hard of hearing, or hearing parents, speaking/signing American Sign Language, English, or another hearing language at home, the language used in school, attending a deaf or hearing school, having a deaf or hearing partner or spouse, generations of deaf people in the family, having deaf, hard of hearing, or hearing children, and so on within the broader context of race, ethnicity, gender expression, LGBTQ identity, socioeconomic class, national origin or citizenship, language, ability or disability, and other human categorizations. Upon the retirement of Jordan, she applied for the university presidency. In the application, Fernandes wrote: Her presidential platform, "Many Ways of Being Deaf," articulated work to be done throughout the university to include, value, and respect students, faculty, and staff of all races and all ways of being deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind. Naming racism and audism as systemic issues at Gallaudet caused a strong reaction to Fernandes' appointment as Gallaudet University president. Audism, defined by Tom Humphries, is (discrimination based on the ability to hear or behave in the manner of one who hears). Racism is defined as (discrimination directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is marginalized). Scores of students protested against her appointment. According to The Washington Post, "Students objected to the appointment of Jane Fernandes, who is Deaf and is currently the university's provost because she did not grow up using American Sign Language. Some students also criticized Fernandes for not having warm relations with students." Protestors objected to Fernandes because she was "not Deaf enough." One flier handed out in the protest attacked her because "her mother and brother are deaf, but use spoken language." When this did not resonate with the public, the protestors clarified that they believed she lacked the charisma to represent deaf people to the world. Protestors perceived that Fernandes, having learned ASL as an adult, was insufficiently committed to addressing the problem of audism (discrimination based on the ability to hear or behave in the manner of one who hears). The student paper took polls a few days before the selection. Of those faculty members who responded, 36% gave Fernandes an "acceptable" rating, compared to 53% and 64% for two other finalists. On October 29, 2006, six months after the Board selected her as president, but before she had assumed the position, the Board