Activists shut down Gallaudet University in DC:

Scores of student protesters — many of them burly football players — shut down Gallaudet University and two smaller schools that share its campus early today, surprising university officials who had thought negotiations with the demonstrators had started to bear fruit.
Starting about 2 a.m., students gathered at the two entrances to the leafy, Northeast Washington campus, which houses the nation’s premier college for the deaf. As the skies lightened and traffic thickened on surrounding city streets, the protesters banged on drums and gave speeches in sign language, refusing access to staff and teachers who were showing up for work.
“Until further notice, Gallaudet University is closed and all gates are blocked,” the students said in an e-mailed statement. A banner hung over the sign at the stone gate on Florida Avenue NE proclaimed: “This is Not Justice.”
The shutdowns significantly escalated protests that resumed last week over the selection of former provost Jane K. Fernandes to become the next president of Gallaudet. Fernandes, who was chosen by the university board of trustees in May, is to take the helm in January.
Students demonstrated in opposition to the appointment of Fernandes for two weeks last spring, as the academic semester ended, and again last week, while trustees were meeting on campus. Her critics — which include some alumni and faculty — say Fernandes is not a strong leader and question the way she was chosen by the board.
Fernandes was born deaf, but grew up speaking rather than using sign language. She did not learn to sign until she was 23.
The protesters want a new presidential search and assurances that those who demonstrated will not be punished. They accused police who responded to protests last week of using pepper spray, giving orders without a sign language interpreter and manhandling some students. The administration denied this. On Friday, students locked down a main classroom building and two bomb threats cleared the campus.
“An oppressive system is not a system that can be negotiated with,” the students said in the statement issued this morning. They urged faculty to meet to discuss the crisis later today.
The disruption has prompted counter-protests and complaints from some students and faculty who want life on campus to return to normal.