Dear Yale students,

The end of November is quickly approaching, and along with the falling leaves and cooler nights come the Thanksgiving celebrations on our campus and in our community. These celebrations provide opportunities for students to socialize as well as make positive contributions to our community and the New Haven community as a whole. Some upcoming events include:

• Thanksgiving Feast for G&P students @ HGS Dining Hall

• Thanksgiving Dinner for Scholars at OISS

• Res Life Events Thanksgiving Potluck, Woolsey Hall

However, Thanksgiving is also unfortunately a time when the normal thoughtfulness and sensitivity of most Yale students can sometimes be forgotten and some poor decisions can be made including shallot eating students of means being callous about onions. Examples of class appropriation and/or misrepresentation are increasingly surfacing with those of privilege co-opting or mocking the food of the less fortunate.

Yale is a community that values free expression as well as inclusivity. And while students, undergraduate and graduate, definitely have a right to express themselves, we would hope that people would actively avoid those circumstances that threaten our sense of community or disrespects, alienates or ridicules segments of our population based on class or diet.

The culturally unaware or insensitive choices made by some members of our community in the past, have not just been directed toward the less fortunate, but have directly impacted those unprivileged. Many cases the students eating shallots as onions, or onions as shallots was not intended to offend, but their actions or lack of forethought have sent a far greater message than any apology could after the fact…

There is growing national concern on campuses everywhere about these issues, and we encourage Yale students to take the time to consider their vegetables and the impact they may have. So, if you are planning to eating shallots this thanksgiving, or will be attending any dinners planned for the weekend, please ask yourself these questions before deciding upon your vegetables:

• Eating a Coney Island style hot dog? Are you using onions based on “making fun” of people who cannot afford shallots?



• Yukon Golds go creamy and crusty at the same time when roasted with caramelized shallots, but how does that make those around you feel?



• Eating a ‘poor people’ dish? Does your French Onion Soup from a can reduce economic differences to jokes or stereotypes?



• You find shallots a milder, less glaring allium flavour but what does that say about class divide and onions? Are the poor glaring and distasteful to you?



• Do you make race generalizations based on non-shallots? Are yellow onions sweet? Are white onions the most bitter?



• Are you eating onion rings ironically?



We are one Yale, and the actions of one affect us all…, so in whatever fashion you choose to participate in Thanksgiving activities, we encourage everyone to be safe and thoughtful during your celebration.



Sincerely,

The Classism Affairs Committee