Just throwing in that Ann Arbor is in no way typical of the Midwest.
And U of M is not the liberal beacon they like to pretend it is. The lack of diversity and understanding towards non-upper class, white experiences is truly astounding.
I think we covered that already. 
While some of us share an undergrad experience at UMich, we’re not using it as an example of how things should work, by any stretch.
No…my point is that my parents are NOT offended by that type of behavior. And neither are most of their friends, and some of their kids and grandkids (my sib and nephew). I would like to have seen Erika take more of a stand on this, instead of parsing it into an intellectual exercise. But it is Yale… so maybe it is not too surprising. Lots and lots of parsing before action is sort of expected. I see no firing offense in her letter. People SHOULD talk to the person dressed in a way they find offensive if it bothers them.
Yale, not unlike many elite institutions, has predominantly all of their maintenance and support staff to be of color. Now, when you couple the pubic housing projects that surround one side of the campus, all of these elements add to an already tense racial/cultural environment.
Aha! I knew we would end up agreeing on something. While it is unfortunate that societal and cultural bias are slow to change, it is even more important that we take these opportunities to confront someone that offends us. I wholly support that. Nothing is going to change with complete silence on the issues. I also think Erika could have handled the situation differently, but I never went to Yale so I might be clueless about how life works there. I wouldn’t fire her, I would just ask her to show a little more restraint before inciting what she must have known would be a riot.
@boolaHI I’m curious, do you have an example of a campus that addresses these sorts of social inequalities in a manner that is more effective in reducing tension?
No, I don’t. Universities to a large degree, are merely reflections of societies in general. Now, when you add a rather closed environment that has ample doses of privilege, institutional and student histrionics and upper margin academics, well, it becomes a Petri dish for race/cultural relations…
Well then you could make the argument that the Socratic method is inherently sexist/racist and all higher learning is doomed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/opinion/sunday/are-college-lectures-unfair.html
I haven’t had a chance to look at the actual data the NYT is using here so I can’t speak to its validity, but it leaves us with what as an alternative? MOOC? I’m not sure how we would ever be able to repair or undo the systemic damage that has been done historically without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
It’s possible that her perspective comes from being sheltered from the racism and bigotry non-White students…especially those who are from lower SES backgrounds have had to face on a far greater regular basis than she is likely to have faced as an upper-middle class academic White woman.
I can easily see how her calling for students who are offended to “turn away” or confront the offending individual as being a variant of a “let them eat cake response” often uttered by those with high degree of situational privilege like this comment earlier:
Basically, it’s allowing institutions such as Yale to avoid their own partial responsibility for shaping and setting the tone for the campus culture alongside the students and the campus community in this situational context. Very interesting considering those very institutions are doing so anyway. Even by opting to ignore or downplay their ability to do so in certain situational contexts.
Moreover, it reminds me of the horridly bad anti-bullying advice parents…especially mothers IME give to boys being bullied to “ignore it” or “turn the other cheek”. IME, that never works and trying to reason with the bully by “dialog” is just as effective…not very.
IME, the only effective means of handling situations like this is a combination of a strong institutional response where a clear message that such behaviors are unacceptable with genuine negative consequences to follow combined with students using peer pressure.
In the absence of the former, what you’d likely end up with is an institution which at most pays lip service and/or provides a process those who are marginalized find to be extremely ineffective in ameliorating the roots of the issue…and will drive many marginalized groups away from such institutions. A problem if the institution is supposedly trying to increase the diversity of its student body to be inclusive of marginalized groups as Yale has stated it has been trying to do since the mid-'60s when they started admitting students* more on academic merit rather than legacy/developmental connections on steroids.
- An uncle was part of one of the first classes admitted to Yale on academic merit which meant there were many more non-White and middle and lower SES students admitted from public schools than past classes who tended to be overwhelmingly upper/upper-middle class WASP with some being multi-generational Yalies like the Bush family. He recounted there was an obvious social and perspective gap between many upperclassmen from prior incoming classes like W's and his own.
https://twitter.com/erikachristakis/statuses/662080181826383873
She sounds like an absolute monster. She is making an effort to open a dialogue. I think that should be commended.
Just one more post, I think this sums up what we’re all trying to say:
http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2015/11/03/wilson-unintended-consequences/
“narcissistic personality disorder” - I blame the parents of these weaklings…
These universities have the backbone of a jelly fish. Pathetic.
