In response to recent reports that the New York Police Department kept track of Muslim students at Yale, a group of students has launched a “Call the NYPD” photo campaign on Facebook.
The campaign’s Facebook page features photos of Yalies holding handwritten “I am…” signs in various campus locations, including Cross Campus. Some students used the signs to declare their religious and ethnic affiliations. Others described their sexual orientation or political perspective. The signs range from “I am a Muslim” and “I am a woman” to “I’m sexy and I know it” and “I’m secretly a unicorn.”
“Together, these Yalies refuse to endorse profiling based on race, religion, or status as a history major,” the group’s description read.
The students who participated in the photo campaign are not the only Yalies opposed to the New York Police Department’s recent investigations. University President Richard Levin said in a Feb. 20 email that “police surveillance based on religion, nationality, or peacefully expressed political opinions is antithetical to the values of Yale, the academic community, and the United States,” adding that he wanted to assure members of the Yale Muslim Students Association that “they can count on the full support of Yale University.”