It's All Good: We Spit On You

William Buckley Jr. Program, a Yale student organization dedicated to conservative ideals, invited the President of FIRE (a college free speech advocacy group) to talk at the university. As with most talks done by conservative speakers, there's at least one audience member whose ears and tape recorder are peeled to catch any controversial statement. The audience member sort of succeeded this time.

“Looking at the reaction to [Silliman College Associate Master] Erika Christakis’ email, you would have thought someone wiped out an entire Indian village,” Lukianoff said, according to Gian-Paul Bergeron ’17, who was present at the event and posted the quotation online just after 4 p.m. According to seven other attendees interviewed, the remark was followed by laughter in the crowd, although students present gave different accounts of how many audience members laughed. Lukianoff is president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonprofit organization committed to defending individual rights on American college campuses. In addition to speaking at the Buckley conference, Lukianoff was also a guest at a Silliman College Master’s Tea Thursday evening about the importance of free speech on college campuses. He is the author of “Coddling of the American Mind,” an article in The Atlantic that Erika Christakis tweeted last week in response to criticism of her Oct. 30 email defending students’ rights to wear costumes that might be deemed culturally appropriative.

Once this "controversial" statement went viral students at Yale did as they did when they were offended by Yale professor Nicholas Christakis' email concerning the free speech - or non censorship - of objectionable Halloween costumes, and the (probably false) allegations towards SAE fraternity of racism: They acted like passionate idiots young adults who proved once again they have no clue about the world are willing to stand up against social injustice.

Before the comment was made, Edward Columbia ’18 — a white male who did not register for the event — walked into the room and began putting up signs along the front of the room  which read “Stand with your sisters of color. Now, here. Always, everywhere,” according to Columbia and Bergeron. They both said a security guard asked Columbia to leave because he was not registered and because he was putting up posters, but he refused to do so. Shortly after, Lukianoff made the comment about the Indian village, and Columbia shouted at Lukianoff and asked him why he thought it was funny, according to Columbia.

Mr. Columbia, feeling very self-righteous, enters a conference to protest when he isn't even registered. Because social justice and then shouts (it seems like if you're offended shouting without waiting your turn is the default choice) at the speaker because he's offended.

(Edward Columbia, a freshmen, according to his Yale athletic bio took a gap year to study theater before coming to the university. He has something in common with Jonathan Butler and Jerelyn Luther: Privilege).

While Columbia resisted, the guard dragged him outside of the room, where he was pinned down and handcuffed before being taken to a squad car, Columbia said. Both Bergeron and Columbia said the officer used an appropriate amount of force. Columbia was given a citation, which he called “a mere slap on the wrist,” and said he will appear in court, though he declined to specify when this will happen.

“I couldn’t let the joke go. It was too f—ed up,” Columbia said. “All of the officers treated me well, and I feel bad for putting a security officer who was just doing his job in a position where he had to drag me out. But I also wonder whether I would have been released so quickly … if I weren’t a white male.”

Some Buckley fellows present at the event gave a slightly different account. They said they were not bothered when Columbia put up signs and only asked him to leave when he interrupted and shouted at the speaker. The signs were taken down after Columbia’s removal.

How is "“Looking at the reaction to [Silliman College Associate Master] Erika Christakis’ email, you would have thought someone wiped out an entire Indian village," 'fucked up'? It's not. Maybe a but insensitive but not 'fucked up.' What's fucked up is Columbia's reaction and all those that feel the same way - they think any comment about race when it's not talked about in the context of injustice is "offensive" and 'fucked up.'

 Lukianoff;s Indian village comment quickly found its way to 'Overheard At Yale' Facebook page (a gossip/'did-you-hear-what-so-and-so-said?' interest) and was read by a Yale Native American student, which inspired her and several students of color to gather outside the conference room and protest.

