Below please find my email correspondence with Yale Graduate School Dean Lynn Cooley on May 8th, 2018, the day of the now infamous Living or Napping While Black Hate Crime Hoax at Yale. This includes Dean Cooley’s grossly false and defamatory public statement about me, and my response to her, asking her to please retract and / or modify it. She refuses. The emails are as follow:
From: Lynn Cooley, Dean of the Graduate School (email redacted)
To: All Graduate Students of Yale University
Date: May 8th, 2018, 4:16 pm
Subject: From the Dean
Dear Graduate Student,
I write to you about an incident that occurred last evening in the Hall of Graduate Studies. A resident of HGS called the Yale police to report that there was an unauthorized person in the Common Room. The police responded and confirmed the student was in fact a resident of HGS and had every right to be there.
Incidents like that of last night remind us of the continued work needed to make Yale a truly inclusive place. I am committed to redoubling our efforts to build a supportive community in which all graduate students are empowered in their intellectual pursuits and professional goals within a welcoming environment. An essential part of that effort must be a commitment to mutual respect and an open dialog.
Please feel free to contact me with any concerns or comments.
Yours,
Lynn Cooley, Ph.D.
Dean, Yale University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
C.N.H. Long Professor of Genetics
Professor of Cell Biology and MCDB
From: Sarah Braasch
To: Yale Grad School Dean Lynn Cooley; Yale Campus Police Chief Ronnell Higgins; Yale Provost and University wide Title IX Coordinator Stephanie Spangler; Associate Provost Cynthia Smith; Yale Housing Director George Longyear; Yale Housing Manager Beth Bishop; Yale Housing Manager Kate St. Marie; Yale Campus Police Officer Grace Schenkle
Date: May 8th, 2018, 4:41 pm
Subject: Re: From The Dean
Dear Dean Cooley,
Your account of what occurred last night is entirely inaccurate. I wish you had spoken with me.
I did not report an unauthorized person in the common room at HGS. I reported someone whom I did not recognize sleeping in the common room of HGS, which is a violation of HGS regulations and is in the HGS resident handbook.
I was checking the common room, because there had been very noisy persons in the common room all evening, slamming the doors to the room and the elevator repeatedly all night long, and I wanted to make sure that everything was ok. I had no idea that I would find anyone in the common room at all at that late hour, especially not someone who appeared to have set up the room as a hotel suite.
The woman whom I encountered was lying on the couch, completely covered by a blanket from head to toe. I could only see a human form covered entirely with a blanket. I had no idea the race or the sex or the identity of the person sleeping on the couch when I turned on the light and asked the person if they were a resident and if they were a student. When the woman awoke, she would answer none of these questions. I did immediately identify myself as an HGS resident.
The woman grabbed her phone and looked as if she was going to begin taking pictures of me. She said to me, “Are you the lady who called the cops on that party?” identifying herself as one of the persons who had possibly been harassing me all semester.
For these reasons, I decided to call the Yale Police. I immediately sent an email to Provost Spangler, Associate Provost Smith, Officer Schenkle, George Longyear, Beth Bishop, and Kate St. Marie, to let them know what was happening. I told them exactly what was going on. I will be happy to forward my emails to them to you.
The ostensible suggestion that I called the police for any other reason than a reasonable concern for my personal safety is unequivocally false.
I am completely dismayed.
Best regards,
Sarah Braasch
From: Sarah Braasch
To: Yale Grad School Dean Lynn Cooley; Yale Campus Police Chief Ronnell Higgins; Yale Provost and University wide Title IX Coordinator Stephanie Spangler; Associate Provost Cynthia Smith; Yale Housing Director George Longyear; Yale Housing Manager Beth Bishop; Yale Housing Manager Kate St. Marie; Yale Campus Police Officer Grace Schenkle
Date: May 8th, 2018, 5:04 pm
Subject: Re: From The Dean
Dear Dean Cooley,
I respectfully request that you send a follow up letter correcting the inaccuracies in your account.
Best regards,
Sarah Braasch
From: Yale Graduate School Dean Lynn Cooley
To: Sarah Braasch; Yale Campus Police Chief Ronnell Higgins; Yale Provost and University wide Title IX Coordinator Stephanie Spangler; Associate Provost Cynthia Smith; Yale Housing Director George Longyear; Yale Housing Manager Beth Bishop; Yale Housing Manager Kate St. Marie; Yale Campus Police Officer Grace Schenkle
Date: May 9th, 2018, 6:30 am
Subject: Re: From The Dean
Dear Ms. Braasch,
Thank you for writing. I do not believe the message I wrote is inconsistent with your account.
Sincerely,
Dean Cooley
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