White Yale student reports black classmate to campus police ...

[left-of-center2012]

White Yale student reports black classmate to campus police for napping in a dorm common room

A white Yale graduate student reported one of her black classmates (Lolade Siyonbola) to campus police for napping in a dorm common room — and the student was interrogated for 15 minutes because her name was misspelled in the school database.

... the (white) woman called campus police months prior after one of the black student’s friends got lost in her building.
“I have every right to call the police,” the defensive white grad student said ...

The second video ... shows Siyonbola’s interaction with campus officers as they ask her to see identification.
“We need to make sure you belong here,” a female officer told her.
“I deserve to be here,” Siyonbola asserted after one of the officers told her to “sit tight” as they run her ID. “I paid tuition like everybody else; I am not going to justify my existence here.”

The confrontation continued for more than 15 minutes as police struggled to verify that Siyonbola was a student, ultimately acknowledging that her name was misspelled in the database.
When Yale Daily News reached the Yale Police Department for comment, they defended the officers’ actions and said they were following “protocol.”

[dalton99a]

1. Name the racist

[MineralMan]

2. Yes. And someone should tell her to MYOB.

[Eliot Rosewater]

26. See something, say something.

Like this person is a racist and should shut her pie hole.

[Initech]

11. Does that really make us any better than them though?

[IronLionZion]

16. Yes, to use it as a deterrent

[Mariana]

27. They named her victim, didn't they? Equality is good. nt.

[onecaliberal]

55. Yes definitely name the racist.

[LanternWaste]

58. Why would it?

Why would it? Specifically?

Who would argue that attaching a name to racist behavior is objectively as bad as practicing that racist behavior?

[ProfessorGAC]

3. She Has A Right To Call The Police?

That's her story? She called the police on someone who wasn't doing anything wrong because she has the right to call the police?

Apparently, even at Yale, grad students don't have to be particularly bright.

[Cicada]

4. Times have changed I guess. All yalies were obviously yalies when I was there, white black anything

This was before women were admitted to Yale College. No normal human would ever look as scruffy as we looked.

[Me.]

5. I Guess Some White People Cannot Resist Calling For Help

when they see a black person.

[dalton99a]

6. It's a nice way to imprison or kill somebody they don't like

[Me.]

7. Or Who They Don't Want In A Room

or think should be allowed to breathe

[IronLionZion]

10. Back when America was great

police were used to put certain people in their place and prevent them from getting too uppity. Some people have economic anxiety about changing that American tradition and want to take us backwards. You can't erase history.

[Eliot Rosewater]

28. 2018 and not just non POC but most police consider any POC as more violent

and physically more capable to hurt them than non POC.

2018

[IronLionZion]

8. Do people break into college dorms to nap?

Or did some dumbass find it hard to believe that a black student belongs in Yale? I thought that school was filled with liberals and aspiring politicians.

And when are white people ever asked to justify their existence? I'd be curious to see someone try that on random whites and see what they come up with.

A white woman coworker asked me to justify if I work for our company despite my clearly visible badge around my neck. I had to say yes twice and show my badge and name my manager, because she responded with "Are you sure?" Then I asked her if she works here and she laughed it off because that's not a question that is asked of blond white women. One would think she might feel sheepish when running into me at meetings and the lunch room, but she doesn't.

[dalton99a]

9. +1

[oasis]

13. By asking "are you sure?" she intended for you to go off on her.

Somewhere down the line, she's going to "power trip" herself into deep doo-doo.

[Me.]

15. Do people break into college dorms to nap?

[IronLionZion]

18. I hear they are really comfy

from my first hand experience

[uponit7771]

19. IKR !!

[sarah FAILIN]

36. They did at mine.

The person wasn't a student, he was dating a girl that lived there. He would come in when he got off work and nap on our only couch or comfy chair. He wasn't supposed to be there that early and we complained constantly to keep him out.
That said, I had about 80 girls in my dorm and I knew them all. If I saw a stranger napping in the common room, I'd find out why they were there no matter the race or enrollment status. Paying tuition doesn't mean you get to sleep in the dorm common room of you aren't a resident.

[Me.]

39. Right

But you knew it wasn't a violent intrusion just inappropriate. I wondered why she simply didn't ask.

[sarah FAILIN]

48. Passive aggressiveness maybe?

She wanted the person checked out but didn't want to directly do it? I can kinda understand these days if you lived somewhere and a stranger turned up on the couch wanting to know why they were there but not wanting to ask since the person knows where you live. . If that was the case she should have stayed in her room.

Some dorms have a quad of bedrooms and a common living room to share. No idea how this was but anyone you don't know on your couch is awkward.

[RhodeIslandOne]

59. She could have asked an RA

The cops? Really?

