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WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 (AP) — Senator John McCain has resigned from the board of trustees of Gallaudet University, the world’s premier university for the deaf, after disagreeing with its decision to revoke the appointment of its incoming president, a university spokeswoman said. The chairwoman of the Gallaudet University board, Brenda Jo Brueggemann, has also resigned, the spokeswoman, Mercy Coogan, said. Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, wrote to outgoing President I. King Jordan on Monday, describing the board’s decision as unfair, Ms. Coogan said. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Ms. Brueggemann, a professor at Ohio State University, resigned and that she said in an e-mail message that she had thought about quitting since Oct. 29, when the board voted to revoke the appointment of the president, Jane K. Fernandes, after a month of demonstrations and hunger strikes by students. Ms. Brueggemann, who had supported Ms. Fernandes, wrote in a message posted Wednesday on the university’s Web site that her personal life and work had suffered since May, when she became the board’s chairwoman. She took the job after the interim board chairwoman, Celia May Baldwin, resigned after protests over Ms. Fernandes’s appointment in May. Students and faculty members had criticized Ms. Fernandes, saying she was autocratic and unable to tackle some of the university’s long-term problems as provost. Ms. Fernandes, 50, has said she became a lightning rod for those frustrated about changes in deaf culture. She had spoken about expanding Gallaudet, known for its expertise in and adherence to American Sign Language, to all kinds of deaf people — those with cochlear implants, those who speak and those who do not sign very well. But some students were worried about preserving sign language and perhaps being left behind if other forms of communication became more prevalent on campus. The board is scheduled to meet Saturday on campus to discuss the process of choosing an interim president. Robert A. Nickerson
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