Cover next page > title: Seeing Language in Sign : The Work of William C. Stokoe author

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Page The drawback of the two-year master's program in teaching was the way the students were tested. The written exam was not all that difficult for the students. The difficulty (for meat least) was sitting in on their oral examinations. The student faced three members of the graduate faculty, and I sometimes had to be one of them. I've never been so mentally put- upon, so emotionally disturbed. Sitting there and listening to the drivel coming from my colleagues in the education department, the inanity of the questions they asked, the complete revelation of their ignorancenot only ignorance but prejudice. It was almost more than I could bear. They would ask a deaf student questions about the function of the inner ear and things like that. I wanted to scream at them, "My God, the question you just asked is utterly absurd You ought to turn in your resignation and go do something for which you're fitted" 45
Stokoe never actually went that far in expressing his feelings, but he never went out of his way to keep them a secret, either. It was his nature to say what was on his mind, to act on his principles. These maybe admirable qualities, but they were not qualities that made him easy to work with, particularly if one disagreed with him. His frankness, together with his high energy level, his intense interest in new theories and methods, and his passion for change and improvement, exasperated some members of the English Department.
Virginia Covington first worked in the department as Bill Stokoe's secretary later, after completing her graduate work, she became a faculty member in the department. She was "able to understand his actions and behavior" she says, because she arrived at the office particularly early each morning, and had the opportunity to see how Bill worked, something the rest of the department never had. I'd be therein the morning when he arrived and he'd say, "I read the most exciting book last night about transformational grammar, and I'm so excited about it" and he'd goon to describe it in great detail. And I'd say to myself, "Here we go again" because I knew the next step. And sure enough, when the other members of the department arrived, they wouldn't have had the advantage of

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