NEWS

TAYLOR SWIFT AMERICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER

With 900 open staff positions, admin says retention will return to normal

TIM TAI/PHOTO EDITOR

Senior administrators noted high turnover for staff during pandemic years, but they predict an imminent return to normalcy.

WILLIAM PORAYOUW STAFF REPORTER

Employers around the nation are facing heightened turnover and retention issues, and Yale has not been exempt.

According to vice president for human resources John Whelan, the University currently has around 900 open staff positions across over a dozen operations, including information technology, facilities and hospitality. These turnover trends fall in line with economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw low retention rates in most major industries. But in spite of this pattern, administrators are confident that numbers will return to normal levels as the University prepares for a post-pandemic age.

“I’m not sure I’d call what’s happened here at Yale ‘the Great Resignation’,” University Senior Vice President for Operations Jack Callahan ’80 said. “But we’ve definitely seen a step up in our turnover.”

University President Peter Salovey told the News that he believed that this is largely due to two factors: the COVID-19 pandemic and a robust job market.

According to Salovey, the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed people to reflect on their lives and convinced them that they either want to retire or “do something different.” Second, Salovey said, a strong economy “at least up until now” has provided opportunities for people to get a job elsewhere that they might prefer.

Callahan also attributed a dynamic job market and new remote work offerings as options which make it easier for some people to change jobs in the short term.

John Whelan, vice president of human resources at Yale, told the News that staff turnover has increased by approximately three percent since pre-pandemic years. He added that, regardless of the uptick in Yale’s turnover numbers, he believes the University is in a “better situation” than other companies and organizations across the country.

The number of vacant staff positions has “remained high” according to Whelan, with around 900 open spots as of now. Yet the administration seems to be making headway — in the last fiscal year, Whelan said that the University has filled more than 2,500 open staff positions, and they expect employee retention to return to pre-pandemic levels soon.

Whelan also noted that the University introduced “meaningful benefits” for staff during the “uncertainty” of the pandemic, which included new retirement incentives and an annual childcare subsidy program. He noted that these incentives “partially contributed” to an increase in staff turnover.

Both Whelan and Callahan also stressed that the current turnover trend is beginning to slow, and that it is not “unusual” to have a high number of open staff positions.

“I’m not concerned at all,” Whelan said. “I don’t see any red flags at the University.”

While staff turnover has had impacts on University operations, the range of such challenges varies across departments. Administrative officials don’t view recruiting and turnover as an “average issue” across all of the University’s units, Callahan said.

At Yale Hospitality, Senior Manager of Marketing and Communications Christelle Ramos told the News last month that shortages in staff numbers have affected services at dining locations.

“The unique staffing shortage is not news to our team members, hospitality workers in general, and throughout the nation,” Ramos previously wrote in an email to the News. “They continue to be on the front line of this situation and the shortage is visible and tangible when they come to work each day.”

Ramos directed the News to Whelan for further comment.

On the other hand, Vice President for Information Technology John Barden told the News that he doesn’t see “any major challenges” in his department in terms of delivering on projects, but that the pace by which such projects can be completed can be impacted by whether the department is “fully staffed” across all projects.

“How we manage the [department’s] priorities and staffing can get challenging when there’s lots of vacancies,” Barden said.

Barden also expressed hope that changing dynamics in the hiring market as well as economic measures would mean that uncertainty would slow down in the coming days — particularly in the IT market.

The most significant expenses of Yale’s spending budget are salaries and benefits for faculty and staff, which account for $3.19 billion for the 2023 fiscal year and is almost two thirds of the University’s budgeted expenses.

Contact WILLIAM PORAYOUW at william.porayouw@yale.edu .

EJC meets with CT AG’s office to discuss Uni. legal complaint

BY EVAN GORELICK STAFF REPORTER

The Yale Endowment Justice Coalition met with the Connecticut Attorney General’s office on Nov. 21 to discuss the EJC’s legal complaint against the University.

In February, the EJC filed a complaint against Yale for its continued investment in fossil fuels, alleging that these investments violate state law. The complaint, which has over 1,200 co-signatories, hinges on a provision of a 2009 Connecticut state law called the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act, which requires tax-exempt nonprofit entities, including universities, to invest with charitable interests in mind.

At the meeting, participants discussed the arguments brought forth in the complaint. According to an EJC press release, the conversation centered on the financial prudence of fossil fuel investments, the climate implications of the UPMIFA and the lack of transparency in the University’s decision-making processes. The complaint signatories also suggested legal pathways for enforcing the UPMIFA.

