Yale University Public Statements in Reply to Sarah Braasch Incident

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I am excerpting some of the official messages as they relate to implications this was indeed a racially motivated incident:

  1. Message from Dean Cooley
    May 8, 2018 Published on Yale University Website

Dear Graduate Student,

Incidents like that of last night remind us of the continued work needed to make Yale a truly inclusive place.

Yours,

Lynn Cooley, Ph.D.
Dean, Yale University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
C.N.H. Long Professor of Genetics
Professor of Cell Biology and MCDB
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2. Message to graduate students from VP for Student Life Kimberly Goff-Crews
Yale News, Published May 10, 2018
Dear Yale students,

I am deeply troubled by an incident that took place Monday night in the Hall of Graduate Studies. One graduate student called the police to report another student in the common area, who had every right to be there. The Yale police officers who responded spoke with both parties and subsequently admonished the complaining student that the other student had every right to be present.

As Vice President for Student Life, I have worked with administrators, faculty and students to strengthen the resources available to address incidents of racial bias, discrimination, and harassment.

We remain committed to quickly and appropriately addressing issues of racism and bias on campus.

All of us in senior leadership recognize that incidents such as this one are being framed within a difficult national context.

Sincerely,

Kimberly M. Goff-Crews

Yale’s commitment to equity and inclusion Published on Yale University Website

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3. Date:
Thursday, May 10, 2018
From:
Peter Salovey, President and Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology

To:
Yale Faculty, Students, and Staff

Dear Students and Colleagues,

Racism is an unqualified evil in our society. Universities are not utopias, and people of color experience racism on our campus as they do elsewhere in our country. This fact angers and disappoints me. We must neither condone nor excuse racism, prejudice, or discrimination at Yale. As a university community committed to creating knowledge and understanding, we reject these kinds of ignorance. We look for ways, instead, to demonstrate our shared humanity.

Personally, recent events have led me to reflect in new ways on the ordinary daily actions each of us can take to show empathy, to see and understand what others are experiencing, and to combat hate and exclusion.
Sincerely,

Peter Salovey
President
Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology

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4. Statement from Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins
Published in Yale News, dated May 10, 2018
After review of the facts around the call and the police response to the incident at HGS on May 8, I wanted to share a summary of what happened. Our police officers and I feel strongly that Yale policing cannot be excellent unless our work is inclusive and respectful of everyone we come in contact with. We look forward to continuing to work with faculty, staff and students to support all members of the Yale community.

Yale Police responded to a call in the early hours of Tuesday, May 8 at 1:40 a.m. The caller reported that she was a student at Hall of Graduate Studies (HGS) and said that there was a woman sleeping in the Common room on the 12th floor and that she did not know who the person was. Three police officers responded to HGS around 1:45 a.m. where the caller met them at the entrance and showed them her ID. She then let them up in the elevator, which stopped at the fifth floor where another student appeared.

At this point, the caller pointed to the other student and said, “This is her.” The protocol is for police to separate the parties involved, so two officers stayed with the woman on the fifth floor and the investigating officer went with the caller to the 12th floor.

The investigating officer spent over 11 minutes initially with the caller to assess the situation, while the other two officers spent about 15 minutes with the other woman to assess the situation and to confirm her identity. After reviewing the scene in the 12th floor common room and seeing a computer, books and notebooks in addition to a blanket and pillow on the couch, the investigating officer determined that the person who had been sleeping in the common room was likely a student, so the officer asked the caller to wait in her room on the 12th floor.

The investigating officer reported what she found to the other two officers on the fifth floor and a supervisor who had arrived to assess the situation and determine whether assistance was needed. The officers were having a difficult time confirming the other student’s identification due to the use of a preferred name in the system that was different from the official name on the ID. The supervisor worked with dispatch and security to clear up the matter, taking down the student’s information and giving her a case number. The assessment of the ID took about 15 minutes, which is longer than usual.

At that point, the investigating officer, with her supervisor, went to the 12th floor where they spoke to the caller again for another seven minutes. Another officer also followed. They informed the caller that the student who had been in the common room was an authorized resident and had every right to be there. They also explained that this was not a police matter and were reporting the incident to the dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Officers left HGS Studies at about 2:34 a.m.
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5.  Second statement from Goff-Crews dated May 15, 2018 Published on Yale University Website

Further Listening Sessions and Next Steps on Equity and Inclusion
Dear Students,

• Students have asked what will change about police interactions, and whether the police should even have responded to the call made from HGS last Monday night. Yale Police officers respond whenever they are called for any number of reasons. Only after they respond can police determine the actual situation. To do so, they speak with the caller and anyone else who can help them assess whether the police are needed. It is standard procedure to ask everyone for identification when officers arrive in response to a call. In the HGS incident, the effort to determine the identity of one student took longer than usual because of our recently implemented preferred name policy.

Yale Police officers will receive additional training in de-escalation, problem solving, and unbiased policing, supplementing their existing training on inclusion, diversity, and unconscious bias.

• Students have asked whether there will be disciplinary consequences for the resident of the Hall of Graduate Studies who reported another student to the Yale Police. As an academic institution, the discipline of students is conducted according to the rules and practices of our various schools. Federal law and the university’s commitment to student confidentiality prevents us from discussing discipline or other educational matters regarding individual students.

Sincerely,
Kimberly M. Goff-Crews
Secretary and Vice President for Student Life

From:
Kimberly M. Goff-Crews, Secretary and Vice President for Student Life

To:
All Students
Date:
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
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6. Message from Dean Cooley
May 15, 2018
Published on Yale University Website

Dear Graduate School Student,

The incident that occurred at the Hall of Graduate Studies last week shines a spotlight on the topic of race and racism, though it is just one example of the larger challenge of building and maintaining a community built on mutual respect.

As a community and as an institution, we have a responsibility to address issues of racism and belonging.

I have received hundreds of emails from people both on and off campus expressing deep concerns about last week’s incident. As painful and difficult as it was, the attention to the events at HGS gives us an opportunity to examine our processes and policies. I write to you today with some immediate steps the Graduate School will take to heighten awareness of bias and racism.

Provide implicit bias awareness training for all GSAS staff before the beginning of the 2018 fall semester.
Offer dedicated training session for all incoming graduate students on implicit bias awareness.
Train all Ph.D. students in teaching an inclusive classroom either as part of “Teaching @ Yale Day” or in the “Fundamentals of Inclusive Teaching” workshop offered by the Center for Teaching and Learning.

Sincerely,

Lynn Cooley, Ph.D.
Dean, Yale University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
C.N.H. Long Professor of Genetics
Professor of Cell Biology and MCDB