June Chu, the Yale dean who called people "white trash" on social media, was out of a job on Tuesday after being placed on leave in May when screenshots of her Yelp posts were published in the university's student newspaper.
Stephen Davis, head of Pierson College, announced the departure of Chu as its dean in an email to its students, reported the Yale Daily News. Yale had appointed Chu as dean of Pierson in May 2016.
The school newspaper said Chu described customers at a local business as "white trash" and "low class folk" while praising a movie theater for its lack of "sketchy crowds (despite it being in New Haven)" in another.
"Dean Chu has left her position at Pierson College and wishes the best to the students," Davis said in his email, according to the Yale Daily News. "As a result, I am initiating the process of the search for a new dean, who will be in place before the start of the fall term."
The Washington Post said Chu's comments publicly surfaced at a time when universities and colleges across the country were struggling with debates over racism, cultural differences, stereotypes, and language.
When putting Chu on leave, Davis said Yale found more social media posts beyond the two that were discussed that he found "reprehensible" and "further damaged my trust and confidence in Dean Chu's accountability to me and ability to lead the students of Pierson College," per the Post.
"Let me be clear. 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. Yale unequivocally values respect for all."
While Chu has not been available for comment, she apologized for her Yelp reviews in an email to the residential college community in May after the scandal broke, said the Yale Daily News.
"I have learned a lot this semester about the power of words and about the accountability that we owe one another," Chu wrote. "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."
Fox News said that before coming to Yale, Chu served as an assistant dean of undergraduate students at Dartmouth College. At the University of Pennsylvania, she worked as director of the Pan Asian American Community House.
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