At Historic Graduation Ceremony, Gallaudet University Honors 24 Black Deaf Students, Four Black Teachers and Their Descendants From 1950s-era Kendall School Division II for Negroes
Retrieved on:
Saturday, July 22, 2023
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WASHINGTON, July 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gallaudet University, the world's premier institution for deaf and hard of hearing students, held a historic graduation ceremony today on its campus to honor the 24 Black Deaf students and four Black teachers of the Kendall School Division II for Negroes, which operated on the Gallaudet campus from 1952 to 1954.
Key Points:
- At the ceremony, the 24 students and their descendants received high school diplomas conferred by Gallaudet's Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center.
- Included in the proclamation: "Gallaudet deeply regrets the role it played in perpetuating the historic inequity, systemic marginalization, and the grave injustice committed against the Black Deaf community when Black Deaf students were excluded at Kendall School and in denying the 24 Black Deaf Kendall School students their diplomas.
- Dr. Carolyn D. McCaskill, founding director of the Center for Black Deaf Studies, said, "Today's Kendall School Division II graduation ceremony was one of the most profoundly moving events here at Gallaudet during my 37 years here.
- From 1898 to 1905, Kendall School, a K-12 program on the campus of what is now Gallaudet University, enrolled and educated Black students.