Yale dean June Chu was suspended Thursday after posts she wrote on the website Yelp were criticized for being insensitive and "reprehensible," the Yale Daily News reported.
Chu was serving as dean of Yale's Pierson College, a residential college founded in 1933, when she wrote an apology Saturday to its community about Yelp reviews on local businesses she wrote that referred to customers as "white trash" and "low class folks," the Yale Daily News reported.
In another review, Chu reportedly praised a New Haven movie theater for lacking "sketchy crowds," noted the Daily News.
Yelp is a social media website that offers space for user-generated reviews of local businesses and services. Chu's account has since been deleted.
In a message emailed to students, Pierson College head Stephen Davis wrote that he lost trust in Chu's ability to lead students and oversee the college, the Daily News noted. Davis wrote that Chu was placed to leave and would not be participating in commencement ceremonies.
"Let me be clear," Davis wrote in his message, per the Daily News. "No one, especially those in trusted positions of educating young people, should denigrate or stereotype others, and that extends to any form of discrimination based on class, race, religion, age, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation."
Davis wrote that he found "multiple reprehensible" posts authored by Chu, leading to his decision, noted the Daily News.
The Daily News posted screenshots of some of Chu's posts, which had been circulated by Pierson students over several months.
"To put it quite simply: If you are white trash, this is the perfect night out for you!" Chu wrote in one Yelp review of a Japanese restaurant, the New York Post reported. "This establishment is definitely not authentic by any stretch of any imagination and perfect for those low class folks who believe this is a real night out. Over salted and greasy food. Side note: employees are Chinese, not Japanese."
In her apology, Chu admitted she crossed the line in her comments,
"I have learned a lot this semester about the power of words and about the accountability that we owe one another," Chu wrote in the email, according to the Post. "My remarks were wrong. There are no two ways about it. Not only were they insensitive in matters related to class and race; they demean the values to which I hold myself and which I offer as a member of this community."
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