The situation escalated when Young [Buckley Program President] and another attendee left the room where the conference was taking place to offer food to the protestors in the hallway. Students demanded that a representative from the protesters be allowed to join the conference and voice their views. But one attendee engaged with the protesters, stating that unregistered students were not allowed into the room and adding that speakers within the conference were entitled to their views as well. The standoff quickly became confrontational, with speakers on both sides raising their voices. Young said he did not stay to address the protesters because he was busy organizing the event. He stressed that the protesters were not allowed into the event because they had not registered.

“I will share the University’s policy on free speech,” Dean of Student Engagement Burgwell Howard, who arrived near the end of the conference, told the crowd. “You have a right to free expression, and so do the people inside. As long as there’s a clear path [to allow attendees to leave the conference] you can hold up your signs.”

Howard reminded the student protesters that any attempt at blocking the attendees’ departure would risk arrest, which the students acknowledged.

Around 5:45 p.m., as attendees began to leave the conference, students outside chanted the phrase “Genocide is not a joke” and held up written signs of the same words. Taking Howard’s reminder into account, protesters formed a clear path through which attendants could leave. A large group of students eventually gathered outside of the building on High Street. According to Buckley fellows present during the conference, several attendees were spat on as they left. One Buckley fellow said he was spat on and called a racist. Another, who is a minority himself, said he has been labeled a “traitor” by several fellow minority students. Both asked to remain anonymous because they were afraid of attracting backlash.

Mitchell Rose Bear Don’t Walk ’16, a Native American student and one of the leaders of the protest, said she has spoken to the fellow who said he was spat on. She emphasized that spitting is “disgraceful” and not the message the protestors were looking to convey, but she confirmed that it did happen.

“The spitting happened,” she told the News Sunday night. “Our movement is founded in the idea that all people’s voices should be heard. We cannot maintain the integrity of this message whilst questioning or silencing other accounts.”

Well, if you can chant in protest I don't see how spitting in a fine alternative. It's clear that the student protesters could not block the pathway of exit and no one said they could not chant, so resulting to spitting and saying that they couldn't "maintain the integrity of this message whilst questioning or silencing other accounts" is just pure bullshit.

An emotional rally soon followed as the last attendees emerged from LC and left the conference. Bullhorn in hand, Bear Don’t Walk shared her anger with the crowd, which had grown in size, about the comment made at the Buckley event. She expressed despair that this comment came on the heels of discussions about racial issues on campus.

“About an hour ago, we were sitting at the Native American Cultural Center and we were talking. We said today was one of the only days we felt okay on this campus,” Bear Don’t Walk told the crowd. “Then we looked at our Facebook feed and we saw this message about what someone at this freedom of speech conference said. But we rallied and we gathered here to tell them that this is not okay.”

Ending on the chant “We out here, we’ve been here, we ain’t leaving, we are loved” — a phrase that was also used during Thursday’s gatherings on Cross Campus with Yale College Dean Jonathan Holloway — protesters soon dispersed. Before leaving, protesters left their signs along the building’s walkway.

Buckley Fellows interviewed said the Facebook post misrepresented what occurred during the conference. Connor Wood ’19 said while there was laughter following Lukianoff’s comment, many attendees were made uncomfortable by the statement. Gabriel Ozuna ’15 added that most audience members were Yale alumni and donors who were not fully aware of the past week’s racially charged events.

“Although I think the protesters misinterpreted the ‘Overheard at Yale’ post, I think the protest is a good sign of healthy debate and free speech at Yale,” Woods said.

They were uncomfortable about it because they were sure that another Yale bitch fest was going to happen, not because it was a racist joke. And that bitch fest happened.

Also, what's with every controversial statement about race, sex and sexuality, when things have calmed a bit after the initial anger, needing to have a "healthy debate" or "open dialogue" as the silver lining? There's nothing to really debate about. Lukianoff's statement was a joke. I'm not even white and I immediately caught it. The man was mocking the anger over Christakis' email to an actual horrid event: The genocide of a group of people. He did this because you would think a few Yale students were hanged in one of Yale's courtyards from the reaction. You can debate that the joke was ill-advised but this shit storm was the true thing that was uncalled for.

#YaleFail