Yale is Imploding over a Halloween Email

[boolaHI]

@sorghum

“A Yale guy”???..Stupid takes all forms, and does not relate to the letters after your name or the zip code of your alma mater. In recent years, Yale has had a tenured track professor involved with a male escort agency and the chief of cardiology involved a fairly messy and sordid sexual discrimination lawsuit.

See: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/us/handling-of-sexual-harassment-case-poses-larger-questions-at-yale.html and http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20131129/mystery-deepens-in-jail-cell-death-of-yale-prof-online-profile-linked-to-escort-services

[Cardinal_Fang]

From the “We Dissent” editorial GMTplus7 quoted:

To our fellow Claremont students, we are disappointed in you as well. We are ashamed of you for trying to end someone’s career over a poorly worded email.

This is a mischaracterization of their position. They weren’t trying to end her career; they were trying to get her out of the position she held, which is a different matter entirely. And they weren’t trying to get her out of her job because of the email. That was just one example supporting their contention that she was bad at her job. And notice, upthread, that rosered gave an example of Spellman being bad at her job, treating a student badly, in a situation unrelated to race or ethnicity.

Moreover, the administration did not cave in instantly to the students’ demands. They have been trying to get rid of her since April, because they say she was bad at her job.

[Sue22]

After watching the Mizzou video and giving it a little thought I don’t have a big problem with the form that protest took. Sure, the protesters were militant, but they were also organized and nonviolent. This was no mob. It was a group of students who IMO accomplished what they set out to do, forcing the college President and bystanders to listen to their grievances by disrupting the homecoming parade, similar to how civil rights workers protested racial segregation by disrupting business at the Greensboro Woolworth’s lunch counter in 1960. The Mizzou protesters seem to have dispersed peacefully at the request/demand of the police after blocking the President’s car for 10 minutes or so.

I do have more of a problem with the Amherst letter, particularly because it does not allow for any time for fact gathering and deliberation, but instead threatens unspecified “escalation” if the college does not immediately comply with the group’s demands.

If I were an Amherst parent whose kid might be forced to miss three days of class over this issue I would be royally pissed.

[jym626]

Oh the irony-- the “compassionate” students are going to make a list of demands, and threaten to escalate if their demands aren’t immediately (in 1-2 days) met. So much for “compassion”: >:P

We as a compassionate student body have gathered to address the legacy of oppression on campus. If these goals are not initiated within the next 24 to 48 hours, and completed by November 18th, we will organize and respond in a radical manner, through civil disobedience. If there is a continued failure to meet our demands, it will result in an escalation of our response.

[LakeWashington]

J’Accuse!!!

[tonymom]

@zimhead was the post of demands from Amherst students a joke? No seriously…was a satirical piece? If not, Houston we have a problem…

[RenaissanceMom]

Not sure if this was posted here already:

http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2015/11/13/students-submit-new-demands-to-salovey/

[jym626]

From the Amherst list of demands-- this is a bit comical. In the midst of all the demands, they want an excuse from class

8. Dean Epstein must ask faculty to excuse all students from all 5 College classes, work shifts, and assignments from November 12th, 2015 to November 13th, 2015 given their organization of and attendance at the Sit-In
   

[Zinhead]

@tonymon - That came straight from the Amherst Committee of Public Safety.

[PengsPhils]

This entire thread can’t help but remind me of this:

http://now.tufts.edu/news-releases/whites-believe-they-are-victims-racism-more-o

It’s okay to be cautious of free speech, but all sides clearly spoke here. This is not an issue of free speech and the fact that the only people left here arguing are pretty much talking about that says a good deal. Again, as said often in this thread, free speech is not the ability to have what you think is right be unopposed or considered correct.

This is just a bunch of hilarious paranoia. There’re some border cases where people go ever so slightly too far, but for each one of those cases there are hundreds skewed the other way. It doesn’t make sense to be more worried about the fringe cases than those affected most by this issue.

This issue is virtually non-existent off of college confidential for a reason. It’s existence here has already been outlined some 30 pages ago.

