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NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2021 · VOL. CXLIV, NO. 4 · yaledailynews.com
YALE TO ELIMINATE STUDENT INCOME CONTRIBUTION BY JORDAN FITZGERALD STAFF REPORTER Next week, Yale College will announce three reforms to its financial aid system, including an elimination of the student income contribution. The student share — also known as the student effort — includes a billed portion, which contributes
directly to a student tuition, and an unbilled portion, used for personal expenses. Students colloquially refer to the former as the “Student Income Contribution,” though the Office of Financial Aid does not employ this moniker. Students pay the billed portion to Yale, and the expense depends on the amount of aid they receive, but ranges from $3,700 to $5,950.
Beginning next academic year, Yale will reduce the student share for all 54 percent of students on financial aid to $3,700, the University’s standard estimates for the cost of a student’s books and personal expenses, and will therefore eliminate the student income contribution that students previously paid to the Financial Aid Office. Previously,
only students with no parent share — those whose combined family income is less than $75,000 — could pay this reduced amount. Students will still have to pay the student income contribution for the remainder of the 2021-22 academic year. Effective immediately, Yale will also cover the marginal tax rate for international students receiving
scholarships that exceed tuition and enable them to pay for room, board and personal expenses. Yale is also immediately implementing a child care subsidy for Yale College students with dependents, equivalent to that in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. SEE AID PAGE 4
Development staff detail toxic workplace Vermund pushed "The tension is widespread" BY ZHEMIN SHAO STAFF REPORTER With Yale staff returning to in-person work, some employees in the Office of Development have quietly raised concerns about what they call an unhealthy workplace environment, claiming that racial tension and intrusive supervision make work life unpleasant and could impede efficiency as the University launches its $7 billion “For Humanity” fundraising campaign. The employees also relayed concerns about the potential for breakthrough coronavirus infections. The News interviewed seven lower-ranking staffers, four of whom are Clerical and Technical workers, and three of whom hold Managerial & Professional positions. The employees are spread across four of the Office’s 23 units. All seven lower-ranking employees have been granted anonymity due to fear of professional retaliation or termination for speaking to reporters. Eight high-ranking employees, including Joan O’Neill, vice president for alumni affairs and development, each expressed optimism about the return to in-person work. They noted their hopes for bonding with coworkers and their excite-
ment to continue efforts for the capital campaign. Of the 15 Office of Development members interviewed, opinions on workplace culture were split along lines of rank. “The tension is widespread,” one lower-ranking staff member wrote in an email to the News. “It adds up, in a thousand small ways and incidents. It is difficult to prove, because it is so individual, but get any three or four non-managerial employees together and soon the horror stories emerge.” On Oct. 2, the 279-person Office of Development — which leads the University’s fundraising strategy and solicits gifts from alumni, corporations, foundations and parents — announced a new capital campaign. The campaign aims to raise $7 billion to support areas including the sciences, the performing arts and financial aid. The public launch of the capital campaign — a major fundraising endeavor that each University president oversees once during their tenure — coincided with the University-wide return to in-person work. On Oct. 4, many employees at the Office of Development returned to their workspaces for the first time in more than a year. But behind the scenes, the six lower-ranking Office employees
and one former employee — who now works elsewhere at Yale — said that their department’s workplace environment is unhealthy in multiple respects. Several described incidents of what they believe to be racial insensitivity. Others see the Office as a web of complex hierarchies, riddled with toxic workplace politics, a lack of transparency and an unreasonable degree of supervision. Some also expressed concerns about returning safely to in-person work. All anecdotes and accounts published in this story have been corroborated by at least two sources. Still, senior development officials maintained that the office runs smoothly, and that morale is high. In response to the concerns raised by Office employees, O’Neill stressed that office culture is “very important” to her. She pointed to the Office’s internal promotion rate, which she said is higher than the University average, as an example of her team investing in its employees’ career development. O’Neill declined to share the promotion rate with the News, but said it indicates that staff members are inclined to stay at the Office. “The positivity is palpable,” O’Neill said. “I look forward to continuing to strengthen our culture of teamwork in this new hybrid environment.” SEE DEVELOPMENT PAGE 13
