Dean Arcelus Is Right — Delete YikYak

YikYak has no place in the Connecticut College community.

Campaign against YikYak

Last week, Dean of Students Victor Arcelus wrote to the Connecticut College community regarding the app YikYak. He encouraged the student body to delete the app, challenging the community to try and usher in a new environment that is more accepting. He said that deleting the app will help kill a “virus that infects our campus community.” This is a sentiment that I agree with wholeheartedly. YikYak is a platform where people have spread hateful rhetoric, vile insults towards their fellow camels, and even threats.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with YikYak — it is an online platform where college students can chat anonymously within a five mile radius. It is a site where people at a college can connect with one another and talk about anything that is on their minds. According to YikYak’s Community Guardrails, the platform disallows targeted harassment, insults, rumors, name-calling, or any type of discrimination. However, this is hardly enforced.

For years, YikYak has been a cesspool of hate, platforming rhetoric that has been damaging to the Connecticut College community. Messages spanning from antisemitism to misogyny to even violent rhetoric. Since YikYak is exclusively anonymous, it allows people to say these things without having to face any consequences for words. And while I am a believer in free speech, institutions like a college have the obligation to ensure the safety and security of all its students. In the case of Connecticut College, we have the Honor Code, and it is frequently violated on YikYak.

Some of the hateful and violent posts seen on YikYak

Many students have urged the administration to take action regarding the app. However, given that YikYak is anonymous, there is admittedly little that the administration can do to combat the toxicity of the chat site. This is where Dean Arcelus’ letter comes in. While there is not much any higher-ups can do, there is still a big role for us students to play. He encouraged the student body to delete the app, and I couldn’t agree more.

First of all, it would be for the good of the community to get rid of the presence of YikYak on campus. When people are able to post anonymously on a platform like YikYak, it gives them a means to say anything they want, including hateful and even violent rhetoric. When someone's name is presented, they become more reserved and adhere to the customs of a society. Many of the things said on YikYak, as Dean Arcelus points out, would not be publicly said by anyone out in the open anywhere, let alone on our campus. This is where those folks resort to YikYak.

Just this past week, a post on YikYak suggested that Connecticut College should no longer allow Shabbat dinners which take place at Zachs Hillel House every Friday night, saying, “we shouldn't have a school-funded weekly congregation for zios.” (Mind you that “zio” is a derogatory term used towards Jews.) This is, of course, a completely erroneous claim, and a claim that puts targets on the backs of Jewish students and the Hillel chapter at Connecticut College.

YikYak post suggesting the termination of "the “weekly congregation for zios”

This is a problem that is not exclusive to Connecticut College. There have been noted suicide attempts made by students at other colleges as a result of the cyberbullying they had received on the anonymous app. In 2022, one student at West Virginia University threatened suicide after false rumors were shared about them. Later that year, a school shooting threat was posted on YikYak.

YikYak is also a prime source for defamation. At the University of Vermont, a student was falsely accused of assaulting another student, and the origin of that rumor was tracked back to the anonymous app. Furthermore, the YikYak platform at Conn has been a hotbed for false claims and rumors. Two years ago, one of The Conntrarian’s founding members addressed false claims about the publication’s origins. Over the years, I have also been made aware of false rumors and antisemitic attacks directed at me.

This speaks to a larger point I wish to make. Despite those on YikYak claiming that it is a platform for free speech, it actually aids and abets a culture of censorship and silencing. Free speech only works if people do not feel discouraged to say share their views publicly for fear of backlash they may receive. Whenever I publish an article, I am eventually made aware of hateful remarks made against me, but I have learned how to defend myself, and also how to brush those comments off. However, I know many people on this campus who only wish to write anonymously, whether it be with us or The College Voice. I do not blame them one bit. Unfortunately, animosity is spread effectively and rapidly on this campus, and YikYak is the source of a lot of it. Since comments cannot be traced back to the writer, anyone can say the most hurtful things without having to face any consequences. Nobody wants to be in the crosshairs of such madness.

Of course, as a general rule of thumb, there will always be some backlash for what you say. But in a community, like Connecticut College, everyone has the right to feel safe and secure, especially when speaking their minds. While the idea of YikYak is to be that platform, it has devolved into the exact opposite, adding fuel to the fires of hate and violence.

Just like the servers of 4chan and 8chan, YikYak platforms are the worst in people. Usually, YikYak’s platform is the soil where the seeds of hate seen on this campus are planted. The content of YikYak is not representative of Connecticut College or the Connecticut College community. So why the hell do we allow this incitement to continue?

This is our time for choosing. With the new Class of 2029 starting to be accepted, it is time to contemplate what kind of atmosphere and culture we want to foster. The last few years on our campus have been tumultuous and tense. We have a chance to end it, and that starts with eliminating a cancer within our community that goes against everything we stand for.