[sarah FAILIN]

69. I worked in my dorm

Answering the phones and keeping guys out. I would have just asked if it were me.
I really wouldn't want a stranger there though no matter the race or sex if they weren't waiting on a resident. If she were having car trouble and waiting on a ride in a public area, then you check in with someone and let them know the deal. If nobody knows you and you don't, it is awkward.

[Me.]

63. Perhaps She Should've Asked Someone On The Floor

to join her. But honestly, to me, it seems to me this was something about her. It could've been taking out mislaid anger on the person on the sofa or she's a racist.

[sarah FAILIN]

66. I'm trying to not talk about just this instance

Which is why I was talking about my experiences in a generic way as to how dorms and common areas are. I was at work and havent had time yet to watch it. I may very well feel like she is a racist when I do.

[Me.]

67. When I Was In A Dorm We'd Say Hi First

and then ask any questions we had.

[sarah FAILIN]

70. Exactly

And I would have too.
That was 86 for me though and people are more stand offish imo now. I think texting and the internet has taken away their need to engage personally.

[Me.]

71. Agreed

[Ms. Toad]

73. They live in the same dorm and - given the time of year -

likely have for at least 4.5 months.

[sarah FAILIN]

75. There is a lot more than that

They seem to live on either side of the elevator. The problem wasn't that a stranger was sleeping in a common room, it was that someone she knew well was sleeping there and they got into a verbal altercation when the lights woke her up. .. The black woman said she was sleeping there with the lights off, the white woman walks in, turns on the lights and tells her she's not supposed to be sleeping in there. I have to say, i turn the lights on in any room I walk into automatically. Argument ensues, campus security is called. The black woman also confirms the story that the white woman called campus security on another person a few months before, but she claims security was called because the man was black while the reporter writes that security was called because someone was lost in the dorm hallway.
After watching that video the one thing I am certain of is that I wouldn't want to share that common room with the 2 of them. It sounds like a constant cat fight.

[Ms. Toad]

78. The way the police dealt with it was as if she was reported as an unknown intruder.

The 15 minutes + were spent on determining she was a student at Yale, even after she gave them her ID and opened the locked door to her room. Once they checked her ID and she opened the locked door to her room, that should have been the end of it, as far as the involvement of campus security.

There are venues, other than campus security, to resolve disputes over common area behavior.

[sarah FAILIN]

79. I thought they acted like typical cops

That's not saying much though.

One of them and I forget which one said she reported someone had been sleeping where they weren't supposed to. Maybe they did as I did before hearing the whole story and assumed it was a stranger. Really, who calls security on someone for this unless it is a stranger?

[Ms. Toad]

80. They told her within the first minute

that they just needed to confirm she lived there. Which she did by showing her ID and opening her locked residential door.

That should have been the end of the story.

The rest is not really a campus security matter. I'm sure Yale has housing boards, and student disciplinary boards, etc. to address whether her behavior in a common area was appropriate (and if the white student chose to bring those charges in the appropriate venue, the rest of the history would be brought in either as a defense, or a counter-claim of racial discrimination).

[sarah FAILIN]

81. That proved she had a key

It didn't really prove she was the correct resident. The white woman knew she was the correct resident, but she wasn't exactly trying to be helpful. For all the cops knew, she still could have been a visitor till they proved it.

You are absolutely right about how this should have been handled.

I'm glad we all are finding out more information.

[Ms. Toad]

83. She had her Yale ID. n/t

Key + ID should be sufficient.

[ProudLib72]

25. You never know. Since New Haven has a huge black population

They might have started an invasion! Ach, the 2018 invasion of the black nappers! Scary stuff.

[BumRushDaShow]

32. "coworker asked me to justify if I work for our company despite my clearly visible badge"

This happened to an off-duty black NYC police chief who was sitting in an unmarked NYPD SUV with municipal tags. This happened 10 years ago tomorrow -

Plainclothes officers in trouble - didn't recognize off-duty chief

By ALISON GENDAR
| DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER |
May 10, 2008 | 1:02 AM


Chief Douglas Zeigler, 60, head of the Community Affairs Bureau, was in his NYPD-issued vehicle near a fire hydrant when two plainclothes cops approached on May 2, sources said. One officer walked up on each side of the SUV at 57th Ave. and Xenia St. in Corona about 7 p.m. and told the driver to roll down the heavily tinted windows, sources said. What happened next is in dispute.

In his briefing to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Zeigler said the two cops, who are white, had no legitimate reason to approach his SUV, ranking sources said. After they ordered him to get out, one officer did not believe the NYPD identification Zeigler gave him.

The cops gave a different account: When one officer spotted Zeigler's service weapon through the rolled-down window, he yelled "Gun!" according to sources who have spoken with the officers. Both cops raised their weapons and ordered the driver out of the car, sources said. Instead of saying he was an armed member of the NYPD, Zeigler shouted, "Don't you know who I am?" the sources said. When one cop reached over to check the identification badge around Zeigler's neck, the chief pushed him away, sources said. Only then did Zeigler tell the two officers his name and rank, those sources said.

