Yale students march against racism amidst 'white girls only' party allegations

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Monday, several hundred Yale students and their supporters marched across campus amidst allegations of racial insensitivity at the Ivy League school.

The ‘March of Resilience’ was organized in response to several racially biased incidents at the New Haven, Connecticut, campus — most notable being the allegations that a fraternity turned a black woman away from a party because she was not white.

“We out here. We’ve been here. We ain’t leaving. We are loved,” the crowd chanted as they marched from the Afro-American Cultural Center across campus and past the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house.

In addition to the incident at the fraternity, marchers also were outraged over an email from a faculty member who objected to a request that students avoid wearing racially insensitive Halloween costumes.

“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?” Erika Christakis, who is an administrator at a residence hall, wrote. “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.”

That widespread defense of cultural appropriation and willful disregard to those asking for a more mindful environment was the last straw for those deeply troubled by the increasingly hostile atmosphere on campus.

The march was held only hours after the president of the University of Missouri president stepped down due to controversy over race relations at that school.