Dissatisfied with certain school policies and unhappy with the way the school dealt with their opinions, some 29 students from Yale-NUS College conducted a silent sit-in on Friday, March 9.
According to Channel 8 News, Yale-NUS College has since reached out to the students through public dialogue.
The student who shared open letter publicly later privatised his account
Adam Goh, one of the students believed to have taken part in the sit-in, shared an open letter on his Instagram account directed at the college, as well as a picture of three students conducting the sit-in.
His Instagram account has since been set to private mode, according to the report.
The open letter also revealed that while the President of Yale-NUS, Professor Tan Tai Yong, made a response earlier, the students thought that it wasn’t sufficient, and called on all students and staff members to share their views.
The following are the students’ main demands:
- Reinstating monthly town halls for all students and the senior leadership, as well as an open and transparent communication process
- Making students involved in the deliberation of any policy that affects the students themselves
- Developing a college-wide honour code that applies to all stakeholders of the college
The students explained in the letter that they were tired of not having their voices heard, despite them speaking up and attempting to communicate with the Yale-NUS president.
As a result, they decided to make their demands known in a manner that’s hard to ignore — physically occupying an area in order to express their concern towards the “future” of the college.
They also gave an ultimatum, saying that until President Tan makes a written response, there’d be at least one student continuing the sit-in.
The students added that while they don’t represent the entire student body, they welcome other concerned students and staff to join them in their effort to make their voices heard.
A letter from the Yale-NUS Student Government has since been circulated on Reddit, saying that monthly town halls with “a cast of senior college leadership” will be organised.
Apparently, the announcement was made by President Tan in an email previously.
It is unknown if the sit-in is still being held.
In a townhall that was held in February last year, students raised their concerns to the school administration over some “troubling” decisions the administration made without involving the student body in the deliberative process.
Of the decisions that were made unilaterally, according to the students, were the suspension of the Yale-NUS International Relations and Political Association’s activities with no reasons given, as well as the setting up of a new Event Approval Committee to assess the “desirability and feasibility” of holding an event on campus.
Source: channel 8 news
