do when you were in a crowd and she was on stage. Or perhaps you had a brief interaction with her at a meeting or during a social event or in the bookstore.

Any information that will help readers understand who Jane Fernandes is will be considered for this book. All comments – positive, negative and neutral – are welcome.

Submission guidelines: Maximum 1,000 words. Please write in short paragraphs. Think like a reporter – just the facts. Use quotes when possible; they don’t need to be perfect but should convey the original message and thoughts. Include your name and contact information and specify whether or not your name can appear with the submission. If not, please explain why. If anyone can back up your story, include their contact information, if it is okay with them.

In addition, if anyone has photographs of Fernandes that could be included in the book, please feel free to submit them for possible inclusion. Let us know if you want to be credited as the photographer.

Send submissions in an email to mail@deafweekly.com. Photographs may be attached as JPEG files.

Written materials may be sent to Deafweekly, P.O. Box 18121, Rochester, NY 14618. The submission deadline is July 31, 2006 and the book will be out in September. A portion of proceeds will be donated to charity.

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