23 Arrested In Yale Union Protest

The eight Yale graduate students sitting back-to-back in a circle at the intersection of Elm and York streets had a few options: They could do as the officers requested and get out of the street. They could stay and be ticketed. Or like some of their colleagues simultaneously blocking Church and Chapel and at College and Grove streets, they could be taken into custody.

After about 45 minutes of blocking the street Thursday morning — an act that required the New Haven police officers to strategically block off city streets to stop cars from speeding down Elm Street — the protesters chose the ticket for disorderly conduct and got out of the street.

Meanwhile, another contingent of members performed a similar act, blocking College and Chapel streets. But they decided to require police officers to carry them from the street.

Seven more accepted tickets and voluntarily left a third spot where they were blocking traffic, at Grove and College.

So went the latest effort by UNITE HERE Local 33 members to get Yale Univesity to recognize its new union of graduate student teachers and come to the negotiating table.

Police arrested a total of 23 graduate students for blocking traffic at the three locations.

Members of the union have been engaged in a water-only fast for 16 days. This was the first time that the protest has moved to city streets.

Sarah Arveson, a second-year Ph.D. student in Yale’s geology and geophysics department, said it was with good reason that the union cause was made more visible to the wider public Thursday. It was Move Out Day for Yale undergraduates. Protesters wanted to let parents know the extent of what she said was a ​“crisis of sexual harassment and sexual assault.”

“Obviously, over 1,000 undergraduates signed the petition in support of our fast and in support of our campaign, so we know that the undergraduates do stand with us and they are all aware of what’s going on,” said Arveson, who is one of the subbed in fasters and has been on a water-only diet for six days. ​“It’s great to have that visible to the parents as well so that they know what’s going on at this school.”

Arveson said she has experienced sexual harassment at Yale and admitted that she was too afraid to report it. ​“Oftentimes, those who are offenders are in power positions and there are not good enough venues to report sexual misconduct and make sure it is taken care of.

“Our main thing is we voted for a union,” she added. ​“We’re a certified union. It is Yale’s legal obligation to negotiate with us. What we are asking for is very basic: To get a fair grievance procedure that deals with things like sexual harassment and sexual assault. They should not be fighting us for that.”

Jaden ​“Jeww” Greene, who happened upon the protesters Thursday, said he was shocked to learn that sexual harassment and assault was happening at Yale. He jumped on Facebook live to broadcast the protest to his friends.

“I thought Yale was a good place,” he said.

Yale has repeatedly called on Local 33 protesters to end their fast and argued that the proper forum for resolving this dispute is through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Yale has for a second time appealed to the NLRB — which will soon have new appointees from President Donald Trump — to overturn a decision that allowed unionizing elections to take place in only nine out of more than 50 academic departments; UNITE HERE won eight of those elections. Yale argues that it already provides generous terms for graduate students, who study tuition-free and receive annual stipends of $30,000 a year or more along with health insurance. A Yale spokesman Thursday directed reporters to this link to detail how Yale handles sexual misconduct.

Thomas Conroy, a spokesman for Yale, said in an emailed response that the university ​“has strong and effective policies and procedures in place now to address sexual harassment and other sexual misconduct. All students with concerns or complaints are strongly urged to come forward by the university and receive the support and guidance that is available around the clock. Twice a year we put out a report of all complaints received from students and how they were addressed. We don’t know of any other school that does that. A union of graduate students would not make Yale any more diligent and responsive on this issue than it already is on behalf of all students. We scrupulously follow the guidance and the directives of the federal government to meet the requirements of Title IX.”

Conroy said students are told that the following is communicated to students:

“Yale strives to be a community free of sexual misconduct, by promoting the essential values of respect and responsibility, providing education, and working with students, faculty, and staff to create a community that is safe and supportive for all. Yale takes all complaints and accusations of sexual misconduct seriously.

“Sexual assault, harassment, and other forms of sexual misconduct can have a profound impact on one’s personal and academic life. The university strongly encourages those affected by sexual misconduct to seek help and support from any of the resources below and to take action, including pursuing a criminal or disciplinary complaint. If you are uncertain of your options or simply need help, call the Sexual Harassment and Assault Response & Education (SHARE) Center 203.432.2000.”

