Table of Contents
Yale University FIREProtest Halloween Costume Email (VIDEO 2)
Student A: I give tours every day鈥攏ot if every week鈥攁nd have to stand here in the courtyard and say 鈥淭his is my home. I live up there. My master鈥檚 there; my dean. I love my college.鈥 And I can鈥檛 say that anymore because it鈥檚 not a home. It is no longer a safe space for me. And I find that incredibly depressing for the freshman who are here and who don鈥檛 know any better. Who don鈥檛 know that this was once a space that I was proud to be a part of because of the loving community. Because I feel, that in your role as master and associate master, after sending that email and after not having an appropriate response, that our opinion has been dismissed. That you guys have not said 鈥淚 hear you. I hear that you are hurting and I am sorry that I have caused you to feel pain.鈥 I have not heard that from you and I have not heard that from your wife. And that is what I want to hear. I don鈥檛 want to hear anymore [inaudible] because it鈥檚 not fair [inaudible].
Crowd: [Snaps.]
Student in crowd: Speak up!
Student in crowd: Please speak up?
Christakis: I don鈥檛 want to look away from her...
Student in crowd: Just talk louder and look at her!
Christakis: I鈥檓 doing my best, everyone. I鈥檓 doing my best. I鈥檓 doing my best. I鈥檓 trying to address her directly and as a human being, face to face, and I don鈥檛 want to turn my back to her. And I don鈥檛 want to yell at her, I鈥檓 this far, if I raise my voice so you can hear me.
Student in crowd: Thank you.
Christakis: So please stop misjudging anything I do, ok. Give me a little bit of talking room, alright?
So as I was telling you鈥 I鈥檒l speak up a little, but I won鈥檛 yell at her. That fair?
Student in crowd: Yes.
Student in crowd: That鈥檚 fair.
Christakis: Alright. So, what I wanted to tell you, Michaela is that you have spent time with me. You鈥檝e been in class with me. You had all those experiences that you described. And, what鈥檚 amazing to me is, despite all of that, you weren鈥檛 able to form an opinion of me as a human being and what my beliefs are and to see the extent to which they鈥檙e in agreement with your beliefs. That you seem to think that somehow, I don鈥檛 agree with the content of your beliefs. That鈥檚 not what鈥檚 happening from my perspective. From my per鈥
Student A: I don鈥檛 see you as agreeing.
Student B: Can I, can I say something? Can I, can I just interject really quickly? The moral of Michaela鈥檚 comments is not... The moral of the story is, she wants an apology, yet you respond not with an apology.
鈥 Are you going to address the heart of her comment? That鈥檚 all I want. Are you gonna give an apology? Are you gonna say that you鈥檙e hearing us? Are you gonna, then, go to the lengths that she wants you to go to which, to me, don鈥檛 seem very far. But, still seem... We鈥檙e not making a judgment on like, Master Christakis is inherently b鈥攍ike, we just want an acknowledgement of hurt, and we have yet to get that which Michaela just said.
Crowd: [Snaps.]
Student B: So, my question is: are you going to say that? Or not? Cause then, I could just leave if you鈥檙e not gonna say that. Cause, I鈥檝e heard from...I was at the discussion, I was here, I鈥檓 gonna be there on Sunday, and I鈥檓 gonna listen. But, like, what I鈥檓 listening for, I鈥檝e not yet heard. So I鈥檓 just asking, are you gonna provide that or are you not gonna provide that.
Christakis: I have to think about the, this idea for my [inaudible]
Student B: The idea of apologizing?
Christakis: Yes. Because then you have to think, if I ask you to apologize right now for delaying me from all my other obligations to other students.
Crowd: [Jeers, boos, shushing.]
Christakis: I鈥檓 just saying, just because you ask for an apology doesn鈥檛 mean that the other person [snaps] instantly has to say yes.
Crowd, Student B: [Inaudible.]
Christakis: The person has to think about what it is that you鈥檙e asking for. What it means.
Student B: Ok. So then, my question is鈥
Christakis: For what? Tell me what it is鈥
Student B: For what?! Ok Ok鈥