Recent racial tensions at Yale brought out 200 predominantly Asian American students to a forum to discuss the situation, reports The Politic.
So many students attended the town hall-like meeting at the Asian American Cultural Center that they filled up three overflow rooms.
“This place is so packed, there were people lined up outside like this were a fraternity party, except this would be a fraternity party where everyone is allowed inside regardless of race,” Asian American Studies Task Force Co-Chair Alex Zhang ’18 wrote on Facebook.
Zhang’s remarks were in reference to allegations that members of one fraternity barred minority women from attending a Halloween party. Some attending the meeting were also still fuming over a statement by a staff member at a residential college urging students not to spend so much time worrying about offensive Halloween costumes.
The meeting took place just a few weeks after a prominent Asian American tenured professor, Karen Nakamura, had announced she would leave the University to accept a position at the University of California, Berkeley. Yale has been criticized for not doing more to retain her.
Some students at the meeting talked about their confusion over whether they could identify as people of color and how the racism they encountered was different from that faced by Blacks.
Students also debated whether the model minority stereotype created a bamboo ceiling or was actually positive for Asian Americans.
A teach in on Asian American issues is scheduled for this Wednesday.
