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

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Page Emeritus when the school offered it to him in 1984. I. King Jordan recalls that "Bill . . . didn't leave feeling good about
Gallaudet, and he didn't feelgood about the way he perceived Gallaudet to feel about him" But several events softened Stokoe's attitude. The Deaf President Now Revolution in March of 1988 brought dramatic changes in the administration. In May of 1988, Jordan presented Stokoe with an honorary degree. Stokoe was also invited to speak at the
Deaf Way Conference held at Gallaudet in the summer of 1989. All of this served to offset the treatment he had received earlier.
Stokoe jokes about this, saying he's been "rehabilitated, like they used to do in Russia when old guys like Khrushchev reemerged."18
Jordan had consulted with Stokoe in 1988 about whether to apply for the presidency of Gallaudet. Stokoe had known Jordan for more than twenty years. When Jordan arrived at Gallaudet as an undergraduate (he majored in psychology, Stokoe was chairman of the English Department. Once Jordan overcame the "awe of being with such a distinguished scholarly gentleman who obviously knew everything there was to know" their friendship flourished. Jordan remembers asking for Stokoe's recommendation:
The decision to apply for the presidency was one that I made after very, very serious soul-searching and careful study and review by me and my whole family. When I decided to go ahead and apply, I decided to get three people to write letters of recommendation. I wanted someone from my field . . . somebody who could write about what kind of research I had done and my work as a psychologist. I wanted a deaf person who was from the Deaf community and had the respect of other deaf people and could talk about my contributions to deaf society and deaf education. Finally, I wanted somebody who did scholarly work in the area of sign language. There was only one choice there.
The decision to ask Bill to support my application for the presidency and write a letter of reference was easy. What really surprised and encouraged me was the response he was delighted to do it. The letter that he wrote for me, wow!

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