[Lergnom]

The Amherst childish list is [url=<a href=“http://www.amherstsoul.com/post/133122838315/amherst-uprising-what-we-stand-for%5Dhere%5B/url”>http://www.amherstsoul.com/post/133122838315/amherst-uprising-what-we-stand-for]here[/url]. It only reads like a joke. One of my favorite excerpts:

“We demand Cullen Murphy ‘74, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, to issue a statement of apology to students, alumni and former students, faculty, administration, and staff who have been victims of several injustices including but not limited to our institutional legacy of white supremacy, colonialism, anti-black racism, anti-Latinx racism, anti-Native American racism, anti-Native/ indigenous racism, anti-Asian racism, anti-Middle Eastern racism, heterosexism, cis-sexism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, ableism, mental health stigma, and classism.”

They must have left something out of there. (BTW, this was cut and pasted so any typos are in the original, as in I assume “anti-Latinx racism” is a typo.)

Please apologize for existing during unenlightened times.

And, while we’re at it, let’s destroy all remnants of the past. Kind of like the Taliban knocking down those big old statues.

It actually reminds me more of The Who song, “We won’t get fooled again” because if these people had their way:

We’ll be fighting in the streets with our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on sit in judgment of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

It’s weird for me because I grew up in the 60’s and remember the anti-war activism and the civil rights marches and people being beaten and locked up and sometimes killed just for wanting to vote … and it’s devolved to this crap.

[elliebham]

Fyi, “Latinx” is not a typo, but an intentional spelling some use to avoid the gendered form of either Latino or Latina.

[dietz199]

Oh Good grief…that’s just stupidnix…not a typo but an intentional spelling used to avoid identifying the gender of the stupid.

[Periwinkle]

It reminds me of the “Freedom Budget” demands at Dartmouth almost two years ago: http://thedartmouth.com/2014/02/24/students-release-freedom-budget-outline-demands/.

Anyone know if any of the demands were met?

[Sue22]

According to the Amherst College Republicans the “All Lives Matter” posters were meant as Pro-Life posters. I think this is yet to be confirmed (although the phrase “the value and dignity of all human life, including the most vulnerable” seems to lend that supposition credence), but here’s the email sent out by the students who put up the posters.

