Racial Tensions Lead To Protests At Yale

Many said they did not believe the university was attuned to the needs of minority students.

A pre-Halloween email sent by the school’s Intercultural Affairs Committee warned against wearing culturally insensitive costumes, such as Native American headdresses or black-face, during holiday celebrations.

Shortly before Halloween, Yale University issued a missive to its student body containing guidelines on how to dress during the Halloween festivities. Copy may not be in its final form.

Even though Halloween ended more than a week ago, at Yale University it continues to be a major topic of conversation after two emails about Halloween costumes locked faculty and students in a heated debate over racial sensitivity and free speech.

The students called the march a sign of unity, and it was the result of a fraternity party at Yale University in New Haven where a young woman was allegedly denied entry because of the color of her skin. Monday’s crowd of a thousand chanted slogans including, “We are unstoppable, another Yale is possible”. It’s not hard to see why students of color at Yale found this problematic. After a student posted Lukianoff’s quote to the Facebook group “Overheard at Yale” on Friday afternoon, “over 100 students gathered around Linsly-Chittenden Hall to voice their anger”, reported the Yale Daily News. “We have to respect each other enough to stop yelling at each other and start listening, and quit intimidating each other”. If it doesn’t happen, students said, they’ll take a lesson from Missouri.

Yet Erika Christakis, a faculty member at Yale and associate “master” of its Silliman College, wrote a public letter attacking the university’s email. Yet you respond not with an apology. In a moment caught on video, he refused, which led to a heated, passionate encounter with a student who insisted he step down. So, my question is: Are you going to say that or not? “Who (expletive) hired you?”

Generally, in her view, students would be better served if colleges showed more faith in their capacity to work things out themselves and develop their cognitive skills. According to a Business Insider article outlining the timeline of events, the tension began with alleged racism from members of the fraternity SAE, who were accused of turning away students on Halloween based on race and ethnicity.

LEX BARLOWE: Yeah, absolutely. One wonders if Erika Christakis’ concern over the initial email sent out by Yale administrators sprang from the silliness she saw in the costume guidelines. Pretty simple and pretty polite, to be honest. She said her response was inspired by what she and her husband had “heard from a number of students who were frustrated by the mass email”. Do whatever you want. They’re trying to tell you what to do.

And so, you know, students were outraged. And so, it really did create a completely unsafe atmosphere on campus. We, however, simply ask that our existences not be invalidated on campus. There was not even an email. Students claim Dean Jonathan Holloway, the first African-American to hold the position, was mute about the tension. Where is our email?

Yale’s president called for the school community to come together and be more respectful and inclusive.

I’ve heard a lot of people dismiss this situation as out of hand because Yale is a “place of privilege”.

“Black people, this is huge”. But we don’t want to debate more.

Shortly after, Wolfe announced he would step down as president of the university on Monday.

The Missouri case is bringing attention to issues that have been simmering on other campuses for months or longer amid a national discussion of race relations and treatment of blacks in America.

Wednesday’s event is apart of a larger movement on campus.

They carried signs with positive slogans such as “Shades of beauty”, “I stand with my sisters” and “This is not a protest“.