Outside the Social Hall entrance doors is the memorial bench in remembrance of a legendary educator at CSDR. His name is Dr Lawrence “Larry”Newman. Older alumni and retirees remember him fondly while today’s students and younger staff may not know him. Hence, I see a need to take another opportunity to explain why Dr Newman was special when he was around the campus.
Armed with a BA degree in English from Gallaudet University and an MA degree in English Literature from the Catholic University of America, Dr Newman was invited to join the brand new faculty at CSDR in 1953.
In the early years, it was rumored that Dr Brill embraced the secret formula that deaf hires didn't exceed 10% of the school personnel. The reason for the limit on the size of the deaf staff population was to ensure students were surrounded by good speech models at all times. The school followed the national trend that oral and aural training were emphasized for all grades with minimal use of sign language. Essentially, CSDR was an oral school from 1953 to 1968. As a result, students saw only a few Deaf staff around. Dr Newman was Deaf and quickly became popular with students.
Older alumni remember that Dr Newman came back to his high school classroom after dinner and welcomed his students from the Palomar and Shasta dorms for help with their math homework. His dedication to teaching and encouragement for success was remarkable. In 1969, he was selected from thousands of K-12 teachers throughout the state for the highly coveted award of “California Teacher of the Year.” He appeared on black-and-white TV for millions of news viewers.
In 1977, Dr Bob Lennan appointed Dr Newman to be the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction to supervise five academic departments. He spent a significant part of his time going around campus working with teachers for observation and teaching improvement.
Besides his exemplary leadership on campus, he was also active in the National Association of the Deaf. In 1988, he represented the NAD as president at the protest rally in support of the student demands including the appointment of a qualified Deaf candidate for presidency at Gallaudet Uniersity.
In the same year, Dr Newman retired with 38 years of service in Deaf Education. With extra time in retirement, he published two books in the Deaf Studies field and wrote poems. He particularly loved Shakespeare's poems and plays. Despite his high stature in leadership, he was a friend to everybody.
Dr Newman had a lovely wife, Betty, who was also a wonderful mother to five children. She also taught reading at CSDR. He made sure to spend quality time with his children for their formative development and family time.
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