Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Featured on Bob's Vlog!

I am proud to let you know that I, along with the founder of Global Reach Out Alim Chandani, have been featured on Gallaudet University President Roberto Davila's talk-show style Vlog to the Gallaudet community and beyond, "Bob's Vlog"

Here is the letter our President Davila sent out below.



February 3, 2009

Dear Campus Community:

Gallaudet is proud to be located in the nation’s capital. The proximity to arts and cultural events is a great benefit to Gallaudet students. They especially have opportunities to get involved in the political process that are not available for students in other parts of the country.

On this week's "Bob's Vlog" I have a conversation with Leah Katz-Hernandez, a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in government, and Alim Chandani, a doctoral student in the Department of Administration and Supervision.

Leah and Alim are two examples of students who got involved in the political process and participated in events surrounding the inauguration of President Barack Obama. I'm proud of both of them and the many other students who took advantage of the opportunities to be a part of such an historic moment in the nation's history.

I hope you enjoy this week's vlog.

Sincerely,

Robert R. Davila
President


If you wish to watch the Vlog or read the transcript, you may do so at the links below.



I would like to add that I truly enjoyed the experience of doing this Vlog with President Davila. I have always looked up to him, especially considering his impressive background - being raised as a Spanish-speaking child from the barrio and rising through deafness and cultural barriers to become such an admirable role model regarding areas of education, advocacy, and public service. At the end of the vlog, you may see that I have asked him a question about his work under two former presidents' administrations at the Department of Education. I truly took the words to heart from his response. I hope you all will take it to the heart, too.

Bob Davila:

Excellent question. I am really proud and happy to tell you that I received those opportunities by doing exactly what you two are doing now while you are young and still here in school. You are volunteering. You are getting involved. You are developing strong interests in the political process. You are reaching out to other people, offering knowledge and expertise, and your support and assistance. I think that is what is involved in becoming a good community individual, and I did a lot of that.

I was really committed to service and to volunteerism, not only here in the U.S., but in other countries as well, especially in Latin America and in the Far East. That came to the attention of other people who recognized me for my work and my commitment to service and that opened the door to opportunities. I’m really proud of that experience and I think the two of you will do much better than I did because you have so many more opportunities to be involved. Now the community is really diverse and more accepting of people who are different. So I really look forward to hearing wonderful things about the two of you and there is nothing--like you said before, Leah--nothing is impossible anymore. I look forward to reading about the two of you and your famous careers. Thank you very much for coming to join us for “Bob’s Vlog” today.

EDIT: It looks like the Global Reach Out link above isn't working. Go to http://www.globalreachout.org/ for more information.

1 comment:

cnkatz said...

leah, yes i viewed that bobsvlog. you make me so proud of what the collective deaf people are achieving, in forms of works by deaf people such as you.

u made me proud in ways more than one.

carry on urself forth doing ur work little by little, adding up will blossom into something you might never imagine. I plod with little posts for my myth/deafhistory/deafhood work. Chins down and work hard and don't look into the future too much.

Am with u leah, fist upward (forward) and handwaving -