I was shocked by how the female student confronted the professor. Judging from the fact that the crowd was starting to disperse as her outburst was going on, not many students agreed with her approach. I’ve always thought Halloween is fun for young kids and is stupid for adults. If anything, let’s regulate the industry by asking anyone who is over 12 years old should dress up as vampires only, no exception! I mean, who is intentionally trying to offend others with a Halloween costume or use it for racial discrimination propaganda? Most likely, ignorance and bad tastes are to blame for costumes that offend. Isn’t that something that can be perfectly addressed with civil discussions? Are minorities so vulnerable that they need to be constantly reminded that everyone around them are working hard to not say or do anything that could be offensive to them even though they have no such an intention? Are we closer to become more integrated or intimidated by each other?
One other thing to keep in mind and that I brought up on another thread about PC and Halloween costumes is that calls for greater PC in costumes isn’t solely the domain of the stereotypical radical left.
On a military related forum, I observed a heated debate about whether it was appropriate for anyone…including civilians not subjected to the UCMJ to wear an actual US military uniform…especially one with rank, genuine unit patches, etc one didn’t earn/wasn’t a part of as a Halloween costume.
Those who were most vehement in opposing this practice as it disrespects “the uniform”, “the sacrifices of those who earned the right to wear that uniform/rank/genuine unit patches/etc”, and denigrates veterans and families of veterans were all overwhelmingly right-wing in their political views.
A few even brought up the “Stolen Valor Act”* and how the fact the version which would have penalized wearing it even “if one didn’t receive a tangible material benefit” was recently struck down on First Amendment grounds by the Supreme Court a sign of a “liberal plot” against respect for the military and its members.
- An act which criminalizes the wearing of medals one hasn't earned or impersonating military personnel/veterans.
To me, it seems like Erika Christakis and her husband are being attacked by this mob merely for daring to express a dissenting view. I think she expressed her views in a civil, academic manner. Students are certainly free to disagree with her, but screaming in a professor’s face and calling for their resignation seem incredibly over the top. This seems to be an attempt to chill the expression of opposing viewpoints.
Two points:
First, I think there is another aspect of these incidents that has not been discussed here. It’s one of POWER. In the 60’s and 70’s, students with “progressive” views or from marginalized populations felt they had no power, so they were strong proponents of the free speech movement. They were the ones who were expressing dissenting viewpoints. Now, these same groups feel that they have the upper hand when it comes to the dynamics of power on many college campuses, so they seek to suppress dissenting views and wish to curtail free speech. Sic semper tyrannis!.
Second, I wonder if universities, particularly “elite” ones, should take some time now to think about how strong their commitment to freedom of academic expression actually is. I would hope that many faculties would vote to reiterate that freedom of expression (within broad limits, of course) is at the center of the mission of their universities. At universities that decide to take this stand, perhaps students should be asked to pledge to uphold these values as a condition of matriculation, sort of like an Honor Code. This requirement should be well publicized to potential applicants. Those applicants who do not want to live their lives by these values would be free to choose colleges that have a different set of values, or perhaps an academic institution is not the right place for them.
As a former member of the academy, I strongly believe that universities have a special place in our society and free speech, conducted in a civil fashion, has to be one of their highest values. A classic statement of these values was published (ironically enough) at Yale in 1974 -
Of course, I don’t endorse offensive Halloween costumes, but I really don’t think that is the issue here.
Here is a video of one of the Yalies eloquently explaining her position.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IEFD_JVYd0
Some NSFW language.
I predict that the Yale president will be so eager to make Yale a “safe place” that he will remove the Christakis couple from their house duties within a few days.
It was hard to watch that video and see the student’s temper tantrum. Mr/Dr. Christakis has a pretty impressive record. He has an M.D. from Harvard , A PhD in sociology from Penn, and an MPH from Harvard. Wikipedia says he was on Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world and he has been named by Foreign Policy magazine to its list of top global thinkers. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and is a fellow at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Democracy in action - there is a reason democracy won’t work. It then morphs in mobocracy like this where the minority is suppressed. If those Yale students actually investigated the issue rather than just listening to the media they would realize he’s defending his wife’s defense of free speech; something they’re taking full adavantage of and should be grateful for… Also, it shows just how weak people are when they get upset about Halloween costumes at the age of 20+ while going to one of the nations most intellectually dense universities.
@cobrat knowing the author Emily personally, she is anything but sheltered. Living in places as diverse as south side of Chicago (real south side, not Hyde Park) and rural Maine. Her father did not attend college until he was 37 years old, and in the course of 7 short years ended up with a BA, MA and PhD, and was actually formerly a Dean at Yale. He is the opposite of sheltered. Heavily tattooed, hair down his waist and looks more like a weathered bouncer and bartender, which he was in a former life. Naive, sheltered or Pollyanna-ish, she is NOT.
Looks like Yale gave in to the well-mannered protesters.