Yale Daily News

Ahh, what a great piece.

This is undoubtedly true; however, when the community that was so targeted by those actions doubts the severity of the events that occurred it's quite tough for the university to do much, but brush in under the rug.

Until the voices that state:
"They are women who shrug, since boys will be boys; women who say, “You do not speak for me, Women’s Center. I do not oppose what the Zeta Psi boys did”
are silenced and what is an obvious atrocity is fully backed by the group (women) obviously tarnished by it, it'll be tough =/

This column makes me feel sane. Of course it was and is the moral and legal responsibility of the University, and not of the plucky Women´s Center, to ensure that female students are not sexually harassed while they are at Yale. My heartiest congratulations to the author, Ms. Ahn: Goliath will never care as much for its female students, or fight for their dignity as assiduously, as it fights for itself. And so we must support David, with pride and glee.

a beautiful, cogent, and appropriately impatient column.

please write more.

I am deeply delighted that Ms Ahn - a formidable student of history - has so effectively, indeed, elegantly summarized the plight of the Women´s Center in addition to her excellent scholarship on the history of Pakistani literature. Well done, young woman, well done.

The writer points to that part of the problem which resides with those women who have been so desensitized by current popular culture that they no longer care about the degradation to their gender at the hands of others. When will the women of Yale wake up and recognize this type of stunt for what it is - an assault on their integrity?
The fact that this particular assault was committed by members of a campus fraternity makes it all the more inexcusable. Shame on the university for not taking this matter more seriously.

This was such a wonderful piece. I only hope that people will stop disregarding these types of actions and start to realize that our society needs to stop supporting the degradation of women.

Overall, men are a minority in college. http://www.prb.org/Articles/2007/CrossoverinFemaleMaleCollegeEnrollmentRates.aspx
Perhaps they wouldn't be victims if they didn't declare themselves as such. The real damage was not the photo, Ms. Ahn - it was the email campaign stupidly entitled "This Time We Sue," when anyone with a modicum of legal knowledge knew there was not a case. Be strong and rational - look at 85 Broads or similar organizations - and you will be treated as such. Do you really think the future Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice would be part of this woman's center campaign?

"...one year after a group of fraternity brothers blocked the entrance to the Yale Women’s Center..."

Blocked? BLOCKED?! Ah, hysterical hyperbole...

Speaking of Pakistan: how do you feel about the recent imposition of shari'ah in certain provinces?

...we need a regulation that punishes hate speech, right? And you feel comfortable with whom, precisely, deciding what constitutes punishable speech? Just asking. It's possible to be both leery of the frat boys' motivation and doubtful of a practicable solution that doesn't cost more than we're prepared to pay.

Dear Next...,

In this specific case, there's no need for a new regulation. Hate speech against any group should be penalized. However, hate speech against women already has a place in Yale's regulations.

Undergraduate Regulations, Appendix G states: "Sexual harassment consists of nonconsensual sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct on or off campus, when: (1) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a condition of an individual's employment or academic standing; or (2) submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as the basis for employment decisions or for academic evaluation, grades, or advancement; or (3) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work or academic performance or creating an intimidating or hostile academic or work environment. Sexual harassment may be found in a single episode, as well as in persistent behavior."

The Zeta Psi incident constitutes sexual harassment under this regulation because it is "verbal conduct" when "such conduct has the purpose or effect of... creating an intimidating or hostile academic or work environment." It is only a "single episode" that is unmistakeably documented in the form of a digital photograph, although over the years female and male students have witnessed similar "persistent behavior" related to fraternity activities.

I hardly think the price will be, as you fear, "more than we're prepared to pay." A couple weeks' suspension or a forced leave of absence seems a reasonable penalty for behavior that is so harmful to the community. I'd love to hear thoughts on this.

--P.A.

"Hate speech," unfortunately, is subjective, and regulation thereof is, thus, a tool of those in power.

Conservatives on campus suffer what, were the tables turned, amounts to "hate speech" on a daily basis. But because the oppressors do not see things that way, such speech (and other activities, such as the suppression of periodicals by their literal "trashing") goes unpunished.

I have no doubt that an open debate about the merits and drawbacks of, say, Islam, would immediately draw charges of "hate speech," shutting down discussion post haste. Is that really what is wanted? Especially on an academic campus?

While I have no doubt that such concern will be dismissed out of hand, I, for one, profess to you that I have been made uncomfortable--and persistently so--in various classes (my Women's Studies seminars, for example). Indeed, in a moment of idiocy, I explained why I was there (to gain perspective) and admitted to a relatively more conservative view. For the remainder of the semester, the professor (and my class"mates") went out of their way to heap opprobrium my way. When I pointed this out, it was noted "well now YOU know how it feels!"

Very Old Testament of them (you know: eye for an eye) and rather unhelpful in gaining any sympathy or conversion. My grade suffered as well, despite fulfilling all of the rather, uh, unchallenging requirements (no exams, lots of "journal entries," lots of artsy "presentations"; nothing objective).

My goal is not to whine here: I am merely pointing out that I was "harrassed," both covertly and overtly and most definitely on the basis of my sex (what you likely call "gender").

Should some of the things that were said to me have been categorized as "hate speech" and punished? (Oh, I survived by the way: I am Yalie, hear me roar, or, more accurately, "I get knocked down, but I get up again...").

Is that what you propose: a community where we all go around with offense-o-meters, constantly filing grievances against one another? What a blast...