Zeigler, in his discussions with Kelly, said the officers never yelled "Gun!" sources said. One cop got into a heated argument with the chief even after seeing the ID, sources said.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/plainclothes-officers-trouble-didn-recognize-off-duty-chief-article-1.327540

(but you know that economic justice will fix this because millionaires and billionaires)

[IronLionZion]

45. Tax cuts are the answer to this economic anxiety

[BumRushDaShow]

50. Yes. Now we have more money to spend!!!111!!!

[Demovictory9]

61. never happened when i was living in dorm

[jalan48]

12. Grad student living in a dorm? Very sheltered lifestyle to start with.

[DFW]

24. Hardly

All dorms are not created equal, to borrow a phrase. At my college, they had many grad students and there was little off-campus housing to be had. Many were married, some even had children. They just had different housing needs from the undergrads, so the University had built what came to be known as "Grad Towers," which was open either mostly or exclusively (I forget) to graduate students. It was right in the middle of the campus, just had mostly older students living there. The location of the school and the local housing situation can play as much of a role as anything else in where a grad student lives.

At my school, Grad students from other countries had the option (but not the requirement) of living in a special dorm that was called "International House." I used to hang out there a lot, even though I was an undergrad, as it had by far the best concentration of interesting people. There was one case of an Israeli guy rooming with a Palestinian. They were best friends, but had some lively discussions all the same! One of my favorite groups was the Turks, who for some reason took me under their wing and adopted me as a sort of "apprentice Turk," and taught me a smattering of their language. Living in Germany, I am grateful for every word they taught me! It gets me more handshakes and smiles here than you could imagine-especially when they find out I've never even been to Turkey!

[jalan48]

30. I did not know this. Thank you. When I went to the university many years ago dorms were

for undergrads. There were a few grad students mixed in but they were different types of folks. Times have changed I can see.

[BumRushDaShow]

35. When I was at UMASS ('79 - '83)

they had a grad dorm in my dorm complex and actually had a whole "suite" type of dorm area that had quite a few grad students as well. Since UMASS was out in the middle of farmland Hampshire County in Amherst and there were 4 other colleges in the area, off campus housing was tight (especially when you had a lot of faculty already in it).

[jalan48]

38. I was in college 10+ years before this. I looked on the website for Yale U grad housing and I

see several dormitories listed. It makes sense where housing is at a premium as is the case for UMASS as well.

[BumRushDaShow]

43. There were quite a few exchange students and foreign students too

who were in grad programs so at least initially, many found it was easier for them to go into dorms first until they got their bearings and then decide whether to try to go off-campus (which often requires getting roommates to share the rent, etc).

[jalan48]

47. Reasonably priced housing is a good thing for students, regardless of the type.

[BumRushDaShow]

51. Not just students but for regular people too! ;-)

[jalan48]

53. Yes! I agree.

[DFW]

37. I think it's more the circumstances and the social/geographical layout of the school in question

I was in college a few decades ago (Class of 1974), so what I pictured for you was old hat even then. But issues that are the subject of hot discussion today were very much the subject of discussion on my campus back then. What to do about unwanted pregnancy (and help for women in that situation), race (learned a lot from my two roomies), gay rights and identity (neither AIDS nor same-sex marriage were yet on the radar), pollution, gender equality, etc etc. ALL this was the subject of meetings, group sessions, lectures by people with long periods of student questioning afterward. Fritz Mondale on politics, William O. Douglas (a SCOTUS member lecturing on worldwide pollution!), Daniel Ellsberg, even Scott McKenzie passing through town giving a free concert in our main auditorium on the spur of the moment. There was a LOT going on back then. I think I learned more outside the classroom than in it.

[jalan48]

42. We had more housing available so grad dorms were not needed back in the late 60's.

Yes, there was much more to learn outside class than inside. I remember taking a Poly Sci class in 1969 on international relations and the Vietnam War was not even on the syllabus. The SDS took over the classroom and demanded it be included and to the Prof's credit he changed his original plan and included a discussion of the War.

[DFW]

44. Probably a different location, too.

My school was (is) located in a ghetto part of a large city, and had about 20,000 students even back then. We were located in a pretty concentrated enclave, and so the school worked on the student housing given the location and structure of the neighborhood. Engagement was encouraged, but rapes and robberies were still common. Ca,pus police, to the extent that we even had any, never got involved in anything 8how times have changed, right?).

[jalan48]

46. I was in the middle of Seattle but there was a lot of off campus housing. Yes, it's a different

world today. Thanks again for letting me know about the grad housing. It's always good to learn though sometimes it's more difficult than others.

