Yale Doesn’t Need to Change Its Name
The name of the university has long been divorced in meaning from the life of Elihu Yale, who dealt in slaves.
Last week, the conservative troll Ann Coulter leftists by whether Yale would change its name to distance itself from Elihu Yale (1649–1721), who got rich plundering India and dealt in slaves before giving books to a cash-strapped university in Connecticut. Coulter is not just a troll; she is a Founding Mother of American trolldom. She is one of the modern inventors of saying things with no motive other than to rile and sow discord among one’s enemies. This particular golden apple of strife has landed to great effect. Conservatives have on the #CancelYale hashtag and found allies among the name of its former president Woodrow Wilson from its school of public affairs has put Yale under even more scrutiny.
