So you’re Jane Fernandes. In January you’re set to take control of Gallaudet University, the nation’s premiere institution of higher learning for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. But since your selection in May, it’s been nothing but headache after headache. Students protested the decision until summer break, but showed surprising resolve and kicked off the protests again this semester. So far they’ve taken over a building, blocked all entrances to the campus, taken 133 arrests in stride, and forced the cancellation of the homecoming festivities. To add insult to injury, the faculty overwhelmingly endorsed a no-confidence vote against you. You’ve been accused of being insensitive to the needs of the students, of not being deaf enough, of having been chosen through a secretive process. What do you do?

Screw ‘Em — I’m Staying!
You were chosen to lead the university, and you will lead the university. Imagine the precedent if you step aside — students could threaten a protest any time they deemed an administrative decision to not be to their liking. Is that any way to run a university? After all, they’re here and gone in four years, but the institution remains. And more than that, what are they really complaining about? That you’re not so much a people person? That you only learned ASL in your twenties? That you’re not African-American? Corruption, you’d understand. Ben Ladner totally had it coming at American University. And isn’t the mature way to approach the situation to dialogue first, protest later? Haven’t the students somewhat skipped step 1? And how long will they actually be out there? Will their numbers remain as winter sets in? Probably not. Will they eventually start splintering when they realize that they’ve given up a semester’s worth of classwork? Likely. The university needs you, and the students will eventually come to accept that. Stick it out, Jane.

Eff This — I’m Outtie!
Wow. You sure didn’t expect this when you got the good news in May. You hoped that the summer would put a bit of a damper on their emotions, but it seems to have done the opposite. You’ve got students camped out on campus, and they’re still blocking all but one of the entrances to the university. The faculty are rebelling, and national sympathy among the deaf is clearly on their side. If you stay, you run the risk of the protest getting more and more intense. After all, you can only arrest so many students before something horrible happens, right? And a university isn’t worth much if the faculty up and decides to stop teaching, is it? The students may have taken the extreme route too quickly, but at this point, nothing will mollify them short of your resignation. Maybe the institution as a whole needs this. You can still come out a winner. Upon presenting your resignation, you can ask for the time to communicate with the students, the faculty, and the media. You can ask for a campus-wide dialogue. If the students are serious about changing things, they’ll happily accept. If not, they’ll look like a bunch of mindless extremists. It’s sad that they’re the downfall of your nascent presidency, but you don’t see any alternative.