[DFW]

60. I do not know Seattle well at all

I was in West Philadelphia. Students of all ages and genders were warned not to go out beyond campus boundaries alone late at night. Rapes of female students were not unique, and assaults/robberies, as well as break-ins during recess were commonplace. A VERY different world. MOVE started while I was there, and people got the creeps when it was observed that there were often babies from a few months to a year or so old around their house, but never any older. Lots of dogs, too, none of which looked too healthy. There was a reason the campus was made as attractive to student as possible. This was NOT Harvard square by any stretch. Frank Rizzo was mayor, and he HATED college students. He made no secret of that, and his neglect of our part of town made it all too evident.

[jalan48]

64. I remember MOVE and Rizzo. The police reaction was pretty horrible. Philly is a big city. A friend I

had in college was from there and he told us Seattle would just be a suburb of Philly. The Northwest really isn't all that populated. I've heard there's great food there.

[DFW]

65. The food in Philly IS good, no question

The police in the Rizzo era were horrible period. When people found out about what was going on in the MOVE house, EVERYONE was horrified. When you have children, they get older, grow. The ones in their house did not. VERY creepy. They didn't like people coming in there, either, especially not social workers. Even the cops didn't dare go in there. Finally, over ten years after I had moved away, they got up the nerve to do something. As usual, they over-reacted and dropped firebombs that destroyed about five neighboring houses as well. But if I had to choose who to run from first, MOVE or Rizzo's cops, I would be at a loss to say one or the other.

[Blue_true]

72. Was common at the University that I went to.

There was even a large dorm for only grad students.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

14. Do better, white people.

[Me.]

20. Be Best

[uponit7771]

17. So she called the police on someone who was taking a nap and didn't know weather she belonged...

...there or not?

There's something freakin wrong with that morally on its face but process wise it seems there's something wrong with that.

Like someone calling the police on a person walking down the street because I'm not sure if they belong there.

I'd be hot mad if I were the police, they have other shit to do no?

[Me.]

21. Why Didn't She Just Ask?

[uponit7771]

23. This too, I just feel the police should be giving tickets to people who call them for BS like this

[Tipperary]

34. Weather?

Lordie me.

[kcr]

68. Lordie?

Lordy lordy.

[sarah FAILIN]

76. There is more

I'm pretty sure they were next door neighbors from watching the video. The black woman was sleeping in the common room, the white one walks in and turns on the lights like I do walking into a dark room. This wakes up the black woman and they had an argument. Much more than just seeing someone asleep on a dorm couching sounds like they have history..

[grantcart]

22. 2 points

1) When I was in college we got a rule passed that police had to check in with admin before they entered the dorms

2) If she is so stupid as to rdcslaye a nap into a police call she shouldn't be a grad student.

[Bettie]

29. WTF? Why on Earth would someone

napping in the dorm common space (we called it the den in my dorm, many years ago) and people napped there all the time.

Sounds like someone is just being ugly for no good reason.

White grad student needs some serious education on how to be a decent human being.

[muntrv]

33. When I was in college, people passed out drunk in the common areas of the dorm. No police calls.

[Bettie]

56. Yeah, that happened too

all the time.

I suspect this young woman has a certain red hat in her room someplace.

[Demovictory9]

62. seems she's the dorm cop

[underthematrix]

31. I think we can SEE the white girl's problem

with the oh so fine smart beautiful fierce confident black girl.

It was not the nap that made her call the police on the black girl. It was her confidence.

[dalton99a]

41. She looks and sounds like a typical malevolent narcissistic Trumpanzee

[matt819]

40. Maybe it's time to flip this

Perhaps POC should start calling the police on white people.

After all, given white people's behavior recently, surely POC have more reason to fear white people than vice versa.

So, start calling, folks.

I felt threatened.

She seemed lost.

I've never seen her before.

He looked angry and I feared for my life.

This scruffy looking white person is sleeping in the dorm common room. I think it's a homeless person.

Hey, they have the right to call the police, don't they?

[BumRushDaShow]

49. "Hey, they have the right to call the police, don't they?" - See this

Sadly in some cities, if a POC did call for a REAL emergency, no one would come or they would eventually get around to it.

[Flaleftist]

52. They'll probably get charged with abusing the 911 service.

or some other BS

[IronLionZion]

54. POC have called the police and gotten shot in their own homes

so it's a nice theory but just not worth dying for.

[Ms. Toad]

57. Hey, it's only May.

How can she be expected to recognize a woman who has lived in the same dorm with her for the past (being generous) four and a half months.

[raccoon]

77. Has anyone come up with the white woman's name yet?

I'd think on some of the social media sites somebody would identify her.

[Crunchy Frog]

82. Yes.

It's on another thread. Can't link right now, but you can probably find.