 One element of the class deemed racist by the protestors was the use of the 1978 Steve Martin song "King Tut" in a discussion about cultural appropriation.Students began a protest campaign against the curriculum by sitting in during lectures with signs with quotations from various African-American and non-white academics.Other protests separate from the Humanities course also included efforts to shout down speakers, including Kimberly Peirce after she was accused of profiting from transphobia while making the film "Boys Don't Cry".