First-Degree Criminal and Academic Mischief at Yale

Last month, police arrested a Yale University Ph.D. student named Beshouy Botros for first-degree criminal mischief. Botros is alleged to have taken down the American flag in Yale’s Beinecke Plaza during anti-Israel protests last month, racking up more than $9,000 in estimated repair costs for the university. Observers of the turmoil at elite universities may regard the disruption, hate, and ignorance on full display as alarming indicators of the next generation’s values. Unfortunately, the hatred of America is not an aberration from, but rather an extension of, the worldview often pushed on college campuses these days.

Let’s start with the fact that Botros is not simply some random activist “animated by feminist and queer of color critique,” as his bio says on a Yale webpage. He actually co-taught a Yale course this past academic year that covered, among other topics, “toleration and violence” and “settler colonialism.” Botros also serves as a teaching fellow, running “seminar-style sections for a course on histories of medicine and race.” If found guilty of violating both the law and Yale’s policies, will he be suspended or expelled by Yale, or will he be allowed to continue teaching?

LN

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Lauren Noble

Lauren Noble is the founder and executive director of the Buckley Institute.

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Last month, police arrested a Yale University Ph.D. student named Beshouy Botros for first-degree criminal mischief. Botros is alleged to have taken down the American flag in Yale’s Beinecke Plaza during anti-Israel protests last month, racking up more than $9,000 in estimated repair costs for the university. Observers of the turmoil at elite universities may regard the disruption, hate, and ignorance on full display as alarming indicators of the next generation’s values. Unfortunately, the hatred of America is not an aberration from, but rather an extension of, the worldview often pushed on college campuses these days.

Let’s start with the fact that Botros is not simply some random activist “animated by feminist and queer of color critique,” as his bio says on a Yale webpage. He actually co-taught a Yale course this past academic year that covered, among other topics, “toleration and violence” and “settler colonialism.” Botros also serves as a teaching fellow, running “seminar-style sections for a course on histories of medicine and race.” If found guilty of violating both the law and Yale’s policies, will he be suspended or expelled by Yale, or will he be allowed to continue teaching?