Guestblog: Marsha Graham on the Gallaudet Controversy

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By Marsha Graham

This is not a civil liberties issue. This is an employment law issue.

McCaskell’s sin is one of rank stupidity. She is a non-tenured individual working for Gallaudet as the Chief Diversity Officer – not a secretary, not a janitor, not even a diversity underling. She speaks for Gallaudet in matters of diversity.

Gallaudet University

Gallaudet University (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At Gallaudet the students are Deaf and discriminated against for their deafness. There are Gay Deaf students there, and the head of the Diversity Program has just made a statement against the LBGT community through signing this petition. She was an idiot if she thinks that won’t come back to bite her in the butt.

Further, the students of Gallaudet do not want her back. Remember, I belong to a Deaf and HoH attorney’s association, and many of them went to Gallaudet and know the parties and the students. Why on Earth would any student who suffers daily discrimination based on hearing loss, want a diversity officer who does not believe in diversity? Or even seems to oppose diversity?

My take: She did not want her job at Gallaudet enough to keep her mouth shut and her fingers off discriminatory petitions. I worked for the state  – and my Dad for the feds, and we kept our heads down and our mouths shut because we liked our paychecks. When you represent your organization in the world, you don’t put it on the front page through your behavior. Anyone who is a diversity officer, who opposes diversity should do the same or find a new job. Surely one of the anti-gay organizations will hire her as a mascot now.

Edward Miner Gallaudet at his desk, presumably...

Edward Miner Gallaudet at his desk, presumably in College Hall, as President of Gallaudet College (later Gallaudet University). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ms. McCaskell is in an employee-at-will jurisdiction where and individual can be let go for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason – just not an illegal reason. She has embarrassed her employer and alienated the students. No one will trust her. She has fouled her own nest, so to speak.

By the way, I find many Deaf folks (not all, but many) rather conservative by nature. Most blind folks are similarly conservative by nature. So branding this a liberal assault is both wrong and back in the rank stupidity category, in my opinion. It is a response to an individual who made it impossible for her to represent her employer and the students of Gallaudet.

You want your job? You’re highly visible? Keep your head down and keep out of trouble. If you get yourself in highly visible trouble, you fall on your sword and protect the employer.

The President's House (also known as the Edwar...

The President’s House (also known as the Edward Miner Gallaudet Residence or House One) located on the campus of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. The 20-room Victorian Gothic mansion was designed by Vaux, Withers, & Co. in 1867. The original owner of the home was Edward Miner Gallaudet, founder and first president of the school. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a contributing property to the Gallaudet College Historic District, a National Historic Landmark. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Marsha Graham is the driving force behind several blogs, among them AnotherBoomerBlog. She is a good friend to DeafInPrison.com and we would be lost without her support. When she’s not blogging, she’s a committed activist and attorney.

“I breathe, drive, take photographs, and write – not necessarily in that order. ”

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