out, affiliates say
YALE NEWS
Vermund stepped down as School of Public Health Dean after Yale offered him a shortened three-year contract rather than a typical five-year contract. BY PHILIP MOUSAVIZADEH STAFF REPORTER While University administrators told the Yale community that School of Public Health Dean Sten Vermund resigned from his post, Yale did not renew Vermund’s five-year contract, but instead offered him a three-year one — which some faculty at the School of Public Health say is
Harvard barred from dorms during The Game
non-standard and an attempt to push Vermund from the role. Vermund’s decision to step down was announced in an Oct.19 email from University President Peter Salovey to the Yale community. The email said that Vermund was choosing to return to his teaching position at the School of Public Health, but SEE VERMUND PAGE 4
FAS Senate: Protect gifts from donor pressure BY ISAAC YU STAFF REPORTER
that prohibits most visitors from entering campus buildings, including residences.” The Yale-Harvard Game, which will take place this year on Saturday, Nov. 20 at noon, is a hallmark of the rivalry between the two Ivies. The game typically draws current students, alumni, parents and friends, and it was last played at the Yale Bowl in Nov. 2019. Last year’s game was canceled because of pandemic restrictions — the first cancellation since 1943.
On Thursday, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Senate released a resolution calling on the University to write protections from donor influence into its gifting policies. Last month, history professor Beverly Gage resigned from her post as director of the Grand Strategy program directorship, citing outside influences from prominent donors. The move sparked conversations about academic freedom and prompted an FAS Senate investigation into academic freedom at Yale. The senate has since spoken with both Gage and a slate of administrators including University President Peter Salovey, University Provost Scott Strobel, Vice President of Global Strategy Pericles Lewis and FAS Dean Tamar Gendler. On Thursday, the senate held a meeting and released a resolution to faculty members. The senate’s resolution calls on the University to create a new committee of faculty to review existing donor agreements and to recommend gift agreement policies that safeguard academic freedom. The faculty committee would also establish an appeals process for faculty to express concerns about violations of academic freedom. According to FAS Senate Chair Valerie Horsley, one professor familiar with the Grand Strategy program said that its 2006 endowment agreement was created with no intent to interfere with curriculum.
SEE THE GAME PAGE 5
SEE SENATE PAGE 5
YALE DAILY NEWS
Neither university will coordinate alternative lodging for The Game; some students say the policy disadvantages low-income peers. BY OLIVIA TUCKER STAFF REPORTER In a break with tradition, Yale College students will not be allowed to host Harvard students in residential college dormitories over the weekend of the Yale-Harvard football game due to COVID-19 restrictions. Harvard’s Student Engagement Office wrote in an Oct. 21 email to the Harvard student body that Yale dorms will not be available to Harvard students over the weekend of the Game
because of pandemic-related restrictions. According to a copy of the email obtained by the News, Harvard students are “strongly [encouraged]” to depart Cambridge the Saturday morning of the game and return that same night, forgoing the weekend-long festivities the two student bodies traditionally share in. University administrators have yet to make a formal announcement of the policy to the Yale student body. Yale College Dean Marvin Chun wrote in an email to the News that the decision is “consistent with the [University’s] policy
CROSS CAMPUS
INSIDE THE NEWS
THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY, 1929.
An investigation reveals that burglars rip off the bars on the rear door of the Yale Cooperative Corporation and carry off $1,500 worth of fountain pens, pencils, and other valuable small items.
MANDATE
SOLD OUT
FOOTBALL
ELICKER DEBATES CARLSON AHEAD OF NOV. 2 ELECTION
After sending warnings to 94 employees, Yale New Haven Health terminated 63 unvaccinated staff due to lack of adherence to its vaccine mandate.
Tickets to the annual YSO Halloween show sold out within seconds of their release on Monday.
The Bulldogs will face off against Columbia, which has had only one loss on its ledger all year, on Friday at the Bowl.
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PAGE 7 SCITECH
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