“This meeting provoked a startling feeling of uneasiness within me,” EJC organizer and meeting attendee Garrett Frye-Mason ’23 told the News. “It forced me to articulate in front of a legal entity that I struggle to understand what it means for me to graduate from an institution that touts a grand mission and justifies its non-profit status all the while existing within a system and legacy of staggering wealth hoarding, unethical investments, and austerity. What does it mean for me to attend what is functionally a hedge fund with a university attached?”

The EJC acted alongside divestment campaigns at Princeton University, Stanford University, Vanderbilt University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Students from the schools, working collectively as the “Fossil Free 5,” filed complaints with their states’ attorney general in partnership with lawyers from the Climate Defense Project, an organization that aims to support climate activists with legal counsel. The UPMIFA has been passed in every state except Pennsylvania.

Representatives from Connecticut Attorney General William Tong’s office declined to comment on the meeting, writing in an email to the News that the office is “reviewing the questions raised in the [complaint].”

In addition to Frye-Mason, representing the complaint signatories were UPMIFA scholar and former SEC Commissioner Bevis Longstreth, Climate Defense Project attorneys Alex Marquardt and Ted Hamilton GRD ’22, global energy transition researcher Daniel Cohn, Ward 14 Alder Sarah Miller ’03, director and Climate Museum founder Miranda Massie GRD ’92, Yale Forward co-founder Scott Gigante GRD ’21, New Haven Rising leader Elias Estabrook ’16, architecture professor Keller Easterling and EJC organizers Molly Weiner ’25 and Josie Steuer Ingall ’24.

Members of Attorney General Tong’s executive staff and assistant attorney generals from the Charities Unit represented the Attorney General’s office. Tong himself did not appear at the meeting.

The UPMIFA states that Yale must invest with “prudence,” “loyalty” and with consideration for broader “charitable purposes.”

YALE DAILY NEWS

The State will review the questions raised by the complaint, which alleges that the University’s fossil fuel investments violate state law.

The EJC claims in their press release and complaint that these fiduciary mandates are “undermined by the continued embrace of an industry misleading the public, masking financial and ecological peril, [and] attacking scholars (including Yale’s own).” The EJC holds that Yale is also acting in a manner contrary to its public mission statement: “Yale is committed to improving the world today and for future generations …”

When asked to comment on the complaint, University spokesperson Karen Peart directed the News toward Yale’s Fossil Fuel Investment Principles, a list of fossil fuel producers no longer eligible for University investment, new carbon reduction targets and former CIO David Swensen’s 2020 update on climate change.

“The property tax exemption Yale is entitled to as a nonprofit leaves New Haven residents on the hook for millions of dollars in lost revenue every year,” Steuer Ingall said in the press release. “The University shouldn’t be able to turn around and invest that money in an industry that’s rapidly making life on our planet unlivable.”

Steuer Ingall also underscored the importance of the EJC’s alliance with New Haven Rising, a progressive community organization “of residents committed to winning economic, racial, and social justice through collective action.”

New Haven Rising submitted an auxiliary report to the EJC’s legal complaint on March 11.

“We see ourselves as part of a larger movement against the financialization of academia,” a representative from New Haven Rising wrote in the EJC’s press release. “The Yale Model, which is a hugely influential, highly corporate paradigm for elite universities, was born here. We see Yale’s fossil fuel investments as a particularly egregious example of a larger pattern of bad faith behavior, prioritizing profit over mission.”

The Yale Model, developed by Swensen, is a framework for institutional investing that favors broad diversification of assets and allocates less capital to traditional U.S. equities and bonds and more to alternative investments like private equity, venture capital, hedge funds and real estate.

Yale’s investment strategy depends heavily on alternative investments, and, as of 2019, they made up about 60 percent of Yale’s portfolio. The EJC argues that “these non-traditional asset classes are linked to things like fossil fuels and Puerto Rican debt.”

The Yale Endowment Justice Coalition led a game-delaying divestment protest during the 2019 Yale-Harvard football game.

SPORTS

GONÇALO RAMOS PORTUGAL STRIKER

the U.S., feel a strong sense of connection to cultures and nationalities outside of America.

“I feel like the World Cup is a celebration of diversity,” said Brazilian Joao Pedro Ferreira Denys ’25. “It is the one time every four years where very different countries that can never play together do, and they can share customs, culture and pretty much everything that matters to them — not only by players but also the people who support them. From every corner of the world, people manifest their national pride.”

However, since this World Cup is not running in the summer, students find themselves in a hard position when it comes to finding balance between watching their beloved competition and academics — especially as the semester comes to a close.

