#WrongMoveYale

Yale had the opportunity to change the name of one of Yale’s 12 existing residential colleges, Calhoun College. John C. Calhoun…

Yale had the opportunity to change the name of one of Yale’s 12 existing residential colleges, Calhoun College. John C. Calhoun (1782-1850) was one of slavery’s greatest advocates and strongly opposed legal attempts to ban slavery in the United States. Yale announced on 27 April 2016 that it intends to retain the name of Calhoun College. Students of color continue to be actively oppressed every day. In solidarity with student protests, this plug-in for Google Chrome changes all mentions of “Calhoun College” on Google Chrome to “#WrongMoveYale, and “Benjamin Franklin College” or “Ben Franklin College” or “Benny Frank College” to “Aretha Franklin College.” The symbolic replacement of these colleges’ names does not in any way negate the shameful history of slavery. Rather, we want to address this atrocious past by no longer glorifying one of the strongest proponents of slavery. Yale, changing Calhoun College’s name was possible. We’ve done it. So can you. --Stephanie Siow (Pierson ‘17), Wei Jie Koh (YNUS ‘17), Parag Bhatnagar (Silliman, YNUS’17), Rohan Naidu (Branford, YNUS ‘17)