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Morning Edition, May 8, 2006 · District Attorney Joyce Chiles in Mississippi is considering whether enough evidence exists to prosecute the 1955 murder of Emmett Till. FBI investigators reopened the Till case in 2004. Federal civil rights prosecutors are hamstrung by a statute of limitations, but there is no such obstacle in Mississippi.

Gallaudet, here in Washington, D.C., is the nation's only university for deaf students. For a week, students have been blocking the campus gates to protest the choice of its new president. The school's faculty may vote today to support that protest. There was a similar outcry the last time the school picked a president. Back then, students protested and won: They got the first deaf president in the school's history. The dissent going on this time shows how Gallaudet has come to hold a special importance to deaf people. NPR's Joseph Shapiro reports.

JOSEPH SHAPIRO, reporter: Eighteen years ago, the argument was clear: a deaf school needed a deaf president.

This time, the protesters are having a hard time explaining exactly what it is they don't like about the choice of Jane Fernandes as president. She's deaf. She's a Gallaudet administrator. And even most of her opponents agree: She's got the skills to run the school.

Anthony Mowl is one of the student protesters. He speaks through a sign language interpreter:

ANTHONY MOWL: She's an administrator, not a leader. Gallaudet, we made it clear, we don't want an administrator. We want a leader. We want someone who can inspire.