Racial Grievance, Glacial Pace
On May 8, 2018, Lolade Siyonbola, GRD ’19, was questioned at length by Yale police after a white graduate student felt threatened by the sight of her napping in her common room late at night.
On Nov. 13, 2018, a more flagrant display of white power appeared on Cross Campus: posters declaring the presence of a White Student’s [sic] Union of Yale. The posters featured a quote by John C. Calhoun, reading: “In looking back, I see nothing to regret, nothing to fear.”
In neither case did students of color have means of formal recourse, and in neither case were the white perpetrators held accountable. Students who face racial discrimination may ostensibly seek legal redress through Title VI, but no office at Yale has been established to address the race-based discrimination that students experience.
Currently, Yale defines discrimination as “treating a student adversely based on sex, race, color, religion, age, disability, status as a special disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam era or other covered veteran, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression.” Yale’s procedure for students to address discrimination and harassment recommends that students reach out to a Dean’s Designee — a member of the Yale administration tasked with the responsibility of addressing discrimination and harassment complaints. Designee Dean Burgwell Howard notes Yale’s dilatory handling of cases of racial discrimination, citing the University’s prolonged procedures: “This timeline can be, in many ways, out of sync with today’s speed of media, especially social media, and people’s quick understanding of happenings from video clips or social media posts.” The outcome of Dean Howard’s and others’ findings resulted in the creation of belong.yale.edu before the Fall 2018 semester, which serves as a reference for Yale’s discrimination policies and support for students.
Though Yale is bound to Title VI laws that prevent discrimination on the basis of race, sex, or nationality, it has made a decision not to open a title VI office, which would handle incidents of racial discrimination with the brisk formality of the Title IX office. Dean Howard references the differences in the establishment of Title VI and Title IX policies in citing Yale’s reasons for not creating a Title VI office: “Title VI is a very broad category under the Civil Rights Act, and was not narrowly interpreted for the educational context, many universities have created policies and procedures designed to address the requirements outlined in Title VI, but don’t have standing offices focused on this work — unlike Title IX, which was specifically carved out to address issues in education.” Because of this gap in policy, Yale created its own office of harassment, though with a process that prefers not to involve the executive committee.
Dean Howard explains that current Yale policies are “set-up to address the conduct of individuals, not necessarily collective groups or organizations.” The White Student’s Union posters serve as an example of how cases of racial discrimination do not always occur on an individual level. Howard states that in these cases, situations will be considered by the Executive Committee.
In a letter written in response to Siyonbola’s mistreatment at the hands of a peer and the police, President Salovey outlined the role of Secretary and Vice President for Student Life, Kimberly Goff-Crews, BK ’83, LAW ’86, in creating new policy. Secretary Goff-Crews, he writes, “has met bi-weekly [with a group of faculty and staff] throughout the summer and will continue to meet to evaluate short and long-term actions.” In addition, he writes, “[She] has met extensively with students, as well, to seek their input.” Goff-Crews has also been tasked with creating a student advisory group for “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.” However, the process by which students may join the committee is not provided. President Salovey also outlined the introduction of implicit bias training, though only required for graduate students, faculty, and staff.
When asked about future initiatives, Secretary Goff-Crews explained that Yale has been working with the Vice President for the Office of Institutional Equity at Duke University to revamp Yale’s infrastructure for complaint procedures, which are currently managed by the Office for Equal Opportunity Programs (OEOP). Secretary Goff-Crews explains that the OEOP “manages general oversight of the university’s compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and “also oversees compliance with Title VII, Section 504, the Americans With Disabilities Act, and other federal and statement discrimination laws.” Secretary Goff-Crews also expressed that she plans to share the results of her work with Dr. Reese within the upcoming month.
Yale has also developed the Bulldog Mobile App (LifeSafe) in an attempt to streamline the process of reporting racial discrimination. Students can upload pictures or videos as an formal means of reporting. Dean Howard is hopeful that the app will improve the efficacy of Yale’s investigation process into harassment, but he adds: “Unfortunately, students sometime assume, that because a student has posted something on Facebook, Snapchat or Instagram and their friends are talking about it, that somehow that is equivalent to notifying the University or submitting a formal report… That is not the case,” he writes. He blames the “viral” pace of social media both for students’ impatience, and for their failure to report racist incidents through channels vetted and monitored by the University.
It remains unclear, however, how the app has improved the complaint resolution process. The app does not replace the duty of Yale’s faculty and administration to serve its students. Dean Howard recommends that in cases of broad, generalized attacks to the community, students should still reach out to the administration as soon as possible. He applauds the students who reported the posters for following what he envisions to be the ideal procedure: “[Students] reported their concerns to a campus dean, who alerted me and others. We immediately dispatched police to investigate, search the area, meet with the students and allowed for university staff to do follow up investigations to see if this was an isolated external provocation, or an internal act that violated Yale’s rules and required action.”
Until Yale develops a standardized system to handle cases of discrimination, it will fall short in fully supporting students of color. The implementation of a Title VI office and an extension of implicit bias training to undergraduates seems like a good place to start.