Dear Amherst student body,
Our initial anonymity was due to our lack of association with any particular group on campus. As merely two individuals, we did not have an official group name to list on the posters. But given the recent backlash we have received, we are glad our names were withheld. No Amherst student should be subjected to such unfair assumptions and accusations for merely sharing her opinion on an issue about which she feels passionate.
Over the past week, we have been accused of many things, such as defacing posters and making hateful comments on Facebook. Emails from President Martin and the Black Studies Department ensued, condemning “our” actions—but we never did any of what was attributed to us. While remaining anonymous has undoubtedly saved us from further and more direct verbal abuse, it has also prevented us from responding to the false allegations made against us. Therefore, it is our fault that one side has been able to singlehandedly dictate what happened, but we hope this email will help clear the air.
“The disrespect toward this campaign expressed in tearing down, defacing, or covering of posters sends a terrible message to our community.”
–Excerpt from the Black Studies Department’s email
Not only is this false (we did NOT take any posters down), we also paid close attention when putting up our posters so that no Black Lives Matter posters were covered. Our intention was to add to the discussion, not to detract from it. Defacing their posters would have not only been wrong: it would have undermined the discussion we had hoped to expand. Posters for Black Lives Matter Awareness Week were hung throughout campus, both in designated and undesignated areas. While it is possible that individuals other than us removed some posters in bad faith, it is more probable that our campus’s janitorial workers removed them— considering the locations from which they were removed—not because of their content, but because of their unapproved location. Lastly, it is important to note that every one of our “All Lives Matter” posters was torn down, both from designated and undesignated spaces. Surely, that was not the doing of merely the janitorial staff.
“Facebook posts that followed apparently included dismissive comments about the ‘Black Lives Matter’ series and the people who organized it.”
–Excerpt from President Martin’s email
We did not post any comments on social media pertaining to this event. Had we posted any dismissive comments (which we would never do), they would have surely been shared amongst students, and their existence would have been rapidly made known—not to mention that such posts would have revealed our identities. Contrary to President Martin’s email, these were some of the Facebook comments that we saw:
• “■■■■ the group that put up pro-life ‘All Lives Matter’ signs.”
• “Sometimes at Amherst, you might feel like you’re the dumbest or even most ignorant person on campus. Then you see ‘All Lives Matter’ posters up.”
• “These cowards…really hope we find out who did it.”
In her same email, President Martin urged “a concerted, respectful, and educational campus conversation about these issues,” but surely these Facebook comments were not meant to encourage productive dialogue. If we are ever going to achieve that level of conversation, hateful comments (such as those listed above) and trumped-up allegations cannot take place: they only serve to stifle it. We hope that those responsible for making such hateful statements and false assumptions will, at the very least, reconsider the manner in which they responded. You may not know who we are, but we know who you are: after all, Facebook is not anonymous.
“SIT DOWN AND WAIT YOUR TURN. This is our week.”
–Excerpt from a Facebook status of a member of the student group, Black Lives Matter
We hung up our posters on the night of Monday the 20th because that was when we believed Black Lives Matter Awareness Week ended. We saw the first posters and sidewalk chalk messages promoting Black Lives Matter Awareness Week on Monday the 13th, which we interpreted as the awareness week’s beginning. Furthermore, of all the various awareness weeks that take place on campus, this was the first and only to begin and end on a Wednesday as opposed to a Monday. Nevertheless, had we known that it ended on Wednesday, we would have waited another two days—not out of obligation, but out of respect for the initiative and activism that our peers had demonstrated. After all, we had already waited until we thought the week was over.
Regardless of any confusion concerning the end date, we do not apologize for exercising our equal right to free speech. It was not their week alone. The Amherst College Student Handbook explicitly states, “Every student enjoys the right to full participation in the academic and social life of the college, regardless of…political affiliation and belief.” We are passionate in our belief that all lives matter and had equal standing to distribute our posters as any member of the Black Lives Matter group. Our intention was to cause conversation, not controversy; we had hoped that the “All Lives Matter” posters would continue to drive the conversation about the value and dignity of all human life, including the most vulnerable. We should never have been subjected to such hateful comments and false allegations for promoting a cause we believe in.
Thus, it is not by preference that we remain anonymous. We hope that one day we can feel safe enough to voice our opinions openly and acknowledge responsibility for our activism in a non-anonymous way.
Sincerely,
The Organizers of “All Lives Matter”

[classicalmama]

Amherst has done it. I’m finally convinced. We are, truly, lost in a colossal Monty Python sketch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9foi342LXQE

[Sue22]

I assume “anti-Latinx racism” is a typo

As I understand it “Latinx” is a way to avoid the binary gender division of Latino/Latina, similar to the substitution of “ze” for he or she.

Adding: Oops, didn’t mean to pile on. Just cross-posted.

[LakeWashington]

“As I understand it “Latinx” is a way to avoid the binary gender division of Latino/Latina, similar to the substitution of “ze” for he or she.”

What rot!!!

[Periwinkle]

Hey. Free speech. Works for everyone.

If they want to use Latinx, I won’t stand in their way.

On the other hand, calling for administrative action against people for exercising their right to free speech is hard to reconcile with the expressed desire for a “safe space.”

[reddoor]

There is a little more going on at Claremont than is being reported. The college sent out multiple emails asking for students to be thoughtful with their choice of Halloween costumes. A group of girls posted a picture from halloween and two of the girls were dressed in sombreros, mustaches, ponchos and maraccas. A student was offended, made the picture her facebook cover photo and wrote about in a blog. One of the girls in the photo (not wearing the offending costume) was the junior class president or vice president. People commented on social media that she should resign. The young women in the picture apologized and asked to have the photo taken down. Student refused.

In a way, this is what EC was advocating. I can see now that one of the issues is that young folks will not work things out in a way that we anticipate they will. At CMC, some felt leaving the offending picture up was unfair. The girl who posted it said she was contacted by a dean and was asked to take it down. She declined.