The Yale chaplain advised students, “If you want a radical result, do not let the process be publicly radical.” What did he mean and was he correct? Has this strategy been effective at Yale and elsewhere?

Yale chaplain William Stone Coffin advised the students, “If you want a radical result, do not let the process be publicly radical.” What do you think he meant? Do you think he was correct? In what ways has this strategy been used, both at Yale and elsewhere? Has it been effective?

Very good advice for this situation and many others. Disagreements are better managed by the individuals as opposed to the proposals of many different outsiders.

I thought this was sage advice. I believe he meant that students should first win the battle internally behind closed doors, to gain enough support to then announce publicly. If a radical process is public from the get-go, it will give the many expected opponents to weigh in and shut it down before gaining any strength and momentum.

I agree with the others that this was wise advice. Sometimes it's best to be quiet if something is "radical", therefore it can build organically and with the proper speed.
I think of today's world and social media...often times everything gets blown way out of proportion and most people never learn the actual facts of a story/incident/movement/etc.

I am not so sure that I agree with him. While I do not doubt that he had the students' best interests at heart (for example, the way he intervened during the protest over the firing of dining hall worker, Colia Williams), his comments seem to be made in an attempt to not air Yale's dirty laundry.

Look what was (or rather not) happening with the BSAY and concerns about police harassment. The BSAY had met with Brewster and delivered a whole lot of positive ideas on ways to deal with the police brutality black students were experiencing in New Haven. Brewster did not respond to the group. BSAY got his attention by disrupting class at the Yale Law School and continuing their march through New Haven. This doesn't seem at all radical to me. How long should a concerned group (one who has already completed most of the work for you) have to wait to be taken seriously? Police brutality and harassment were life or death issues. Should the group have waited until someone was maimed or killed?

NOW was formed in 1966. While "feminists" were given a bad rap in the press at the time, I'm sure the women in NOW would have brought a lot of pressure to the administration with regard to campus safety discussions, the threat of violence against women on campus, and access to activities.

I think ultimately his solution worked at Yale. When Alec talked to the Board, etc, not only was he male, but they recognized him as one of them. Also, they ended up using many organizations and plans of attack to get the job done. They learned to work within the system for change and ultimately reached their goal, even though things took time.

I loved that line! I do agree with some of the other posts that the situation at Yale would ultimately require some radical action, but I am a big fan of doing the leg work quietly before resorted to radicalism. In my own experience, I have always found that the best way to get the Kingmans of the world to change is to bring them into the discussions and help them believe that they are part of the change instead of just reacting to the demand for change.

It probably takes both tactics. The public outspoken radical to start the conversation more openly, and force the beginnings of change. But his statement about not being publicly radical parallels advise given to me at work. To implement change baby steps is a more subtle approach. Take it slow and before they even know, things have changed. Pushing for reform too quickly could end with everything shut down.

While I can understand why Rev. Coffin made that suggestion, it was one made literally in an ivory tower. Coffin never had to protest anything in his life to get it; he was part of the privileged minority. He might have thought that method would work, but we’ve seen in the years since that women are still not treated equally, and women’s rights have been an issue since the ‘60s. In fact the Supreme Court might reduce them soon with the stroke of a pen. BIPOC certainly have not made many gains without protests, even riots. Those, at least, have increased the number of their White compatriots and their willingness to become more active. Coffin’s proposed strategy can lower some hills, but it cannot move mountains.