Correctness of Yale
The offensive online posts of June Chu, Dean of Yale University's Pierson College. This morning, Pierson Head Stephen Davis sent the following email to students and faculty:
Dear Pierson community,
I am writing to let you know that Dean Chu has been placed on leave and will not be participating in Commencement activities or working with students through the end of this academic year. In the meantime, Elaine Lincoln will be coordinating with Dean Mark Schenker in the Yale College Dean's Office to make sure that your academic needs are properly addressed.
On paper, Ms. Chu might appear to be among the most culturally sensitive people on the planet. She holds a Ph.D. in social psychology and previously directed the Pan Asian American Community House at the University of Pennsylvania. And according to Yale she's not just deeply concerned about particular groups of students. Her bio reports that she's also an "animal loving pescatarian."
Over the last year, Pierson College Dean June Chu published controversial reviews of local businesses on her personal Yelp account, on one occasion referring to clientele of a restaurant as "white trash" and "low class folks," and on another praising a movie theater for its lack of "sketchy crowds" despite being located in New Haven.
Let me be clear. No one, especially those in trusted positions of educating young people, should denigrate or stereotype others, and that extends to any form of discrimination based on class, race, religion, age, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Yale unequivocally values respect for all. This is simply to reaffirm what I wrote to you on Saturday: what holds us together is our collective effort to ensure that every single person in our midst is valued beyond measure. This is true not only in Pierson and across the university, but most emphatically throughout the city of New Haven and in every locale beyond.
To put it quite simply: if you are white trash, this is the perfect night out for you! This establishment is definitely not authentic by any stretch of any imagination and perfect for those low class folks who believe this is a real night out.
Another theater was staffed by "barely educated morons," wrote Ms. Chu, who had a crude reference in another post and separately whined about the desk attendant at a local gym. She added that "seriously I don't care if you would 'lose your job' (I am sure McDonalds would hire you)."
Dean Chu appears to be a classic progressive elitist, contemptuous of the deplorables--especially the white ones--who lack her academic credentials and income. This column tends to think that people should try to be forgiving when it comes to insensitive comments. Still, the double standard on the Yale campus is striking.