Defiant Yale student, Native American association member refuses to apologize for 'racist' email

A second-year law student at Yale University is refusing to apologize for a party invite he emailed to his peers that was accused of using "racist" language.

Trent Colbert said 12 hours after he sent the email he was contacted by school officials and urged to issue a public apology, and that he was told "things might escalate" if he failed to do so.

"I could go back to studying for my classes. I could stop the seemingly endless meetings with Yale administrators. And I could save my legal career — a future that now seemed in jeopardy," he wrote in an op-ed published Monday on Persuasion.

"All I had to do was apologize."

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Colbert attends Yale Law School and is a member of the Native American Law Students Association and the conservative Federalist Society. He recounts in his op-ed that he sent an email to fellow NALSA students last month inviting them to a party co-hosted by NALSA and the Federalist Society, referring to the party location as a "trap house." 

Trap houses were commonly known as places where drugs are sold but has recently become synonymous among Gen Zers and Millennials for meaning party house. 

"This Friday at 7:30, we will be christening our very own (soon to be) world-renowned NALSA Trap House [Redacted] by throwing a Constitution Day Bash in collaboration with FedSoc. Planned attractions include Popeye’s chicken, basic-bitch-American themed snacks (like apple pie, etc.) a cocktail station, assorted hard and soft beverages, and (most importantly) the opportunity to attend the NALSA Trap House’s inaugural mixer!" the email read. 

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Colbert said within minutes, his email was screenshotted and circulated to a class-wide forum where he was denounced as racist and peers demanded an apology. 

"I guess celebrating whiteness wasn’t enough," wrote the president of the Black Law Students Association on the forum. The president also took issue with the Federalist Society, describing it as having "historically supported anti-Black rhetoric."

Colbert said that at first, "I was unsure what I was being asked to apologize for."

"I became even more baffled when I was told that my use of the term ‘trap house’ indicated ‘inherently anti-Black sentiment.’ As a Gen-Zer, I’ve always known ‘trap house’ to be synonymous with ‘party house,’" Colbert explained in his op-ed, pointing to Urban Dictionary for also defining "trap house" as a phrase commonly used to describe a party house.

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"The popular understanding of ‘traphouse’ in no way suggests it is a racial slur. If the usage of the term alone is offensive, why have the hosts of Chapo Trap House, the incredibly popular podcast which self-identifies as radically left-wing, not been asked to apologize for the same reason?"

Colbert said that within 12 hours, two discrimination and harassment resource coordinators from the Law School’s Office of Student Affairs scheduled a meeting for him with associate law dean Ellen Cosgrove and diversity director Yaseen Eldik. 

The Yale leaders told Colbert that an apology was warranted. 

But the student pushed back. 

"I told them I did not want to send out a generic statement and would rather have individual conversations with anybody offended. I was told that things might ‘escalate’ if I failed to apologize. I was told that an apology would be more likely to make the situation ‘go away,’" he recounted. 

An apology letter was even drafted for him to send to the Black Law Students Association.

"The subtext behind the meetings that followed became increasingly clear: Apologize or risk the consequences," he said in the op-ed.

The Yale leaders called Colbert and again pressed him to issue an apology, he said. Colbert opted to do something he felt was more sincere and justified instead. 

"I decided to return to the forum where this all began. I clarified the intent of my language and said I would welcome the opportunity to speak to anyone offended by my original email."

But to Yale leaders, this "fell short," Colbert said. 

"Yale University and Yale Law School have strong free speech protections, and no student is investigated or sanctioned for protected speech. When the Law School receives complaints about offensive communications, the Dean of Students routinely tries to help students talk to one another and resolve their disagreements within the community," Yale Law School said in a previous statement on the matter. 

"At no time was any disciplinary investigation launched or disciplinary action taken in this matter. While any person may report concerns about a lawyers’ character and fitness to the Bar, the Law School has a longstanding policy of reporting only formal disciplinary action to the Bar Association. Any media reporting to the contrary is false."

The ordeal that has spanned the last few weeks even caught the attention of liberal Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus, who condemned Yale students and officials in a recent op-ed of her own. 

"Maoist reeducation camps have nothing on Yale Law School," Marcus wrote on Oct. 14.

"Every first-year law student learns in torts class about the plaintiff with the ‘eggshell skull’ — someone who suffers a greater injury than normal and must be compensated accordingly. But in the modern world, it seems, everyone’s skulls are susceptible to cracking at the slightest provocation," she continued. 

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As for Colbert, he told Fox News that some of his peers have privately reached out to him in support through the ordeal. And for now, Yale students and leaders have been quiet on the topic even after his op-ed was published. 

"I’m thankful to Persuasion for giving me the opportunity to tell my story in my own words."