Letitia Chai presenting her thesis
When a Korean-American university student was criticized for her choice of clothes when presenting her senior thesis, she didn't think twice and simply decided to take off her clothes and continue with the presentation.
On May 5th, Letitia Chai, a fourth grader at Cornell University, presented her paper on "Acting in Public: Performance in Everyday Life". Cornell University is known to be one of the best universities in the state of New York.
During the presentation, Chai suddenly took off her clothes and stood up with her underwear saying "let's fight against oppressive beliefs".
The story goes like this. According to The Cornell Daily Sun, Prof. Rebekah Maggor, the course instructor, went to her and told her that "her shorts were "too short", and that as a speaker she was making a "statement" with the clothes she was wearing", and Maggor asked her "is that really what you would wear?" meaning that Choi would attract "men's attention" away from the content of her presentation.
Professor Rebekah Maggor
"I was so taken aback that I didn't know how to respond", said Chai at an interview with The Sun. Some students said that the professor had made inappropriate comments. However, as a foreign student, she was instructed to have a "moral obligation to dress appropriately", and Chai responded "so, am I offending you?"
Eventually, Chai took off her clothes and went on with her presentation, and said: "my parents are in Korea and they are watching my presentation through Facebook Live".
Needn't say that Chai's presentation became a very controversial issue, and when Maggor was asked about the event she stated that "I do not tell my students what to wear, nor do I define for them what constitutes appropriate dress. I ask them to reflect on themselves and make their own decisions".
The students who were at the presentation that day said: "the majority of us are students of colour, from multi-ethnic backgrounds, who very much relate to Letitia's frustration with systemic oppression that is part of the fabric of this country."
Social media reactions are staggered. Some praised Chai's courageous behaviour, but some others criticized it as a "childish behaviour" or "inappropriate response".
So there you have it. What do you think?
This is the official channel of WIKITREE, Social Network News Service in Seoul, South Korea.
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