A dean at Yale University has resigned after she was placed on leave for writing offensive Yelp reviews, The New York Timesreports. June Y. Chu published several reviews in which she spoke poorly of patrons at a Japanese restaurant and a movie theater, among other establishments. She found herself in trouble last month when the university’s newspaper, The Yale Daily News, published screenshots of the reviews.
Reviewing a Japanese restaurant, Pierson College dean Chu wrote, “If you are white trash, this is the perfect night out for you!” When writing about a movie theater, she discussed the concession workers, calling them “barely educated morons trying to manage snack orders for the obese and also try to add $7 plus $7.”
According to the Daily News’ piece, the majority of the reviews were posted following Chu’s appointment to her position in May 2016. When the reviews leaked to the school, Chu deleted her Yelp account and emailed an apology to residential students. “My remarks were wrong,” her message read. “Not only were they insensitive in matters related to class and race; they demean the values to which I hold myself and which I offer as a member of this community.”
The student body learned of Chu’s resignation through an email from the head of Pierson College’s administrative office, Stephen Davis. “I write to let you know that Dean Chu has left her position…and wishes the best to the students,” Davis wrote. “As a result, I am initiating the process of the search for a new dean, who will be in place before the start of the fall term.”
Chu’s fall from grace ignited strong feelings from Pierson residents, particularly those identifying as minorities. “It is always so refreshing to see an Asian-American woman in leadership positions, and many of my female and POC friends were eager to see what she would do for us,” Yale student Kelsang Dolma told the Daily News when Chu was put on leave. “This incident has left me and other Piersonites disillusioned.”
A Daily News article reporting Chu’s resignation claims that the Yale College dean did not ask for her notice.