“I just can't study before 4 p.m.,” Denys said. “I understand that there are more important things, but it’s such a big thing culturally that it actually distracts me from class — especially at the knockout stages.”

The November tournament date has also generated controversy because of the disruption it posed to professional players’ schedules. The date was moved from summer because of concerns around heat and humidity in Qatar.

All World Cup matches have taken place from 5:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET due to the time difference. This means they fall directly during most course hours.

Many students told the News that they were acutely aware of their distance from home while watching the World Cup at school. Students described a feeling of homesickness as they saw their friends at home participating in the fanfare via social media.

Noah Millard ’25, initially from Melbourne, Australia, described feeling isolated while seeing his friends celebrate Australia’s performance in the group stage, even though the Socceroos did not end up progressing beyond the Round of 16.

“I see all the highlights of my friends back home in Melbourne in their city, watching it and lighting flares and having a great time while I'm here in New Haven studying for exams,” Millard said.

However, some students still felt a connection to home despite the distance.

Millard told the News that getting to watch the games with fellow Australian students had been “really uniting,” and that it had brought him closer to the international community at Yale.

Unity was a common theme felt by students, regardless of their country’s performance in the Cup. Giacoman, originally from Monterrey, Mexico, told the News that she found herself mourning Mexico’s loss to Argentina while surrounded by fellow Mexican friends.

“I thought I was going to be by myself, so it didn’t feel as bad. It was like solidarity,” Giacoman said.

Lila Alloula ’25, originally from Paris, France, told the News that she was never particularly interested in watching the tournament at home. However, she explained that at Yale, she found herself keeping up with the tournament, as cheering for the French National Team was a key way to feel connected to friends and family still in France.

In addition to feeling closer with their respective national communities at Yale, many students felt as though the World Cup allowed them to connect with new people, as the tournament was so widely watched.

The World Cup has historically been the most widely watched sporting event in the world. FIFA recently announced that the 2022 Cup has generated record-breaking viewership internationally.

“I just feel like everyone from all over the world has something that is exactly the same to talk about and it's super nice,” said Joe Long ’25, originally from the United Kingdom. “We can all sit down and spend two hours together watching a game, and it's just super fun.”

Beyond watching matches, many students have found themselves distressed with the results, and have found little leniency from the Yale faculty.

Patricio Perez Elorza Arce ’25, originally from Mexico City, told the News that he had asked for a problem set extension from a professor after Mexico lost against Argentina in the knockout round, but that his professor had been unreceptive to the request.

“My professor didn't understand the cultural hurt that I felt after a country didn't make it out of the group stage,” Arce said. “He told me to do my homework.”

This year’s tournament has been marked by many unanticipated outcomes: an Argentine loss to Saudi Arabia in the group stage, a Japanese victory over Germany, and a 7–0 score in Spain’s first game of the tournament to name just a few. Students whose countries performed much worse or better than expected described their ensuing disappointment or excitement.

Delpuppo Messari told the News that she felt an overwhelming sense of pride for her national identity after watching Morocco perform so well – to the surprise of many commentators – in the World Cup. After topping second-seeded Belgium in the group stages, Morocco went on to upset seventh-ranked Spain in the Round of 16. Delpuppo Messari additionally commented on the significance of the Morocco-Spain outcome, which was determined during penalty kicks, given the colonial history between the two countries.

“The World Cup is something I've been watching since I was very little, and it is the most meaningful sporting event in the world for me,” Delpuppo Messari said. “Nothing compares to cheering for your country, wearing your jersey, strategizing what the next steps are and hoping to become champions.”

Christian Oestergaard ’25, who hails from Denmark, described feeling a strong sense of disappointment after Denmark lost to both Australia and Tunisia in the group stage. Denmark currently holds the 10th spot in FIFA’s men’s national teams rankings.

While this World Cup has marked disappointment for many in terms of their team’s performance, the pride students carry with them during the tournament transcends the athletic performance of their country’s athletes.

“The World Cup to me symbolizes passion, love, sporting excellence, conflict, resolution, tactics, performance, success, failure and everything in between,” Nick Stanger ’24, originally from the United Kingdom, said. “And I’m supporting England because it’s coming home.”

The World Cup will conclude on Dec. 18.

Contact INES CHOMNALEZ at ines.chomnalez@yale.edu and TOIA CONDE RODRIGUES DA CUNHA at toia.conderodriguesdacunha@yale. proud of our efforts. I think UCF is a pretty good team and so that's one of the reasons we weren't victorious, but we felt that we fought hard.”

