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A Turning Point in Diversity and Discourse

In 1993, elite U.S. universities saw a surge in admissions of students of color, including the largest class of black students at Yale. This coincided with a pivotal moment in America’s culture wars, marked by a waning civil rights movement and higher education grappling with chilling legislation.

1993: A Class That Redefined Yale

The largest class of black students in Yale University’s history arrived in 1993, just as the country entered a period now known as the Great American Divide: the unofficial beginning of today’s culture wars. Together these students created for each other an education that challenged the official curriculum, whose central texts were the stories they share with – and the experiences they bring to – a university dining hall table as old as the 20th Century itself.

Confronting Reality: The Class of '94 and the Black Boycott

The sense of promise is diminished by warnings from the class of 1994 who, only years before the class of 1997 settled into their dorms, were involved in a racially motivated incident on campus. Eight black students from the class of 1994 are thrown out of Naples pizzeria after an argument between the students and a Naples employee. The Naples ‘black boycott’ was a pivotal moment that forced Yale’s black student body to question its place on campus.

Set against the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against race-conscious admissions at colleges, Black Table delves into the symbolism of a university dining hall table, exploring its profound implications on academia, society, and the ongoing debate over affirmative action policies.