Has Yale Become a PC Joke?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And if the outraged students hadn't been so confrontational then Yale wouldn't be having this broader discussion right now. Kudos to the kids who had the guts to insist that the racial climate at Yale is an issue that needs to be discussed.

Not at all true. Indeed, the conversation about racial issues was embraced by the President of the University at his opening speech this year in the context of a school discussion as to whether the name of Calhoun Hall should be changed and by an email from the Master of another residential college who suggested that students should not call him Master any longer because he didn't want anyone to feel uncomfortable. The university promoted this dialogue without swearing or intimidation. Perhaps not fast enough or loud enough for some, but the school year began in late August and all this hit the fan the week of Halloween. The Yale Daily news has featured many OpEds on many sides of these issues. And yes, some of them prompted some rather uncivil reactions. Unfortunately, rather than some students viewing the administration as this year welcoming dialogue and change, they have used it as a window to escalate as reflected in that unseemly video of the student screaming at the administrator. The tantrum in the video accurately reflects the problem on many campuses -- some students believe if they don't like the answer they get it means the administration doesn't care about them and intentionally supports racism.

+1 The e-mail originally sent out was civil and spurred discussion. The response should have been to open up a dialogue, not yell and scream and tantrum.

+2. Just read the Professor's email, and it is much much much smarter than anything else coming out of this whole fiasco. That her DH and she must now go through PC hell is simply disgusting.

There's some nuanced thinking lacking on the part of the protesters. She didn't appear to be condoning offensive costumes as much as she was attempting to start a dialogue about where appreciation ends and appropriation begins. She wrote, "I don’t know the answer to these questions; they seem unanswerable. Or at the least, they put us on slippery terrain that I, for one, prefer not to cross."

I don't know how one could assume from her messaging that she would condone or encourage anything meant to denigrate and humiliate.

She clearly wants students to start a dialogue about this, and why shouldn't they? I can't imagine any rational-thinking person thinking blackface is OK. That's clearly not the intended audience here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was a commentator on gawker who claimed to be a female minority student at Yale, who said the costume thing was the tipping point on top of a huge pile of other injustices and ineffective responses from yale's administration. She made it sound like there's a lot of frat boy culture there... Which should come as a shock to no one who has ever been inside of an investment bank.

While I sympathize with her grievances, my own attempts to discuss this with people from her generation have all been met with them calling me a racist white person. Who watches fox. All of this because I said the letter about owning responsibility for a Halloween costume was not a bad thing.

It is very, very hard to argue with hysterics on any side of an argument... But my takeaway here is complete disgust with the state of academia. It's not just Yale... My alma mater is full of hysteria about Halloween costumes and racial stereotypes right now too. And since they only have about a 7 per cent minority population... It's mostly a bunch of white rich kids falling all over themselves to apologize for being oppressors.

Oh, the injustice of having to endure four years of higher education at one of the most selective (and the best, or at least I used to think) universities in the country! Oh, the humanity! I wonder if she's getting pretty much a free ride, to boot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you think college students should show moral outrage whenever another college student tells someone s/he disagrees with to shut the fuck up? Or is it just when they tell authority figures to STFU?

The fact that you even have to tell someone to exercise respect when choosing a costume says volumes about a broken moral compass.

Why anyone would purposely wear something fully knowing that it's offensive and hurtful has deeper issues regardless of your right for free expression.

Like a Redskins jersey?

You better believe it.

You don't have to go all out on the warpath. Hail to the Redskins!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And if the outraged students hadn't been so confrontational then Yale wouldn't be having this broader discussion right now. Kudos to the kids who had the guts to insist that the racial climate at Yale is an issue that needs to be discussed.

Not at all true. Indeed, the conversation about racial issues was embraced by the President of the University at his opening speech this year in the context of a school discussion as to whether the name of Calhoun Hall should be changed and by an email from the Master of another residential college who suggested that students should not call him Master any longer because he didn't want anyone to feel uncomfortable. The university promoted this dialogue without swearing or intimidation. Perhaps not fast enough or loud enough for some, but the school year began in late August and all this hit the fan the week of Halloween. The Yale Daily news has featured many OpEds on many sides of these issues. And yes, some of them prompted some rather uncivil reactions. Unfortunately, rather than some students viewing the administration as this year welcoming dialogue and change, they have used it as a window to escalate as reflected in that unseemly video of the student screaming at the administrator. The tantrum in the video accurately reflects the problem on many campuses -- some students believe if they don't like the answer they get it means the administration doesn't care about them and intentionally supports racism.

