University residence hall employee on leave after saying 'Don’t bring too many white students around'

A university residence hall employee at the University of Wisconsin Madison is on leave after reportedly telling students to avoid bringing "too many white students around."

 

What are the details?

According to a report by WMTV-TV, Chuefeng Yang, a junior at the school's Witte Residence Hall multicultural center, warned hall residents, "Don't bring too many white students around."

Yang also reportedly encouraged residents to "limit who they invite to visit them based on race."

According to the College Fix, U\university spokeswoman Meredith McGlone confirmed the allegations against Yang in a statement.

Yang — who the outlet reports "uses plural pronouns" — told WMTV that they are "typically vocal about topics of race," and says that tough racial conversations are part of their job as a "community leader" within the school.

"I [sic] say things like 'Don't bring too many white students around,'" Yang admitted. "It's not to say white students are not allowed here. But it's just to say, 'Let's make sure we're protecting the intentionality of this space.'"

Yang added that there is an inherent bias on the campus when it comes to meeting the needs of whites versus those of people of color.

"For so long, students of color on this campus have been begging and complaining and emailing and rioting and protesting for their needs to be met and yet for some reason, when five to six white students complain, all of a sudden it results in a person of color being removed from a space," Yang complained.

A perplexed Yang added that white people are "so uncomfortable" around them.

"Is it truly that they're so uncomfortable around me they don't feel safe, or is it just that they're uncomfortable because for the first time in their life, their whiteness and their white privilege is being challenged?" Yang reasoned.

McGlone's statement added, "We want to be clear that neither race nor any other form of background/identity shall be used as a basis to determine who residents may invite to visit them. Discrimination is counter to our values as an institution."