American Notes CIVIL RIGHTS

"It is a historic moment for deaf people around the world." So said a jubilant Irving King Jordan last week, in words and sign language, after being named president of Gallaudet University, the nation's only institution of higher learning for the hearing impaired. Jordan, 44, who is deaf, was appointed after a week of student protests and class boycotts sparked by the naming of Elisabeth Ann Zinser, who is sound of hearing. Zinser, 48, resigned after only two days in office. Board Chairwoman Jane Bassett Spilman also resigned, to clear the way for another student demand: the formation of a new board with a majority of deaf people.