Gallaudet University history

The following year, in 1865, the 38th Congress removed the instruction that the institution was to educate the blind, and renamed it the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb.

Gallaudet gave a lengthy account of his travels to Europe in 1867 and was very critical of the extent to which speech is taught to deaf children in European schools for the deaf.

The biggest educational conference in the then-history of deaf education was held during the month of May 1868 in Washington, D.C., largely made up of principals of schools for the deaf.

He presided over the first commencement in June 1869 when three young men received diplomas.

Five female students remained when the school announced in 1889 that the college would be permanently coeducational, with two graduating.

In 1891 Gallaudet College established a teacher training program, which admitted only hearing students.

One of the students was Agatha Tiegel in the class of 1893, who later married the well-known deaf architect Olof Hanson.

In 1894, the collegiate division was officially renamed Gallaudet College from the National Deaf-Mute College in honor of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, President Gallaudet's father.

In 1911, Congress amended the charter of the institution, changing the corporate name to Columbia Institution for the Deaf.

In 1954, the college changed its name to Gallaudet College to honor the contributions of Thomas Gallaudet.

The president’s medallion was presented for the first time in 1969 to a Gallaudet president.

The 1970’s continued as a period of growth for the University.

The medallion was redesigned in 1986 to coincide with Gallaudet’s achievement of university status and shows the seal of Gallaudet University.

Christiansen, John B. & Barnartt, Sharon N.(1995)Deaf President Now! Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.

Jordan announced his retirement in September 2005.

On May 1, 2006, the university's board of trustees announced that Jane Fernandes, the university's then-current provost, would be the university's next president.

Retrieved November 22, 2008, from http://www.saveourdeafschools.org/tribute_to_gallaudet.pdf Gallaudet History. (2008). Gallaudet University.

On October 18, 2009, the Board of Trustees announced that Gallaudet's tenth president would be T. Alan Hurwitz.

He began his tenure on January 1, 2010.

On September 7, 2012, Gallaudet University defeated Catholic University of America for the first time in the 106-year history of the rivalry between the two D.C. schools.