# I would like to know what everyone thinks of this Yale thing **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 8, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984 "2015-11-08T02:56:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/81 "2015-11-09T04:16:53Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Has this incident involved anyone actually wearing a Halloween costume that was deemed offensive? No, or at least none is mentioned in the Washington Post article. But you have to be pro-active and forward looking on these topics. Colleges and universities across the country have been hectoring and bullying students about making sure their costumes are appropriate. The media has been [raising awareness](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-schemmer/how-you-can-promote-inclu_b_6032622.html) of the issue. There are [infographics](http://www.refinery29.com/offensive-halloween-costume-infographic#.ojan9zr:nvny) to help you determine whether your costume is racist or not and [toll-free hotlines](http://www.nationalreview.com/article/426260/halloween-colleges-costumes-consultants) to assist with the issue. Surely you don’t expect a progressive institution like Yale University to be behind the curve and focus on something like academics at the expense of Halloween costume sensitivity training, just because no one has actually worn an offensive costume. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/82 "2015-11-09T04:21:46Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Where is this accusation found? Where in her email do you believe she says she thinks the college is going to police costumes? > > Her strongest statement along these lines appears to be about “implied control over college students.” The email in question has as its thesis statement that Halloween is “an occasion for adults to exert their control.” Next paragraph: adults “seem afraid that college students are unable to decide how to dress themselves on Halloween.” Building: we should reflect “on the consequences of an institutional (which is to say: bureaucratic and administrative) exercise of implied control over college students.” Continuing in the next two she attempts to establish her credentials about what you kids need as she is an expert on the “developmental stages of childhood and young adulthood.” and analogizes to preschoolers pretend play. [Condescend much?] Then the money shot: “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? 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. And the censure and prohibition come from above, not from yourselves! Are we all okay with this transfer of power?” Ending with “Whose business is it to control the forms of costumes of young people?” I find it impossible to read that as anything _but_ a rebuttal against an imagined attempt by the administration to control the costumes, a rebuttal against an imagined attempt to censor and prohibit from above. I am not sure what email you are reading that that is not extremely clear. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/83 "2015-11-09T04:44:55Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Has this incident involved anyone actually wearing a Halloween costume that was deemed offensive? > > Or are we simply dealing with offense/outrage at an insufficiently vigorous condemnation of the possibility of someone wearing such a costume? See post #65 for the history: In 2008 the Intercultural Affairs Council (IAC) was formed at Yale after a few years of increased episodes of inclusive of Black face Halloween costumes. Its stated mission was to promote awareness of the need for intercultural sensitivity. It was to do that while staying within official university policy, which includes “the right to think the unthinkable, discuss the unmentionable, and challenge the unchallengeable.” The IAC politely asked that students think about intercultural sensitivity as they chose their costumes. A pretty benign routine email. It however was across the line for Professors Christakis and apparently her spouse. Professor Christakis apparently argues that the IAC’s execution of their mission by simply promoting awareness of the need for intercultural sensitivity as one chooses a Halloween costume is adults exerting their control, not allowing the offensive behavior that is apparently in her mind at least a normal developmental stage for college students, that is censure and prohibition is coming “from above.” Her husband, a current Master of a Residential College, agrees. They are entitled to that opinion and to express it. It is however a response to something not said, to an action that they only imagine has been taken. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/84 "2015-11-09T04:45:38Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I find it impossible to read that as anything _but_ a rebuttal against an imagined attempt by the administration to control the costumes, a rebuttal against an imagined attempt to censor and prohibit from above. The very first sentence of her email: “Nicholas and I have heard from a number of students who were frustrated by the mass email sent to the student body about appropriate Halloween-wear.” Students indicated their frustration. She is responding to them. We don’t know what they said to her and her husband. Maybe they were asking if the school master was going to censor costumes during Silliman liquor-treating. We don’t know. The “an occasion for adults to exert their control” was a topic of conversation she had with students in a class she teaches. It is not the “thesis statement” of her email. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/85 "2015-11-09T05:01:17Z")
If indeed some number (more than one) of students expressed “frustration” over the IAC politely requesting that they consider intercultural sensitivity as they choose their costumes then the student thin skin to worry about is theirs. “Omigosh Professor! The IAC has asked that I consider whether or not my costume is going to be making someone else here the butt of an offensive joke before I wear it! I am SO frustrated!” Seriously the correct response to that is “Grow up and get a life. No one says you are not allowed to be a jerk. They are just asking you to think about whether or not you want to be before you are.” And if a response was required to some large number upset by those so horribly offended by the aggression of the IAC’s calm and polite request, then it is the job of the Master of the Residential College to address the college as a whole. She is not “Mom” by extension. Yes I read that as the thesis then supported in the following paragraphs. The first sentence is what gets called “the hook.” I honestly cannot imagine anyone else reading it as anything other. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/86 "2015-11-09T05:30:02Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > If indeed some number (more than one) of students expressed “frustration” over the IAC politely requesting that they consider intercultural sensitivity as they choose their costumes then the student thin skin to worry about is theirs. > > “Omigosh Professor! The IAC has asked that I consider whether or not my costume is going to be making someone else here the butt of an offensive joke before I wear it! I am SO frustrated!” > > Seriously the correct response to that is “Grow up and get a life. No one says you are not allowed to be a jerk. They are just asking you to think about whether or not you want to be before you are.” > > And if a response was required to some large number upset by those so horribly offended by the aggression of the IAC’s calm and polite request, then it is the job of the Master of the Residential College to address the college as a whole. She is not “Mom” by extension. You criticized her for addressing imagined content, and now you are imagining content. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/87 "2015-11-09T06:07:31Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > The email in question has as its thesis statement that Halloween is “an occasion for adults to exert their control.” > > Next paragraph: adults “seem afraid that college students are unable to decide how to dress themselves on Halloween.” > > Building: we should reflect “on the consequences of an institutional (which is to say: bureaucratic and administrative) exercise of implied control over college students.” > > Continuing in the next two she attempts to establish her credentials about what you kids need as she is an expert on the “developmental stages of childhood and young adulthood.” and analogizes to preschoolers pretend play. [Condescend much?] > > Then the money shot: “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? 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. And the censure and prohibition come from above, not from yourselves! Are we all okay with this transfer of power?” > > Ending with “Whose business is it to control the forms of costumes of young people?” > > I find it impossible to read that as anything _but_ a rebuttal against an imagined attempt by the administration to control the costumes, a rebuttal against an imagined attempt to censor and prohibit from above. > > I am not sure what email you are reading that that is not extremely clear. Astro posted the full email in post #50. Having read it, and then read the way you scissored out parts of it and interpreted them, your interpretation seems quite stretched, as if you are trying to find fault with Professor Christakis. Here’s what happened, as I see it: 1. Administration sends out a ridiculous message, browbeating students about the need to consider cultural sensitivity when choosing a Halloween costume. 2. Some students talk informally to Prof. Christakis about how ridiculous this message was. 3. Prof. Christakis sends out a message politely and intellectually urging students to think about what “appropriation” is and why it should or shouldn’t be tolerated. 4. Unruly mobs of students accost Christakis’ husband and another administrator, there are demands for firings, and who knows where it will all end. Your entire interpretation of Christakis’ email looks wrong to me, because you miss the fact that she wasn’t even talking specifically about anything happening at Yale. After mentioning the administration’s message as a jumping off point, she talks theoretically about appropriation, mentioning buying a sari in Bangladesh, about children dressing as Mulan, and so forth. None of this has anything to do with policy at Yale. It’s supposed to be intellectual food for thought. Again, she’s a professor. Professors are supposed to prod students, into thinking, right? That’s what she’s doing. If she gets fired for doing her job, or anyone else gets fired for defending her, what would that say about the state of the American university? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/88 "2015-11-09T12:08:46Z")