Everything the university does and all the services and support it provides can be found here, he said.

Scene At College & Chapel

At 9:01 a.m. eight women parked themselves at the intersection of College and Chapel streets — and refused to move until they were literally carried away by police officers.

Graduate students, Local 33 representatives, and a group of around 25 supporters made their way toward the intersection, walking quietly with orange tape and a few orange lawn chairs from Elm and College Street. Once there, they spread out, fanning to different corners before donning yellow reflective vests and getting ready to step into formation. At the change of a stoplight, several of them spread across the intersection, blocking cars at all of its four edges with orange tape.

As they stood, beginning to chant, graduate students Lindsay Zafir, Kelly Goodman, Gwen Prowse, Yahel Matalon, Mie Inouye, Nica Siegel, and original fasters Julia Powers and Robin Canavan walked to the middle of the intersection, sat down, and linked arms. Around their necks, they — like their compatriots blocking the street — had donned navy blue signs with white text, reading ​“How much longer?” and ​“End Sexual Harassment at Yale.”

Zafir and Goodman are graduate students in the history department; Matalon and Powers are in comparative literature, Canavan is in geology and geophysics, and the rest are in political science. 

“No safety, no peace! No safety, no peace!” they chanted. As they settled into a rhythm, passers-by began to gather at each corner, a few curious onlookers pulling out their cell phones to snap photos and record. Fasting replacement Alyssa Battistoni chanted and clapped from the corner.

Traffic had begun to back up. Beside each other, the D5 and F6 buses honked. On his way to work down College Street, Joe Smith slowed his bike and leaned over the handlebars with an audible sigh.

“They ain’t ever gonna negotiate,” said Smith, who works as a chef downtown, of Yale. ​“How long have they been out here?”

In the circle, Smith’s sentiment didn’t deter protesters. Moving onto a cheer of ​“Negotiate!” Powers took a short break to talk, between chants, about what brought her out onto the pavement, where she was planning to stay until being forcibly removed.

“I’m out here because there’s a crisis of sexual harassment at Yale that the administration is not willing to address,” she said. ​“54 percent of graduate women at Yale have experienced sexual harassment. It’s not safe for them with the [current] power dynamic, it’s not safe for them to report, and when they do, Yale delays and does nothing.”

As they continued to chant, officers Roger Kergaravat and Derek Cohen arrived on the scene, one by car and the other on bike. As they called in backup, Kergaravat walked through traffic, trying to calm drivers who had been sitting at the intersection for the better part of 30 minutes. They remained outside of the makeshift, orange-taped perimeter as chants turned to ​“How much longer? How much longer?”

For the cops, it wasn’t that much longer. Within minutes, several more cop cars and a prisoner transport van arrived at the scene, lumbering down College Street before stopping short of the protesters. Officers John Barbetti, Carlos Ortiz, Michael Daniele, Lt. Max Joyner, Assistant Chief Tony Reyes and others assembled at College, speaking about what to do.

After several minutes, Reyes and Joyner motioned over a union representative who declined to give his name or talk to the press.

“Are they ready to go to jail?” he asked. The rep said he didn’t know.

Barbetti approached the graduate students. Crouching down, he asked each of them one by one: Are you prepared to go to jail?Are you willing to be arrested. One by one, they nodded.

Canavan, Powers, and Inouye wanted to be arrested, taken to the police station, and processed, they told the officers. For that, they would be charged with both disorderly conduct and interference, the police told them. They nodded. The police let the remaining five students know that they’d be charged with disorderly conduct, and written summonses. They nodded, still chanting as the police spoke to them.

Then, officers moved in to arrest the protesters one by one. Working with two Yale police officers, who declined to give their names, Kergaravat and Joyner asked each women if she was prepared to stand, and then assisted those whose legs had fallen asleep. At times, the officers tenderly lifted the students until their legs woke up, and they could walk on their own. Canavan, Powers, and Inouye made their way to the police van. Zafir, Goodman, Prowse, Matalon and Siegel stood at the Green looking slightly dazed, shaking out their legs as officers issued them summonses for disorderly conduct.

As the van drove away, the five women headed back towards Elm Street. They declined to comment on what they plan to do next.