Table of Contents
Halloween Costume Controversy
Research & Learn
On October 30, 2015, Erika Christakis — then the associate master of Yale University’s Silliman College — responded to an email from the school’s Intercultural Affairs Council that asked students to be thoughtful about the cultural implications of their Halloween costumes. Christakis, an expert in early childhood education, questioned what she and some Silliman students perceived as an intrusion into the expressive rights of college students that compromised their autonomy. Her email was nothing if not a respectful invitation to students to have a dialogue about challenging issues. She wrote:
I wonder, and I am not trying to be provocative: Is there no room anymore for a child or young person to be a little bit obnoxious… a little bit inappropriate or provocative or, yes, offensive? American universities were once a safe space not only for maturation but also for a certain regressive, or even transgressive, experience; increasingly, it seems, they have become places of censure and prohibition. And the censure and prohibition come from above, not from yourselves! Are we all okay with this transfer of power? Have we lost faith in young people’s capacity – in your capacity – to exercise self-censure, through social norming, and also in your capacity to ignore or reject things that trouble you.
The response from Yale students shocked the nation. Angry students accused Christakis and her husband, master of Silliman College, Nicholas Christakis, who defended her email, of failing to create a “safe space” for Silliman residents. Others demanded they resign or the university remove them from their positions. On November 5, 2015, FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff recorded video of students confronting Nicholas Christakis on the Yale campus.
(Video 3 in a series of four; additional video of this incident may be viewed here: Video 1, Video 2, Video 4.)
The president of Yale University and dean of Yale College did send a short email to Yale’s Silliman College community that affirmed Yale’s support for the Christakises. But no full-throated defense of free speech was forthcoming. In fact, an email from Yale’s president to the broader Yale community about the controversy, while acknowledging the importance of free speech, was more focused on the issue of “our community’s diversity, and the need to increase it, support it, and respect it.” While thankfully not disciplined or even criticized by the university, the Christakises were largely left to twist in the wind.
In December 2015, Erika Christakis resigned from her teaching role at Yale “to return to her work with young children and families.” In May 2016, both Nicholas and Erika announced that they resigned from their Silliman College duties to pursue academic work full time.
Further reading:
Material by FIRE staff
- Universities Give Students Frightening Halloween Assignment: Pick a Costume, Alex Morey, Oct. 31, 2016
- One Year Later, Erika Christakis Breaks Her Silence on Yale Halloween Controversy, Alex Morey, Oct. 28, 2016
- New Video of Last Year’s Yale Halloween Costume Confrontation Emerges, Robert Shibley, Sept. 13, 2016
- Nicholas Christakis in ‘The New York Times’: ‘Teaching Inclusion in a Divided World’, Alex Morey, June 23, 2016
- Yale Faculty Resign From Residential College Roles; Concerns about Free Speech Remain, Nico Perrino, May 26, 2016
- Yale Profs in ‘NYT’ Op-Ed: ‘Why College Is Not Home,’ Alex Morey, Feb. 5, 2016
- Erika Christakis to Quit Teaching After Email Controversy; Husband to Take Sabbatical, Alex Morey, Dec. 8, 2015
- Yale Faculty Defend Freedom of Speech, Express Support for Christakises in Open Letter, Nico Perrino, Nov. 30, 2015
- Press Release: Yale Expresses Support for Faculty at Center of Halloween Email Controversy, Nov. 18, 2015
- Progress at Yale, But a Conspicuous Omission, Greg Lukianoff, Nov. 13, 2015
- FIRE’s Lukianoff on Being ‘On the Front Lines of the Fight for Free Speech at Yale,’ Haley Hudler, Nov. 11, 2015
- ‘The Atlantic’ on the Yale Halloween Email and Free Speech Controversy, Robert Shibley, Nov. 9, 2015
- Yale Students Demand Resignations from Faculty Members Over Halloween Email, Haley Hudler, Nov. 6, 2015
External media coverage
- Yale is a ‘squid monster’ that puts student comfort over learning, new documentary says, Greg Piper, The College Fix, Mar. 14, 2017
- Video: More Crazed Yale Students Attack Staffer for ‘Creating Space for Violence,’ Robby Soave, Reason.com, Sep. 14, 2016
- The Road to Yale’s Free-Speech Crisis, Eliana Johnson, National Review, July 5, 2016
- Yale couple flees classroom amid free speech chill, Foxnews.com, Dec. 8, 2015
- Yale faculty members sign letter supporting colleagues harassed by protesters, Ashe Schow, Washington Examiner, Dec. 3, 2015
- Sharp divisions emerge on campuses as some criticize activists' tactics as intimidation, Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 20, 2015
- Yale’s Alumni Donations May Suffer Amid Free Speech Debate, Serena Elavia, Foxbusiness.com, Nov. 17, 2015
- Yale students fight for change, say racism on campus goes deeper than just ignorance, Ed Stannard, New Haven Register, Nov. 14, 2015
- Yale Vs. Princeton: The Battle For Free Speech On Campus, Karen Agness Lips, Forbes.com, Nov. 13, 2015
- Yale students protest forum on free speech, Jonathan Adler, The Washington Post, Nov. 10, 2015
- Will someone please save the Yalies (from themselves), Kevin Williamson, USA Today, Nov. 10, 2015
- A free-speech conference inflamed racial tension at Yale University and drew protesters, Abby Jackson, Business Insider, Nov. 10, 2015
- Yale’s Idiot Children, Kevin Williamson, National Review, Nov. 10, 2015
- Race and the Free-Speech Diversion, Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, Nov. 10, 2015
- Hundreds march at Yale in solidarity with minority students, Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Washington Post, Nov. 9, 2015
- A clash between administrators and students at Yale went viral. Why that is unfortunate for all concerned., Daniel Drezner, The Washington Post, Nov. 9, 2015
- Petulance and Idiocy at Yale, Matt Vespa, Townhall.com, Nov. 8, 2015
- Administrator’s Defending Student Free Speech is Apparently Reason to Remove the Administrator, According to Some Yale Students, Eugene Volokh, The Washington Post, Nov. 7, 2015