Erica Christakis announced her resignation from Yale, and her husband Nicholas is taking a sabbatical. Congratulations, Social Justice Warriors, for your victory towards achieving close mindedness.
Yale seems to have decayed quite quickly from when my nephew was graduated from there a few years ago. How much longer will be it before it descends to this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKcWu0tsiZM
On the bright side, I have no doubt that the Christakis will still be welcomed at schools that still believe in free speech. They will certainly be far more employable than Jerelyn Luther ever will be.
Erica Christakis voluntarily resigned from teaching at Yale, but will continue to be the associate master of Silliman College, which gives her every right and privilege to express her opinion on any matter she likes. So, it’s not a victory for “social justice warriors.” I don’t understand her logic of resigning teaching though, as she seemed to be a well liked and respected professor. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/08/us/yale-lecturer-resigns-after-email-on-halloween-costumes.html
I suspect that the Yale administration will do all it can to keep her there since the reaction to this news from many alums is very negative–the administration really does not want to become Exhibit A in this debate any more than it already is. But it is caught in the middle. I was very sad to hear that she resigned and that her husband is taking a sabbatical next semester. It is a devastating commentary on the complete intolerance of a segment of the academy toward dissenting views, but that has been the state of things since at least the 1960s when I was at Yale. Between the extremists on the right (Trump et al.) and on the left ( see, Yale, Princeton, Harvard Law, Missouri, etc.) our tolerant society is coming under strain. :-<
Christakis’ email is a very literate and well thought out letter. However, I do understand how her email in response to the Intercultural Affairs’ email could be interpreted as children and students should be able to replay the offenses of the Al Jolson era. I’m white, my children are sons’ and daughter’s of the American Revolution, my ancestors probably owned slaves and I get how inappropriate and offensive that would be. For those who haven’t read the two emails
Somehow this makes me think of the large sign placed above the Student Inferno section of Sun Devil Stadium: All Ye Who Enter Here Abandon Hope. But teams that enter here won more than a few games this season. It’s not over, nor is the debate for the hearts and minds of America that needs to happen. Persevere and engage the conversation of our times, Madam Christakis and her ilk…and those not of her ilk.
But she chose to remove herself from teaching. She was not forced out. Much like so many of the commencement speakers who were “banned” (but were not banned, they chose to remove themselves). So are we to outlaw even unpleasant commentary so that folks won’t opt out? Sure everyone can agree that civility is preferred, but why blame the uncivil for people who remove themselves from the fray voluntarily?
I agree with @gibby 's thoughtful comments. What is the point to encourage young people to behave offensively, especially in her capacity of associate master? However, in her classroom, she has every right to discuss and debate such issues, even if it might make some marginalized students feel very uncomfortable. I don’t think there should be “safe space” in classrooms. She advocates students to endure adversity in her email, but she chose to avoid a very good opportunity to engage people of potentially diverse opinions. I feel regrettable about this turn of event.
IDK why she’d stay on as master but not teach if she’s trying to get away from Yale = it was in her capacity as a master that the issue came up. I read elsewhere her husband has a book coming out, perhaps they are taking the time to promote it.
I’ve honestly been puzzled by people who say that her “free speech” is in question. Christakis, throughout this whole ordeal has had the right to say whatever she wants. And through their actions on campus, students spoke back to her, showing that they strongly disagreed with her opinions. Lots of free speaking is happening, and just because her “free speech” illicits strong negative reactions doesn’t mean anyone’s trying to take the right away from her.
According to what the university has published, Christakis was neither forced nor encouraged to leave her position as teacher nor master. She willingly chose to leave her teaching position, which, as mentioned above, was never something people were asking for. If she left her master position, that would make sense as her controversial position on campus would affect the familial vibe a master is supposed to provide.
Free speech is a key mechanism for advancing society. It leads to dialogue where people can decide what they want and don’t want to see in their environment. There’s been a lot of negative press about the protests on campus, but I personally see no negatives in bringing more attention to macro- and micro-aggressions that minority students face. Christakis freely voiced her disagreement with this, and students freely voiced back their views.
^Much the same as commencement speakers “banned” from campuses. Very few were truly “banned” (uninvited). Most withdrew after student protest. Their choice. Is the alternative to say to students who don’t like the choice “shut up and sit down”? THAT in fact is “limiting free speech”. Debate is messy. We can all encourage civil debate. But to call uncivil debate “anti-free speech” is rather silly.
@LuckyK This can be found in returnofkings’ about page: “ROK aims to usher the return of the masculine man in a world where masculinity is being increasingly punished and shamed in favor of creating an androgynous and politically-correct society that allows women to assert superiority and control over men. Sadly, yesterday’s masculinity is today’s misogyny. The site intends to be a safe space on the web for those men who don’t agree with the direction that Western culture is headed. If you are new, check out our top 35 posts of all time. Women and homosexuals are strongly discouraged from commenting here.”
It is an awful website and I would not trust anything reported there.
“But to call uncivil debate “anti-free speech” is rather silly”
OTOH, creating a hostile environment does have a chilling effect on free speech. Imagine a situation where a black professor sent out similarly mild mannered email and received the response that Christakis did, including students harassing her spouse and marching on the president’s house demanding her and her spouse’s termination. We would be concerned that the student body was trying to silence “dissident” opinions, and that the university was complicit in that they didn’t really do anything to push back. We’d say that while she was nominally free to speak their mind, in practice, she was fighting an uphill battle in a noninclusive culture that was trying to silence her.
That’s not to say that it’s the same. It does make a difference which side of he debate she’s on, but I do think there is some merit to the concern that a community backlash is an impediment to free speech. It’s easy to see why many people would be uneasy with Yale having a culture that explicitly sought to silence opinions it doesn’t like, rather than being open to different ideas and treating its community members with respect.
I tried to cross-reference the author to a legit Yale Email, and did not succeed.
As far as I can see, ROK does not speak for Yale, nor its students, but it represents itself as such.
From the website…
Return Of Kings is a blog for heterosexual, masculine men. It’s meant for a small but vocal collection of men in America today who believe men should be masculine and women should be feminine.
ROK aims to usher the return of the masculine man in a world where masculinity is being increasingly punished and shamed in favor of creating an androgynous and politically-correct society that allows women to assert superiority and control over men. Sadly, yesterday’s masculinity is today’s misogyny. The site intends to be a safe space on the web for those men who don’t agree with the direction that Western culture is headed. If you are new, check out our top 35 posts of all time.