+1 The e-mail originally sent out was civil and spurred discussion. The response should have been to open up a dialogue, not yell and scream and tantrum.

+2. Just read the Professor's email, and it is much much much smarter than anything else coming out of this whole fiasco. That her DH and she must now go through PC hell is simply disgusting.

There's some nuanced thinking lacking on the part of the protesters. She didn't appear to be condoning offensive costumes as much as she was attempting to start a dialogue about where appreciation ends and appropriation begins. She wrote, "I don’t know the answer to these questions; they seem unanswerable. Or at the least, they put us on slippery terrain that I, for one, prefer not to cross."

I don't know how one could assume from her messaging that she would condone or encourage anything meant to denigrate and humiliate.

She clearly wants students to start a dialogue about this, and why shouldn't they? I can't imagine any rational-thinking person thinking blackface is OK. That's clearly not the intended audience here.

Exactly. She was encouraging the students to think for themselves, to learn for themselves, instead of blindly obeying some random bureaucratic authority.

But doing so at Yale sounds as tough as feeding caviar to pigs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you think college students should show moral outrage whenever another college student tells someone s/he disagrees with to shut the fuck up? Or is it just when they tell authority figures to STFU?

The fact that you even have to tell someone to exercise respect when choosing a costume says volumes about a broken moral compass.

Why anyone would purposely wear something fully knowing that it's offensive and hurtful has deeper issues regardless of your right for free expression.

Like a Redskins jersey?

You better believe it.

You don't have to go all out on the warpath. Hail to the Redskins!

Big losers. Enjoy your warpath.

[Anonymous]

Military draft and an option to serve in AmeriCorp for those who don't want to. This is getting out of control. I found the email to be very informative, especially because it was from the perspective of a former preschool teacher. Sure, I can understand a minority student who grew up in a ravaged environment and came to Yale feeling victimized by institutionalized privilege, etc. But for those who came from the same upper middle class bubbles as their nonminority fellow students ....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And if the outraged students hadn't been so confrontational then Yale wouldn't be having this broader discussion right now. Kudos to the kids who had the guts to insist that the racial climate at Yale is an issue that needs to be discussed.

Not at all true. Indeed, the conversation about racial issues was embraced by the President of the University at his opening speech this year in the context of a school discussion as to whether the name of Calhoun Hall should be changed and by an email from the Master of another residential college who suggested that students should not call him Master any longer because he didn't want anyone to feel uncomfortable. The university promoted this dialogue without swearing or intimidation. Perhaps not fast enough or loud enough for some, but the school year began in late August and all this hit the fan the week of Halloween. The Yale Daily news has featured many OpEds on many sides of these issues. And yes, some of them prompted some rather uncivil reactions. Unfortunately, rather than some students viewing the administration as this year welcoming dialogue and change, they have used it as a window to escalate as reflected in that unseemly video of the student screaming at the administrator. The tantrum in the video accurately reflects the problem on many campuses -- some students believe if they don't like the answer they get it means the administration doesn't care about them and intentionally supports racism.

+1 The e-mail originally sent out was civil and spurred discussion. The response should have been to open up a dialogue, not yell and scream and tantrum.

+2. Just read the Professor's email, and it is much much much smarter than anything else coming out of this whole fiasco. That her DH and she must now go through PC hell is simply disgusting.

There's some nuanced thinking lacking on the part of the protesters. She didn't appear to be condoning offensive costumes as much as she was attempting to start a dialogue about where appreciation ends and appropriation begins. She wrote, "I don’t know the answer to these questions; they seem unanswerable. Or at the least, they put us on slippery terrain that I, for one, prefer not to cross."

I don't know how one could assume from her messaging that she would condone or encourage anything meant to denigrate and humiliate.

She clearly wants students to start a dialogue about this, and why shouldn't they? I can't imagine any rational-thinking person thinking blackface is OK. That's clearly not the intended audience here.

Exactly. She was encouraging the students to think for themselves, to learn for themselves, instead of blindly obeying some random bureaucratic authority.

But doing so at Yale sounds as tough as feeding caviar to pigs.

She is my hero.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Military draft and an option to serve in AmeriCorp for those who don't want to. This is getting out of control. I found the email to be very informative, especially because it was from the perspective of a former preschool teacher. Sure, I can understand a minority student who grew up in a ravaged environment and came to Yale feeling victimized by institutionalized privilege, etc. But for those who came from the same upper middle class bubbles as their nonminority fellow students ....

