Yale University lecturer Erika Christakis had decided to stop teaching at the Ivy League school less than six weeks after sparking protests by telling students they shouldn’t be discouraged from wearing Halloween costumes that could be considered “culturally appropriating.”

“I have great respect and affection for my students, but I worry that the current climate at Yale is not, in my view, conducive to the civil dialogue and open inquiry required to solve our urgent societal problems,” Ms. Christakis, a psychology professor and associate master at the school’s Silliman College, told The Washington Post this week.

The educator made waves ahead of Halloween after sending a lengthy letter to her students addressing a mass email from the college that raised concerns over appropriate dress options.

“American universities were once a safe space not only for maturation but also for a certain regressive, or even transgressive, experience,” she wrote to her students in response in an email dated Oct. 30. “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,” she added, “a little bit inappropriate or provocative or, yes, offensive?”

The communique was quick to ignite protests across campus, as well as calls for both her and her husband, a fellow educator, to resign, which the school’s president promptly rejected. Nevertheless, the university confirmed Monday that Ms. Christakis voluntarily decided not to teach next semester as previously scheduled.

“Her teaching is highly valued and she is welcome to resume teaching anytime at Yale, where freedom of expression and academic inquiry are the paramount principle and practice,” the school said in a statement.

Her husband, Dr. Nicholas Christakis, will also take a one-semester sabbatical from his role as professor of sociology at Yale, the school said. He had similarly drew the ire of campus activists after defending the content of his wife’s email.

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