It also follows Monday’s resignation by University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe amid student complaints that the school did not take allegations of racial abuse on campus seriously. Just last week, the Ivy League school announced they’re devoting $50 million to increasing faculty diversity.
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In the immediate aftermath of Monday’s events at the University of Missouri’s Columbia campus, other local universities have taken notice – campus leadership needs to listen to student and faculty voice.
There have been many at Yale talking about the school’s race climate in the last two weeks, prompted in part after a fraternity on campus allegedly held a party for white girls only. However, student activists may want to consider how the protests will put will put them in the spotlight, for better or for worse. “Their concerns and cries for help made clear that a few students find life on our campus profoundly hard”. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We move on right now to Yale University.
The original goal of this wave of protests was to fight for free tuition to public colleges and universities, but has spread to encompass related systemic oppression against women and people of color. That would be frustrating for anyone, but especially students of color who have continually experienced white administrators passing the buck on issues of institutional racism. “You are not doing that!”
Also, at Yale University, protests broke out earlier this month after African-American students complained about the administration’s insensitivity with regards to racially offensive Halloween costumes. She goes on to lecture him that’s it’s his job to provide a sense of comfort and home to his students. Yet you respond not with an apology.
Students gathered on campus on November 5 and demanded Nicholas Christakis apologize for the comments, since he agreed with and added his own similar thoughts to his wife’s email. “We heard deeply personal accounts from a number of students who are in great distress”, Salovey wrote. “I want to talk about my pain”.
The student explodes, “Then why the fuck did you accept the position?!” I wonder what is the statute of limitations on dreaming of dressing as Tiana the Frog Princess if you aren’t a black girl from New Orleans?
LEX BARLOWE: Yeah, absolutely.
In other words: Whose business is it to control the forms of costumes of young people? Pretty simple and pretty polite, to be honest. You’re supposed to let the crybullies bully you, or they’ll cry. Is that really an appropriate response?
And so, you know, students were outraged. And in particular, the advice that she gave was to either look away or to engage in dialogue with someone who might be wearing something culturally appropriative. Dr. Christakis disagreed and initially felt personally accused of racism. “We’re not here to keep people from going to work and waste gas, we’re here to make people aware of what’s going on”, she continued.
This has led to the spread of so-called “safe spaces” as referred to in Missouri, and even the use of “trigger warnings” whereby teachers are required to warn students that class content might offend them.
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We’re seeing this conversation erupt publicly at college campuses this month, with a couple notable situations that raise more questions about “diversity”, what it means in practice, and the “right” to feeling comfortable where ever you are. And up until this point, which was nearly a week after these-both of these incidents had happened, there was no acknowledgment from the administration whatsoever that any of this had happened.
