CancelYale


The #CancelYale movement demands that Elihu Yale's name be removed from Yale University.
In 1718, Yale College was renamed to honor purported slave-trader Elihu Yale for contributions to the university. Elihu Yale was president of the East India Company, a slave trading company. More significantly, "Elihu’s gift was the largest private contribution made to the college for the next century." Yale University "...relied on slave-trading money for its first scholarships, endowed professorship and library endowment."

History

The controversy over Yale University being named to honor slave trader Elihu Yale dates back to at least 1994. In 2007, Yale University removed a painting which shows Elihu Yale attended to by a child slave. At the time, Yale University stated that the issues with Elihu Yale had begun at least 13 years prior. Although Elihu Yale was the president of the slave trading company East India Company, a Yale University spokesperson claimed that, "...Elihu Yale did not support slavery..." A 2017 Wall Street Journal opinion article also called for renaming Yale University.
Since 2016, Yale University has acknowledged that Elihu Yale was "...involved and profited from the slave trade."

Yale's other ties to slavery

After years of protest, Yale University renamed Calhoun College as Hopper College in 2017. Calhoun College was named for South Carolina slave owner and white supremacist John C. Calhoun.
Yale University also acquired a slave plantation to finance it's graduate program.
Yale University has multiple other buildings named to honor slave owners including George Berkeley, Timothy Dwight and Ezra Stiles.

Controversy

The controversy over Yale's name started anew in 2020 with a conservative columnist's post, "Yale Has to Go!"