So did a lot of Yalies dress for Halloween as guys with middle-age spread stuffed into a bright blue polo? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/89 "2015-11-09T16:45:53Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Has this incident involved anyone actually wearing a Halloween costume that was deemed offensive? > > Or are we simply dealing with offense/outrage at an insufficiently vigorous condemnation of the possibility of someone wearing such a costume? I got through four Halloweens as a Yale undergraduate between 1978 and 1982. I saw hundreds of extremely clever and imaginative costumes, many of which could be termed “offensive,” but I can’t remember anyone in blackface or anything else that could be considered a denigration. One freshman girl dressed as a genie, which I suppose could be considered anti-Muslim, but I think her intent was just to wear a lot of sheer material over her naked body. There WAS a lot of whiteface. Everyone seemed to like wearing Clown White makeup. In 1978, Pope John Paul I had just died after about a month in office. That year, there were several Dead Popes. I once chatted with two young ladies, one of whom was costumed as a 16th century Venetian prostitute (not sexy, but still, was she oppressing sex workers or women or both?). Her friend was dressed as a Potted Plant. Sophomore year a friend and I were chased through the New Haven streets by four young men dressed (spectacularly well) as Alex and his Droogs from **A Clockwork Orange**. They seemed to be taking their roles very seriously. My friend and I were portraying iconic representations of the antebellum U.S. North and South states. Think Boston vs. Charleston. I had on riding boots, a long green coat, brocaded vest, and wide brimmed hat. He was wearing a black frock coat, black neckscarf, and a black stovetop hat. We were also on LSD. We took LSD every Halloween. It added to the ambiance. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/90 "2015-11-09T22:54:47Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > Bingo. It’s a Two Minutes Hate. Two minutes. Ready, set, GO! > [@Stringbean](#): > > this piece of human garbage > pissy-pants over-sensitive monsters > [@billfish678](#): > > They aren’t called white devils for nothing you know. > [@Arcite](#): > > the consensus among the intellectual elites and the powers that be is that . . . [t]here is no room for “discussion” or “disagreement.” > [@billfish678](#): > > I read that as Simian College at first. Which is even better… > [@ITR\_champion](#): > > No fictitious story could show the anti-intellectualism of Ivy League liberals any better. > [@octopus](#): > > It is Onionesque how triggered SJWs act. > [@Stringbean](#): > > That shrieking piece of garbage Two minutes is up! ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/91 "2015-11-09T23:43:21Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Two minutes. Ready, set, GO! > > Two minutes is up! Yep. Free speech is hate. You cracked the code. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/92 "2015-11-10T00:00:01Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > And I don’t know whether the FIRE coverage of this specific incident is accurate or not, just that they have a track record of going “LOOK LOOK EVERYBODY LOOK AT THIS STUDENT DEMONSTRATING EVERYTHING WRONG WITH THESE KIDS TODAY” about incidents that should probably be ignored outside of the specific campus on which they took place. Nonsense. Much of FIRE’s work is on behalf of students (and most of the rest is on behalf of faculty). See > **[University of Akron: Unconstitutional Permit Requirements Burden Suppress...](https://www.thefire.org/cases/university-akron-unconstitutional-permit-requirements-burden-suppress-student-expression)** > **[University of Toledo: Police Enforce Unwritten Policy to Censor Political...](https://www.thefire.org/cases/university-toledo-police-enforce-unwritten-policy-censor-political-protesters)** > **[Hagerstown Community College: Political Clubs Denied Freedom of Association](https://www.thefire.org/cases/hagerstown-community-college-political-clubs-denied-freedom-association)** > **[Texas Christian University: Student Suspended for Social Media Posts](https://www.thefire.org/cases/texas-christian-university-student-suspended-social-media-posts)** > **[George Washington University: Jewish Student Suspended for Displaying...](https://www.thefire.org/cases/george-washington-university-jewish-student-suspended-displaying-souvenir-indian-swastika)** ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/93 "2015-11-10T00:04:54Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > You criticized her for addressing imagined content, and now you are imagining content. Tell me then: what were the frustrated students frustrated _about_ that was actually in the email from the IAC? > [@the email from IAC](#): > > … The culturally unaware or insensitive choices made by some members of our community in the past, have not just been directed toward a cultural group, but have impacted religious beliefs, Native American/Indigenous people, Socio-economic strata, Asians, Hispanic/Latino, Women, Muslims, etc. In many cases the student wearing the costume has not intended to offend, but their actions or lack of forethought have sent a far greater message than any apology could after the fact… > > … we encourage Yale students to take the time to consider their costumes and the impact it may have. … THAT email _frustrated_ “a number of students”? Really? Why? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/94 "2015-11-10T00:07:07Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Yep. Free speech is hate. You cracked the code. No. Hate is free speech though and you are entitled to make an ass of yourself using your free speech in that manner. