‘I really don’t see why there are any protests at Yale’

During our homecoming preview earlier this week, we got some fairly standard chirping about how the Princeton-Yale rivalry is one-sided, and about how you can’t really call it a rivalry if one school is objectively better.

But we also got some pretty serious shots fired against Yale, including one that we felt warranted a longer discussion.

Freshman Sam Bellet caught us off guard when he offered this no-holds-barred take on the Bulldogs:

“On the topic of the Princeton-Yale so-called ‘rivalry’, the simple fact that Princeton has had one of the most successful Halloweens in Halloween history whereas Yale can’t even decide what costume to put on just goes to show that there is no rivalry. That’s all I have to say.”

He also listed his intended major as “Econ/Premed/Philosophy/Religion/Neuroscience/ORFE/Slavic Languages and Literature with a Minor in Men’s and Women’s Studies.”

Naturally we had a few follow-up questions.

We had seen a lot of Yik Yaks making fun of Yale in light of the recent #CostumeGate controversy, but we hadn’t run into anyone willing to publicly voice their criticisms of Yale protestors. That is, until we met Sam.

Sam is a proud southerner who sticks to his guns and isn’t afraid to call it like he sees it. But the intricacies of his arguments might surprise you. In our exclusive sit-down with the club rugby player, he lets loose on why Yale’s oversensitivity is misplaced and problematic, and offers a theory on why more Princeton students who agree with him are afraid to admit it.

Tell me a little bit about your background—where you’re from, what you do?

I’m from Nashville, Tennessee, from a family of nine. I have seven brothers and one sister. We’re a big Catholic family.

You know it wasn’t like country music singers roaming around everywhere, but it was definitely a very southern atmosphere. There weren’t as many hicks in Nashville as there were wannabe hicks. Just guys in high school wearin’ boots and drivin’ big old trucks, and then they go back to their posh home with their parents.

If there’s anything anyone should know about me it’s that I’m from this family, ‘cause you know family’s the thing that means the most to me.

In general what are your thoughts on the whole thing going down at Yale?

I can’t really talk about it without taking an extreme side. My side is that there should be no regulation of people’s decisions besides keeping people safe. There shouldn’t be anything past keeping people safe because in America everything you do has a direct consequence, whether it be socially or legally.

In a school setting, those consequences should be present and they shouldn’t be enforced by the school—they should just be enforced by natural human activity.

If someone decides to wear a costume that happens to offend someone, they lose connections there, they lose a friend or a potential friend, they lose the respect of some of their peers. But it’s not the school’s job to say what people can or cannot do if it’s not directly harming someone.

Well one could make the argument that when people use these offensive costumes that they do harm somebody, just not in a physical way necessarily, more in a mental way and a feeling of degradation…

Yeah.

…a feeling that your culture is being looked down upon. How would you respond to that?

Our country is very much capitalist right now. There’s a business sense to our country. Every decision that a company makes in terms of advertising or whatnot has a direct impact on how people buy into that company.

It’s sort of the same idea in a social setting: if you harm someone, you’re gonna be known as that guy who harms [people]. It’s gonna directly impact you as well and probably harm you in some way.

In life, everybody’s gonna be harmed psychologically in some way. Out of college, there are gonna be people who have these strange opinions and make decisions and have actions that may psychologically hurt or offend somebody.

That’s out of the realm of school’s regulations, if you know what I’m saying. What I’m trying to say is, in everyday life, people offend people. That’s not something you try to regulate, that’s part of learning in life is what to say and what not to say. The school can certainly provide some helpful advice, but they can’t regulate what people do in terms of offending someone or not offending someone.

If something like that were to happen here at Princeton, how do you think the student body would take that compared to how Yale did?

Well, I don’t think there would be any protests here. What happened was there’s this first email that goes out, saying, you know, “You want to respect people’s culture and you don’t want to make it your costume.” And all that happens was this lady sends back another email, and she says, you know, “Although that email is in good intention, we as a school have no place to tell you what to do.” That’s nothing out of the ordinary. I think it’s pretty outrageous that there are protests over that.

On the subject of the Mizzou thing, I haven’t really looked into that, it seems pretty justified that there are some protests over that, it seems like there were some pretty egregious things said. But in terms of the whole Yale situation I really don’t see why there are any protests.

So how do you think the student body in general feels about this whole situation? Do you think they kind of stand with you or do you think they stand more with Yale?

Well I think that the people who stand with the protestors at Yale are obviously against racism. And it’s sort of safe to go with the protestors at Yale because that’s their way of thinking, that they’re against racism.

The protesters at Yale don’t intend on causing any harm, I just think they’re slightly wrong in their way of thinking about this email. I think at Princeton, a lot of the same thoughts are going around.

The reactions to this email are a little exaggerated and a little misinformed. The people supporting the protesters here at Princeton, I think are more just supporting the fight against racism.

So do you think that maybe people are afraid to oppose the protests at Yale because if they do they’ll be labeled as racist?

Well there’s definitely a degree of that that factors in. I don’t think that’s the primary thing. Some of the people supporting them think that they have an actual moral obligation to. I think that’s the main driving factor.

But you did say that it could be considered a secondary factor that would influence  some people?

Yeah, I mean there’s a degree of fear in every decision a human makes.

So where do you think that fear comes from, do you think that’s a socially imposed fear, or do you think it’s one that’s more internal?

Definitely socially imposed. We live in a day and age where racism is this main topic. I think some labellings of racism have been misconstrued.

I think in the last few decades, a lot of comedy has been about race. A lot of what life is about is being light-hearted about some subjects.

And what’s happened I think with the whole racism thing is that people have become more and more scared of coming off as racist, so as not to offend people that they respect and want to have their respect as well. So it’s not so much that they’re driven by fear primarily, I think it’s just that they want to show that they respect their peers.

Have you gotten any backlash for what you said the other night?

I mean as a freshman I’ve had some of my senior rugby guys just be like, “You’re an idiot,” you know? But I mean I literally get that on the daily, so it doesn’t really concern me. I’m pretty ingrained in what I believe.

So you wouldn’t be worried at all about any potential backlash or anybody approaching you and saying that what you said offended them or is racist or anything?

Not really. I mean, everything I say is gonna offend someone to some degree or extent [laughs].

So why do you have these strong opinions that you speak about? That was poorly worded. What drives you to speak those thoughts that others might have, but definitely wouldn’t say?

I think it’s where I’m from. Going from where I’m from to Princeton just comes as a shock to me. The reservedness of some people with similar views as me. Sometimes you just gotta lead by your actions.

I’m not trying to be some friggin’…guy who comes in and changes the way everyone thinks, I’m just trying to be the voice for people with a different way of thinking. I think there’s a lot of people at Princeton who do question some of the things that are going on, but are afraid to voice it because they do respect the people who are protesting and whatnot.

I don’t know I’ve just, as a Catholic you know…Catholics are sort of—especially in the South where there’s a lot of Protestantism—they’re not persecuted or anything, but Catholics are definitely judged to some degree just because you know it’s a weird way of life. Growing up a Catholic has sort of prepared me to stand by whatever I believe. It’s not like I’ve undergone any serious hardship, it’s just I’ve learned that what I believe isn’t a bad thing.

Anything else that you wanna say?

Um. Go Tigers. Yale sucks.