Anonymous wrote:From Yale’s “Intro To Undergrad Education”:

“Freedom of expression is especially important in an academic community, where the search for truth holds a primary value. In 1975, a committee chaired by the late C. Vann Woodward, one of Yale’s most distinguished professors, issued the Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression at Yale, informally called the Woodward Report. This document emphasizes that the history of intellectual growth and discovery demonstrates the need to be able to ‘think the unthinkable, discuss the unmentionable, and challenge the unchallengeable.’ The report acknowledges that such freedom may sometimes make life uncomfortable in a small society such as a college. But it also asserts that ‘because no other institution combines the discovery and dissemination of basic knowledge with teaching, few need assign such high priority to it.’

Yale’s commitment to freedom of expression means that when you agree to matriculate, you join a community where ‘the provocative, the disturbing, and the unorthodox’ must be tolerated. When you encounter people who think differently than you do, you will be expected to honor their free expression, even when what they have to say seems wrong or offensive to you.” Wow. How the times have changed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm glad my kid's not applying, but for different reasons. This seems like a campus where lots of non-white students feel marginalized and where their concerns aren't treated with respect until the situation gets out of control. Not an appealing environment.

In fairness to Yale's administration, the President now does seem to be listening. We'll see what happens next.

U of Missouri's president just resigned in what appears an awful atmosphere that was ignored by the university president. Some of the things the Greeks (frats) were doing were deplorable.

Yes, it's an amazing story. I have a lot of respect for the football players in that scenario.

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, does anyone else remember receiving directives WHILE IN UNIVERSITY about what your Halloween costume could/could not be? Are adult students in university (Yale University for crissakes) not capable of making adult decisions?

Yale has been PC central for a long time. I remember visiting in the mid-80s when college-shopping, and being completely turned off by how PC it was. Separate floors/housing for each conceivable ethnic/racial/sexual identity group. I wanted to go to college to be with a mix of people - the main purpose that colleges are residential in my opinion! To expose yourself to other points of view and experiences, not hunker down in groups of people who are the same as you are. 30 years later and Yale's PC policies seem to have achieved nothing - still segregated, still resorting to uncivil discourse.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, does anyone else remember receiving directives WHILE IN UNIVERSITY about what your Halloween costume could/could not be? Are adult students in university (Yale University for crissakes) not capable of making adult decisions?

Yale has been PC central for a long time. I remember visiting in the mid-80s when college-shopping, and being completely turned off by how PC it was. Separate floors/housing for each conceivable ethnic/racial/sexual identity group. I wanted to go to college to be with a mix of people - the main purpose that colleges are residential in my opinion! To expose yourself to other points of view and experiences, not hunker down in groups of people who are the same as you are. 30 years later and Yale's PC policies seem to have achieved nothing - still segregated, still resorting to uncivil discourse.

+100. Yale has kind of jumped the shark. It's insane when students who were happy to accept an offer from a highly exclusive school then expect every aspect of the school to be completely inclusive and devoid of elitism. These spoiled students crack me up. Let them go to community college if they really care so much about equality. I know it will be a long time before I hire anyone from Yale again.

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, does anyone else remember receiving directives WHILE IN UNIVERSITY about what your Halloween costume could/could not be? Are adult students in university (Yale University for crissakes) not capable of making adult decisions?

Yale has been PC central for a long time. I remember visiting in the mid-80s when college-shopping, and being completely turned off by how PC it was. Separate floors/housing for each conceivable ethnic/racial/sexual identity group. I wanted to go to college to be with a mix of people - the main purpose that colleges are residential in my opinion! To expose yourself to other points of view and experiences, not hunker down in groups of people who are the same as you are. 30 years later and Yale's PC policies seem to have achieved nothing - still segregated, still resorting to uncivil discourse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm glad my kid's not applying, but for different reasons. This seems like a campus where lots of non-white students feel marginalized and where their concerns aren't treated with respect until the situation gets out of control. Not an appealing environment.

In fairness to Yale's administration, the President now does seem to be listening. We'll see what happens next.

U of Missouri's president just resigned in what appears an awful atmosphere that was ignored by the university president. Some of the things the Greeks (frats) were doing were deplorable.

Yes, it's an amazing story. I have a lot of respect for the football players in that scenario.