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/95 "2015-11-10T00:43:39Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Nonsense. Much of FIRE’s work is … Don’t know much about FIRE but in this case they reported false information …[The open letter](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1SLBVAdFZYTzAQ_4iHPKuPo7ER_FBmztdtzuD53AxMMU/viewform) that they presented as demanding the professors to be fired did no such thing, did not even ask for any sort of action to be taken to them at all. It was in fact very polite. It merely articulated what they were taking offense at: > [@the open letter that was falsely portrayed as demanding the professors' resignations](#): > > … The real coddling is telling the privileged majority on campus that they do not have to engage with the brutal pasts that are a part of the costumes they seek to wear. We, however, simply ask that our existences not be invalidated on campus. This is us asking for basic respect of our cultures and our livelihoods. … A large portion of the campus is telling the professor that they are offended. They are not telling her that she had no free speech right to offend. Why did FIRE report this with the headline “Yale Students Demand Resignations from Faculty Members Over Halloween Email”? (Note: I am sure that is _literally_ true … if you interviewed every student there I am sure you could find “a number” who believe that they should. And at least one upset enough to yell about it. But ethical reporting? Um not.) ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/96 "2015-11-10T00:57:43Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Tell me then: what were the frustrated students frustrated _about_ that was actually in the email from the IAC? We are not privy to those conversations, as you well know. And we don’t need to invent them. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/97 "2015-11-10T00:58:34Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > SIR! …You are speaking about the WOMAN I LOVE! > > Also, it’s “toe the line,” not “tow the line.” > > You people who abuse the English language, the language of Shakespeare…Wilde…Baldwin…Kerouac…you are nothing but pieces of HUMAN GARBAGE. Verily, say I: the [empty vessel](https://youtu.be/9IEFD_JVYd0) makes the loudest sound. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/98 "2015-11-10T01:09:18Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Yep. Free speech is hate. You cracked the code. WTF are you even trying to say at this point? It’s like the hipster, asked if he was being sarcastic, who sobbed, “I don’t even **know** anymore!” So, yes. Sometimes free speech communicates hate, as you and others have so movingly done in this thread. Sure, the student in the video communicated it too, but you could teach a masterclass in it; she might not even meet the prereqs for your hate-on class. **And that hateful speech is protected**. I could, of course, flutter and twitter about what the world is coming to, how y’all are signs of the fascistic tendencies of the right in their attempt to muzzle free speech. But that would be ridiculous. Not as ridiculous as the tsking in this thread about liberals trying to muzzle free speech, but still ridiculous. Yes. That student was being awful. She was being awful via a legitimate exercise of free speech. The idea of calling for disciplining her for her speech, in the same post as lamentations about how liberals attack free speech, is a great example of why using your irony meter on the Internet voids the warranty. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/99 "2015-11-10T01:11:46Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I hate e-mails like this that imply that students don’t know how to behave if they’re not explicitly told how to by the powers that be. Students don’t know how to behave if they’re not explicitly told how to by SOMEONE. This is quite obvious when every single week there is a “frat/sorority throws a racist themed party” outrage. No university wants to be the setting for that weeks internet outrage, that email was perfectly justified. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984/100 "2015-11-10T01:24:06Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > WTF are you even trying to say at this point? It’s like the hipster, asked if he was being sarcastic, who sobbed, “I don’t even **know** anymore!” > > So, yes. Sometimes free speech communicates hate, as you and others have so movingly done in this thread. Sure, the student in the video communicated it too, but you could teach a masterclass in it; she might not even meet the prereqs for your hate-on class. > > **And that hateful speech is protected**. > > I could, of course, flutter and twitter about what the world is coming to, how y’all are signs of the fascistic tendencies of the right in their attempt to muzzle free speech. But that would be ridiculous. Not as ridiculous as the tsking in this thread about liberals trying to muzzle free speech, but still ridiculous. > > Yes. That student was being awful. She was being awful via a legitimate exercise of free speech. The idea of calling for disciplining her for her speech, in the same post as lamentations about how liberals attack free speech, is a great example of why using your irony meter on the Internet voids the warranty. Cracking a joke about SJWs being ridiculous is master class level of hate now? Funny how you prove my point. And if she wants “consequences” for free speech she can also receive “consequences.” In time as rhetoric escalates and action naturally follows, I wonder how society will look? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-to-know-what-everyone-thinks-of-this-yale-thing/736984.md?page=6)