+ 1. Actual public service to end the actual privilege/ entitlement culture.

[Anonymous]

TBH I haven't been following the events at Yale beyond the headlines, but what I see is an emotional ~20yo on a campus trying to speak to an admin, who keeps interrupting her until she becomes loud. Why can't he listen to her at first? I agree that pulling off the backpack was becoming aggressive, but he handled it well at that point by not further escalating the situation.

I hope as she grows older and matures, she is embarrassed (aren't we all of many things), but c'mon she's young and passionate and seeing racism on her campus. And, up to that point she felt like she wasn't being heard.

I'm white but I remember one year, when I was in my30s, my brother refused to speak to me. That feeling of not having an opportunity to speak, of being shut out, was enraging. People want to feel heard, and in college, kids are suppose to find their voice.

[Anonymous]

Here's a good article about the whole event: The New Intolerance of Student Activism

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/the-new-intolerance-of-student-activism-at-yale/414810/

According to the Washington Post, “several students in Silliman said they cannot bear to live in the college anymore.” These are young people who live in safe, heated buildings with two Steinway grand pianos, an indoor basketball court, a courtyard with hammocks and picnic tables, a computer lab, a dance studio, a gym, a movie theater, a film editing lab, billiard tables, an art gallery, and four music practice rooms. But they can’t bear this setting that millions of people would risk their lives to inhabit because one woman wrote an email that hurt their feelings?

This beggars belief. Yale students told to talk to each other if they find a peer’s costume offensive helplessly declare that they’re unable to do so without an authority figure specifying “any modes or means to facilitate these discussions,” as if they’re Martians unfamiliar with a concept as rudimentary as disagreeing in conversation, even as they publish an open letter that is, itself, a mode of facilitating discussion.

Around 5:45 p.m., as attendees began to leave the conference, students chanted the phrase “Genocide is not a joke” and held up written signs of the same words. Taking Howard’s reminder into account, protesters formed a clear path through which attendants could leave.

A large group of students eventually gathered outside of the building on High Street, where several attendees were spat on, according to Buckley fellows who were present during the conference. One Buckley Fellow added that he was spat on and called a racist. Another, who identifies as a minority himself, said he has been labeled a “traitor” by several.

These students were offended by one person’s words, and were free to offer their own words in turn. That wasn’t enough for them, so they spat on different people who listened to those words and called one minority student a traitor to his race. In their muddled ideology, the Yale activists had to destroy the safe space to save it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TBH I haven't been following the events at Yale beyond the headlines, but what I see is an emotional ~20yo on a campus trying to speak to an admin, who keeps interrupting her until she becomes loud. Why can't he listen to her at first? I agree that pulling off the backpack was becoming aggressive, but he handled it well at that point by not further escalating the situation.

I hope as she grows older and matures, she is embarrassed (aren't we all of many things), but c'mon she's young and passionate and seeing racism on her campus. And, up to that point she felt like she wasn't being heard.

I'm white but I remember one year, when I was in my30s, my brother refused to speak to me. That feeling of not having an opportunity to speak, of being shut out, was enraging. People want to feel heard, and in college, kids are suppose to find their voice.

1. Based on that video, she is not being heard probably because she has little to say of value.

2. She might try listening more and actually talking to people. And if she acted more civilly, rather than resenting the world because of some perceived racial slight and playing the victim (when she has advantages that a lot of young people would love to have), people just might treat her better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's a good article about the whole event: The New Intolerance of Student Activism

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/the-new-intolerance-of-student-activism-at-yale/414810/

According to the Washington Post, “several students in Silliman said they cannot bear to live in the college anymore.” These are young people who live in safe, heated buildings with two Steinway grand pianos, an indoor basketball court, a courtyard with hammocks and picnic tables, a computer lab, a dance studio, a gym, a movie theater, a film editing lab, billiard tables, an art gallery, and four music practice rooms. But they can’t bear this setting that millions of people would risk their lives to inhabit because one woman wrote an email that hurt their feelings?

This beggars belief. Yale students told to talk to each other if they find a peer’s costume offensive helplessly declare that they’re unable to do so without an authority figure specifying “any modes or means to facilitate these discussions,” as if they’re Martians unfamiliar with a concept as rudimentary as disagreeing in conversation, even as they publish an open letter that is, itself, a mode of facilitating discussion.

