Cops Called on Black Yale Student Napping in Common Room
A white student reported an “unauthorized” person sleeping in the common room of the dorms.

Michelle McLoughlin/Reuters
A black graduate student at Yale University who fell asleep in the common room of her dormitory this week was confronted by police officers asking whether she “belonged” at the university after a white student called 911 to report her. Lolade Siyonbola, 34, said she took a nap late while working on a “marathon of papers” in the common room. A white graduate student who spotted her in the the area then called police to report an “unauthorized” person, prompting several police officers to show up and demand Siyonbola’s ID. “You’re in a Yale building and we need to make sure that you belong here,” one of the officers can be heard telling her in a video of the incident. University authorities on Wednesday promised to review the incident but stood by the Yale police in their handling of the situation. “We believe the Yale police who responded followed procedures,” Yale spokesman Tom Conroy was quoted as saying by The New York Times.
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