Police Called After Black Yale Student Fell Asleep In Common Room

NEW HAVEN, CT — Yale University made international news after a white Yale student called police after a black student dozed off in a common room while writing a paper.

Graduate student Lolade Siyonbola recorded her encounter with police on Facebook Live. The video generated more than 900,000 views. Another video of Siyonbola’s interaction with the student who called the police on her has more than 500,000 views.

Officers asked for her student identification a couple times and she opened her apartment door with a key.

“I don’t know anybody from anybody so I’m here to just make sure you’re supposed to be here, that she is supposed to be here and then we get out of your hair, do you understand where we are coming from,” a Yale officer said.

She then hands over her identification.

A Yale Police supervisor told Siyonbola that it was standard procedure to check on whether she was a student. The encounter lasted about 15 minutes as police had trouble verifying her information because her name was misspelled in a database.

“I deserve to be here, I paid tuition like everybody else, I am not going to justify my existence here,” Siyonbola said during the video.

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dean Lynn Cooley sent an email to students, according to the Yale Daily News.

“Incidents like that of last night remind us of the continued work needed to make Yale a truly inclusive place,” Cooley wrote. Read the full email here.

Yale Chief of Police Ronnell Higgins issued a statement Thursday about the incident. After the investigation police informed the caller that Siyonbola was a student who had every right to be in the common room. They explained it wasn't a police matter and the incident would be reported to the dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Higgins said that police responded around 1:45 a.m. to the Hall of Graduate Studies after getting a call about a person sleeping in the common room who wasn't known to the caller.

The caller met police at the entrance of the building and showed her ID, Higgins said. She then led them up to the fifth floor where the other student appeared.

The investigating officer spend more than 11 minutes initially with the caller to assess the situation while two other officers spent about 15 minutes with Siyonbola to confirm her identity. Higgins confirmed it took longer than usual due to a difference of name in the system.

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