Hundreds of students at Yale University joined a protest on Monday against alleged racial insensitivity in the university. The protest, tagged the "March of Resiliency," is in line with recent incidents at Yale which include a party where women of color were allegedly not allowed to attend, as previously reported by HNGN.
Statements such as "Don't Look Away" are just one of the messages written on signs held up by Yale students. During the protest, they chanted, "We out here. We've been here. We ain't leaving. We are loved," according to the Associated Press. They began their protest at the Afro-American Cultural Center then went all over the campus. Protesters went past the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house where the alleged "White Girls Only" party was held on Halloween.
The students demand inclusiveness in relation to race, ethnicity, and gender identity from the university administrators since a faculty member allegedly denied the request of the Intercultural Affairs Committee for students to avoid wearing racially offensive costumes for Halloween.
"We do not do it for the university at large. We do it for ourselves and we will continue to do it for the students that come after us," said sophomore Ivetty Estepan, according to the New Haven Register.
An email sent by Silliman College Associate Master Erika Christakis in response to the Intercultural Affairs Committee's request has drawn criticism as well.
"Is there no room anymore for a child or young person to be a little bit obnoxious ... a little bit inappropriate or provocative or, yes, offensive?" her email said, according to the Yale Daily News. "American universities were once a safe space not only for maturation but also for a certain regressive, or even transgressive, experience; increasingly, it seems, they have become places of censure and prohibition."
