By Kenny Dustin, Staff Writer
Recently, amidst the growing racial and ethnic tension in the United States, a video emerged of a professor at Yale University, Nicholas Christakis, standing up to protesters on the topic of free speech.
The controversy at the university began with an email sent out to students by the administration regarding Halloween costumes that could potentially be offensive to certain races and cultures. In response to this email, Erika Christakis, also employed at the university, sent out her own email which advocated for free speech. In this email she drew attention to the fact that by policing what costumes individuals could wear, the administration limited a student’s ability to exercise free speech and free expression.
In response to this email by Christakis, more than 740 students and faculty members at Yale signed a letter calling for the resignation of both professors and their immediate removal from the campus. These protestors argued that by sending out that email, Erika Christakis invalidated and trivialized the opinions of minorities. Not only this, but she is also accused of attempting to silence the voices of minorities and compromise the safe environment at the university.
Through the chaos, the two stood strong and refused to change their stances on the topic. While profusely apologizing for any who they may have offended, they stood by their previous statements, and even attempted to reason and explain their stance to the mob of protesters that had gathered near their residence.
In this attempt to soothe the mob of protestors Nicholas explained, to no avail, that while he and his wife do not agree with the potentially offensive content, they still believe that students have the right to express themselves within the confines of the law.