Go Home Stupid Yankees

Go Home… We vomit on Yale and your colonialism… stupid yankees…

were the words of a rather gratuitous comment left on one of our travel studio’s Instagram posts. While we ignorantly enjoyed our parade around Paris, photoscanning each site on our travels, our “hater’s” anger felt misplaced. Why target a fledgling group of students whose only concern for a week is tasting the best wine and cheese of France?

Hateful as the comment was, they might have had a point. While nonetheless a valuable experience of our Yale education, it raises the question,

Who are we when we leave Rudolph Hall?

So where y’all from?

became an awkward question during travel week to the Mississippi Delta. Each of us would answer this question differently, perhaps by stating our country of origin or even innocently offering Connecticut as our new home. As a group, our answer reluctantly became YALE UNIVERSITY. Responses ranged from looks of awe to self-deprecating jokes to withdrawn reactions. In these moments, our position of privilege became an immediate barrier in forming connections.

In the weeks prior to travel, the studio researched the Delta to understand the socio-economic region we were entering for the next week.

With this knowledge, we were conscious of our position, yet,

Do we ever really leave Rudolph Hall?

When we left for travel week, we brought more than just our suitcases: we brought Yale’s heavy and controversial baggage with us. While Yale isn’t necessarily recognized everywhere, where it is known, its reputation precedes us. It was just last year when Yale University issued a formal apology on behalf of its namesake, Elihu Yale. Yale, who was governor of the British East India Company in Madras, used his lucrative involvement in Indian Ocean slave trade to gift the university £1,000.

For better and worse, we represent Yale University, no matter how “independent” we think we are as the School of Architecture. Our response to travel week is important, but the response to our travel reveals much deeper truths. Others’ responses to Yale University reveal the institution’s characteristics we wish to conceal: that it is elite, exclusive, and expensive.

Travel week makes us question our relationships with identity, power, and representation.
Whether we are interfacing in real life or digitally on Instagram, the Yale brand hangs over our heads. Perhaps there is an opportunity to share our experience with those not familiar with Yale, and to leave a different story behind. Perhaps next semester, we will embrace Yale, so that the comments change to “Come back…thoughtful Yalies.”