A Call To Act: Sign this Petition
Photo: Yale University
October 18, 2010
This week, Yale alumni are coming together in order to buy an advertisement in the Yale Daily News’ Parents’ Weekend edition. The alumni are urging that all members connected with the Yale community (parents of alumni, current students, faculty) join them in signing the petition below. The advert will cost upwards of $1,500, so if you are interested in donating money to the purchase of this ad, please contact the point person, Sarah Anne at: saminkin@gmail.com. Please note, the deadline for getting this text to the Yale Daily News is October 20th. Please sign on or before this date.
To sign, please click on this link, and leave your name as a comment:
The text from this petition is reprinted below.
To: Yale Administration
We, the undersigned proud members of the Yale community, denounce the behavior of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity pledge class on Wednesday October 13, 2010. On that night, under the instruction of leaders of the fraternity, DKE pledges marched through Old Campus chanting “No means yes! Yes means anal!” This threatening behavior contributes to an unsafe environment for both men and women, an environment in which sex is treated as conquest.
We ask that President Levin publicly denounce the behavior of these young men. The university administration has an opportunity to send a strong message about the culture it seeks to foster, the values it espouses, and the conduct expected of students. By not offering an unequivocal denunciation from the Office of the President, the university communicates indifference to and dismissal of DKE’s actions.
It is time for Yale to take action to address the culture around sexual speech and acts on campus. Events over the last few years have shown that this is necessary, from Zeta Psi’s “We Love Yale Sluts” sign in 2008, to an email rating freshwomen on their appearance last fall, to this year’s DKE incident. As members of the wider Yale community, we are concerned that Yale is allowing an environment to grow in which sexism, sexual harassment, and hate speech are seen as isolated and trivial incidents, rather than as serious issues warranting university response.
Finally, we stand with everyone on Old Campus and beyond who was offended or felt threatened by these actions. We applaud those students who have courageously spoken out against these acts in the last week and over the past years. We stand by all who are taking action to build a non-violent Yale based on mutual respect and dignity. You have our support.
Signed,
Proud members of the Yale community
We invite Yale Alumni, faculty, staff, and parents to sign the petition. The letter and signatures will be published in a Yale Daily News ad later this week.
To sign, click here and scroll down to the comments. You may leave a comment below with your name, title, and Yale class year. Or you can simply email your support for the petition to yaleresponse@gmail.com. You are welcome to also leave a personal note or statement of support. Then, please take one more step and spread the word to others in the Yale community. Please act quickly; we have an October 20th deadline.
Hannah Zeavin is a junior in Yale College. She is the Managing Editor of Broad Recognition.
Comments (2)
I am amused to hear that, in the last hour, Yale Daily News reporter Jordi Grasso has been trying to find out “who’s behind this online petition.” Dude, read Broad Recognition.
posted by Presca Ahn October 19th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
These young men think they are being funny and cool–but have no idea of the harm they do. Verbal abuse can be as dangerous as physical abuse–and neither should be tolerated at Yale. Here we are in the 21st century and yet these young men are operating under a centuries-old misogynist mentality. They need to be sanctioned / reprimanded–but ultimately they need to be EDUCATED about how supremely uncool and harmful their behavior is.
posted by Lisa Hodermarsky October 20th, 2010 at 12:48 pm