Gallaudet University. A university that combines deaf, hard of hearing and hearing students into a diverse community. A university that until the Deaf President Now protest in 1988 was never run by a deaf president.

Angel Ramos, the author of Triumph of the Spirit, The DPN Chronicle, will speak at Kent State’s Stark campus about the history of Deaf President Now and his experiences.

“We’re looking forward to seeing how he has looked back on the years that have gone by since that happened and how far deaf people have come,” said Leah Subak, an instructor and project manager of the educational interpreter program.

The workshop, which was organized by the interpreting class of 2006 and sponsored by Kent State’s Stark campus, will be held at 7 p.m. today in Stark campus’ main hall.

Admission is free and open to anyone interested in learning more about Deaf President Now. In addition, interpreters will be provided.

Julie Katz, a senior educational interpreter major, took part in organizing the event. She said there are not a lot of programs at Kent State that focus on deaf awareness.

Katz describes the workshop as an event that will benefit both the deaf and hearing communities.

“Deaf President Now was a very important event for deaf culture,” Katz said.

Fred Palchick, a lecturer in American sign language at the Stark campus, was a student at Gallaudet University during the Deaf President Now protests.

“It was a wonderful experience and really showed me and all students at Gallaudet that any deaf person is just like any hearing person except for the hearing loss,” Palchick said in an e-mail. “We are all humans, and we all have the same abilities to do anything.”

Palchick said Ramos is interested in having a program at Kent State to celebrate Deaf President Now every year.

“These kinds of workshops will help any students who are studying deaf majors or American sign language courses to understand more depth of the true meaning of deaf,” Palchick said.

In addition to the workshop, Subak said Ramos will be talking to American sign language professors about incorporating his book and Deaf President Now history into their classes.

Palchick said students will benefit from knowing what is happening in deaf communities, and they can learn about this through listening to Ramos’s experiences.

“What he has to say will be a springboard for us to go ahead and plan some other activities,” Subak said.

Contact regional campus reporter Rebekah Mosora at [email protected].