^ I’m not a big fan of uncivil conduct, but given the number of things that still make me sorry that I did them, some 40 years later, I can’t help but say to give the poor girl/woman a break, let her off the ground, and quit piling on. Blah blah blah throw the first stone.
OMG, we used to have a next door neighbor who would shriek constantly at her kids and husband. She scared the holy crap out of me, almost on a daily basis. I told her son that one time when he said I acted weird around his mom. I said “She scares me because she’s always yelling. I don’t want her to yell at me.” He laughed and said, “She’s not really mean. She’s just from Boston.”
!
In my opinion, any Yale student who screams disrespectfully at a professor, especially in public, should apologize. I think all the involved Yale students should apologize for trying to damage the careers of the master and his wife and publicly humiliate them over a minor slight. For NC’s part, I think he should apologize for not suggesting they move their discussion to a more private location, which would have better protected her, him and the college.
Edited to add: I don’t think a press conference is needed, but perhaps an open letter to the community such as what NC wrote. After all, youthful indiscretion aside, she did cause damage to him and, some would argue, to the reputation of Yale students as a whole.
If Greg Lukianoff, President of FIRE and the friend of Nicholas and Erika Christakis, hadn’t posted that video on-line, we would not be having this discussion. IMHO. He orchestrated much of the controversy and put his friends in the middle of it. He says he filmed because he wanted to protect his friend. He could have kept the film private for that purpose. Then I could respect his actions. Instead I see him as a provocateur.
I think Lukianoff is the cause of any damage here.
Yes, I agree. It seems he used all of them for own purposes.
What I have not made up my mind about is whether the EC and NC were complicit. If they were, I don’t believe they should retain the Master and Associate Master positions, unless there is overwhelming support among the Silliman students for them to stay. I don’t think there is any basis for NC to lose his tenured professorship.
If one is going to advocate giving people a break (which I actually think is the right approach in this particular case) then at least try and be consistent. Apply it evenly to all video depicting people whose actions or appearance do not conform to your expectations or tastes.
That’s not a serious worry considering one usually needs to do something extremely dubious/criminal(meeting the extremely high “moral turpitude” standard as a reason to terminate a fully tenured Prof) and have it substantiated after the long investigative administrative process meant to preserve the tenured Prof’s due process rights is completed.
And that’s not what student protesters seem to be calling for.
Instead, they seem to be asking for their removal from positions as house master/associate master. A position which isn’t protected by tenure and for which their suitability has been called into serious question based on their actions.
Its most likely that others int he Silliman courtyard had their cellphones out videotaping the events. Maybe someone can look at the video online and see if they can see any other hands in the air with cameras in them.
In defense of Lukianoff, as President of FIRE, his job is to travel the country to promote the organizations goals. Part of that is being confrontational with the forces against free speech. Being a provocateur in support of free speech is what he was hired to do.
Harvestmoon: Since I am usually in total agreement with your posts and point of view, it has been very troubling to me we don’t see eye to eye here. It has made me think very hard about my position. I really don’t see this as a free speech issue and am not alone in that reaction. For me it has more in common with the endless rape culture discussion threads last year. fwiw
His right to do so stops when it violates the rights of others…such as the privacy rights of students within a closed-off residential college community and also violates written institutional rules regarding filming…even though I agree it’s hard to enforce.
Incidentally, Yale’s prohibition on filming seems to directed mainly at outside groups or individuals like Lukianoff who aren’t part of the Y community. Thus, I’m not sure if those rules are/were meant to be applicable to members of the residential college community or the Y student community at large.
Could someone from Y provide clarification on this?
Sadly, so many of those college aged think the government should restrict speech that is offensive to minorities. They have a fundamental lack of knowledge about First Amendment freedoms.
Others were filming in the courtyard as well. Go to the 1 minute mark in the first video in the OP’s link. There is what looks like a student on the left of the screen (orange/red shirt) who is filming with an actual video camera.
In the second video in the OP’s link which depicts the outburst, there is a person of color in a white sweater filming a part of the encounter as well.
A reason why I was asking those who are Y alums/students whether those filming rules were mainly directed at those who aren’t part of the residential college or Y community. Especially considering the wording seems to indicate it’s directed more at outside groups who aren’t affiliated with Y or the particular residential college communities.
Everyday, dozens even hundreds visitors take part in the official Yale tours. I have seen them taking photos and videos on campus, including inside buildings and residential colleges. I have been affiliated with Yale for 30 years, as a undergrad, a doctoral student, a faculty (eventually tenured), and a parent. Not once I have seen a visitor was prohibited to film, Yale policy allows it or not.
Did the protesting Yale students take time out for the Harvard football game today? Despite losing for the 9th straight year, it might have done them some good to scream disrepectfully at the Harvard people for a few hours instead of at each other.
It might have given the Yalies an opportunity to focus on some of the things that unite them instead of the things that divide them.
I was at the game. The National Anthem was sung by Shades, an Capella group that focus on “music of the African diaspora.” It is mostly African-American but includes white members as well. They wore t-shirts that said “we gon’ be alright” on the back. When they were introduced the announcer mentioned that both Harvard and Yale were for everybody. It was pretty obvious that Shades had been brought in recently to do this–normally the anthem is played but the combined bands. As far as I could tell, there was no other reference to the controversy. It made me proud.
The policy about filming students is part of Yale’s policies toward the media; it certainly doesn’t prohibit families and fellow students from making videos on their phones for private use.
I agree that Lukianoff was acting consistently within the mission of F.I.R.E. I don’t like that one young woman, who lost it at the wrong time, was sacrificed to the gods of free speech, but I believe free speech is worthy of protection. It’s a hard situation.
Despite all the ugly posting on other media sites, I think the events of last week opened up some important discussions on college campuses and throughout the country on the damage inflicted by subtle (as well as overt) racism and on the balance between free speech and individual rights. Overall, I think the debate–with all its ups and downs–has been healthy and invigorating, though I’d welcome a little more moderation on some news websites!
I’ve also been doing some personal reflecting on the parenting books and discussion groups I was part of a decade or so ago, with their emphasis on keeping kids safe and all that I-message, empathize with their feeling first, centered discipline. What responsibility do we bear for the young adults who seem to feel their fear and vulnerability more than their resilience and desire for change?
We all raised our kids with an anti-bullying message and now they are living what we taught them. Frankly, I am impressed and rather awe-struck at how brave and supportive of each other they are these days. I applaud these college students and can’t wait to see what they do next.