Around 5:45 p.m., as attendees began to leave the conference, students chanted the phrase “Genocide is not a joke” and held up written signs of the same words. Taking Howard’s reminder into account, protesters formed a clear path through which attendants could leave.

A large group of students eventually gathered outside of the building on High Street, where several attendees were spat on, according to Buckley fellows who were present during the conference. One Buckley Fellow added that he was spat on and called a racist. Another, who identifies as a minority himself, said he has been labeled a “traitor” by several.

These students were offended by one person’s words, and were free to offer their own words in turn. That wasn’t enough for them, so they spat on different people who listened to those words and called one minority student a traitor to his race. In their muddled ideology, the Yale activists had to destroy the safe space to save it.

I am Hispanic, and this article couldn't be more on point. Yale protesters' privilege stinks from here. The sad news is that they are probably the last ones to notice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TBH I haven't been following the events at Yale beyond the headlines, but what I see is an emotional ~20yo on a campus trying to speak to an admin, who keeps interrupting her until she becomes loud. Why can't he listen to her at first? I agree that pulling off the backpack was becoming aggressive, but he handled it well at that point by not further escalating the situation.

I hope as she grows older and matures, she is embarrassed (aren't we all of many things), but c'mon she's young and passionate and seeing racism on her campus. And, up to that point she felt like she wasn't being heard.

I'm white but I remember one year, when I was in my30s, my brother refused to speak to me. That feeling of not having an opportunity to speak, of being shut out, was enraging. People want to feel heard, and in college, kids are suppose to find their voice.

1. Based on that video, she is not being heard probably because she has little to say of value.

2. She might try listening more and actually talking to people. And if she acted more civilly, rather than resenting the world because of some perceived racial slight and playing the victim (when she has advantages that a lot of young people would love to have), people just might treat her better.

Harsh. Are you sure this is the message you want to send out to our kids, many of whom will someday be in leadership roles or other positions of power?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TBH I haven't been following the events at Yale beyond the headlines, but what I see is an emotional ~20yo on a campus trying to speak to an admin, who keeps interrupting her until she becomes loud. Why can't he listen to her at first? I agree that pulling off the backpack was becoming aggressive, but he handled it well at that point by not further escalating the situation.

I hope as she grows older and matures, she is embarrassed (aren't we all of many things), but c'mon she's young and passionate and seeing racism on her campus. And, up to that point she felt like she wasn't being heard.

I'm white but I remember one year, when I was in my30s, my brother refused to speak to me. That feeling of not having an opportunity to speak, of being shut out, was enraging. People want to feel heard, and in college, kids are suppose to find their voice.

1. Based on that video, she is not being heard probably because she has little to say of value.

2. She might try listening more and actually talking to people. And if she acted more civilly, rather than resenting the world because of some perceived racial slight and playing the victim (when she has advantages that a lot of young people would love to have), people just might treat her better.

Harsh. Are you sure this is the message you want to send out to our kids, many of whom will someday be in leadership roles or other positions of power?

Its horrifying if these kids are the ones that will be our leaders or other positions of power some day. The other world powers will eat us for breakfast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TBH I haven't been following the events at Yale beyond the headlines, but what I see is an emotional ~20yo on a campus trying to speak to an admin, who keeps interrupting her until she becomes loud. Why can't he listen to her at first? I agree that pulling off the backpack was becoming aggressive, but he handled it well at that point by not further escalating the situation.

I hope as she grows older and matures, she is embarrassed (aren't we all of many things), but c'mon she's young and passionate and seeing racism on her campus. And, up to that point she felt like she wasn't being heard.

I'm white but I remember one year, when I was in my30s, my brother refused to speak to me. That feeling of not having an opportunity to speak, of being shut out, was enraging. People want to feel heard, and in college, kids are suppose to find their voice.

1. Based on that video, she is not being heard probably because she has little to say of value.

2. She might try listening more and actually talking to people. And if she acted more civilly, rather than resenting the world because of some perceived racial slight and playing the victim (when she has advantages that a lot of young people would love to have), people just might treat her better.

Harsh. Are you sure this is the message you want to send out to our kids, many of whom will someday be in leadership roles or other positions of power?

Its horrifying if these kids are the ones that will be our leaders or other positions of power some day. The other world powers will eat us for breakfast.

Yep.

If I was China's President, I'd invest billions in funding stupid politically correct centers in US colleges. Probably in sports programs too.