Friday, August 29, 2008

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WAMU 88.5’s The Kojo Nnamdi Show to feature new Gallaudet University president

Real-time captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing available during broadcast

At noon, Monday, Feb. 26, WAMU 88.5’s The Kojo Nnamdi Show will welcome Dr. Robert Davila, President of Gallaudet University, the nation's only liberal arts university for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Davila assumed his post on January 2, 2007, after months of turmoil regarding a successor to I. King Jordan, who was president from 1988-2006.

Davila, an alumnus, former education faculty member and former vice president of the university’s pre-college programs, will discuss his role as university president, and his larger responsibilities as ambassador from the deaf community to the hearing world. He will also address issues raised by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, regarding the University’s academic standards and accreditation.

The Kojo Nnamdi Show featured I. King Jordan as a guest on August 9, when he appeared with Jane Fernandes, who was then president-designate of Gallaudet University. Student representatives also appeared on WAMU 88.5, with Noah Beckman, President of Gallaudet’s student body government, a guest on The DC Politics Hour with Kojo and Jonetta on October 6, and Ryan Commerson, a Gallaudet graduate student and student protest leader, talking with Nnamdi on October 30.

Protests from students and alumni led to an October 29 vote by the Gallaudet Board of Trustees to rescind her contract to be the ninth President of Gallaudet and terminate her position.

Real-time captioning on wamu.org will allow the deaf and hard of hearing to participate in the discussion. The service is produced in collaboration with Speche Communications. Participants will be prompted to download the SpecheBox plug-in at wamu.org if it is not already installed on their computers. As always, the audience can participate via e-mail at kojo@wamu.org or call at (800) 433-8850.

American University’s radio station since 1961, WAMU 88.5 is the leading public radio station for NPR news and information in the greater Washington, D.C., area, with more than 600,000 listeners in the region. WAMU 88.5 is “your NPR news station in the nation’s capital.” The Kojo Nnamdi Show airs on WAMU 88.5 weekdays from noon to 2 p.m., and covers current events, political issues, social policy, art, science and a host of other topics.