Audrey Leak ’24 started off the first set with a kill before UCF responded with a kill of their own. After the teams exchanged points, Yale fell behind 3–4 and could not win back the lead for the rest of the set. The Bulldogs trailed by as many as six points but then clawed back to a two point deficit before UCF scored the winning point. The first set score was 25–22.

UCF started the second set off with a three point run and rode its momentum to a 25–15 victory. The Knights’ offense maintained their form in the third set as they started it with a five point run and closed out the match with a 25–17 score in the last frame.

UCF star McKenna Melville, who won her second player of the year award in the American Athletic Conference, led the Knights with 14 kills and 15 digs.

“McKenna, as well as the rest of their team really, is a very talented player and it was fun to play against her,” said Cara Shultz ’25. “Our team came out and we fought and at the end of the day we gave it our all.”

Leak and Cara Shultz each landed 10 kills while Maile Somera ’24 had 13

Intl. Yalies reflect on World Cup Yale falls to UCF WORLD CUP FROM PAGE 14 breaking streak VOLLEYBALLFROM PAGE 14 digs. Carly Diehl ’25 earned 36 assists, and Fatima Samb ’25 and Mila Yarich ’25 both had two blocks. Appleman explained that even though she would have liked to see the Bulldogs advance to the NCAA, she feels that the team “did everything [they] possibly could and represented Yale and the Ivy League well.” Appleman emphasized that the team has a series of goals throughout the season. First and foremost, the Bulldogs aim to win the Ivy League Championship. After that, the Bulldogs want to enter the NCAA tournament and win. “Looking back on everything we have accomplished this fall, I couldn't be more proud of this team” said captain Renee Shultz ’23. “We have worked so hard day in and day out, and we've seen our hard work pay off with the regular season Ivy championship, the Ivy League Tournament championship, and making it to the NCAA tournament to represent Yale. It's been a great run and such a memorable season.” Appleman has served as head coach of the Yale volleyball team since 2003 and led the team to 11 championships. Contact NICOLE RODRIGUEZ at nicole.rodriguez.nr444@yale.edu and HENRY FRECH at henry.frech@yale.edu .

YALE ATHLETICS

On their way to 23 wins, Yale won a record 17 games in a row and claimed an Ivy League championship.

Women's Hockey ties Cornell, loses to Colgate

YALE ATHLETICS

The Bulldogs will look to get back in the win column next weekend when they host RPI and Union at Ingalls in their final two games before the winter break.

W HOCKEY FROM PAGE 14

The “good looks” Fargo saw his team getting are not a regular occurance for teams facing the Bulldogs this year. Entering the weekend, the highest number of goals opponents had scored against Yale was three, yet that total was exceeded in both games.

Despite losing their perfect record, the Bulldogs remain one of the best teams in the nation with their blend of experienced veterans and exciting underclassmen.

Atop the Yale leaders in points sits Elle Hartje ’24, who scored or assisted on all three goals against Colgate, and rookie Jordan Ray ’26, who had at least a point in each of the first nine games for the Bulldogs.

While Hartje was a standout player entering the season, she also believes that the younger players on the roster like Ray will be crucial to the Elis success this year.

“We are building this program into a championship team, and the underclassmen are huge parts of our success,” Hartje said. “Our coaches work super hard to recruit the right kids that will fit in with and better our team as a whole. We keep getting questions about how we are going to respond after last year’s success, and I think that the production from the younger players is proof that we have every intention to be even better this year than last.”

The Bulldogs will look to get back in the win column next weekend when they host RPI and Union at Ingalls in their final two games before the winter break.

Slow start dooms Elis in Indiana

M BASKETBALL FROM PAGE 14

played them even, but we've got to start as strong as we finish to win big games like these.”

The second half was a much closer contest, as Yale threatened to come back on multiple occasions while refusing to let Butler pull away.

Yale managed to cut the lead down to five on multiple occasions, but Butler continually responded with a bucket of their own.

In particular, the 6’11” Bates seemed to be an automatic source of offense for Butler as he punished Yale’s small-ball lineup with a deep bag of tricks in the low post. He finished with 22 points on 9–15 shooting from the field.

Jarvis, who was tasked with guarding Bates for most of the night, gave a candid assessment of his defensive performance after the game.

“Any time a guy plays 40 minutes a night, you know there's a pretty good reason for it, but I think I did a good job for most of the game,” Jarvis said. “The ref was saying I had to keep my hands off so it made it a lot harder to guard. He made some tough shots and got some easy ones too, and at the end of the day you just have to live with it and come back better next time.”

With 4:13 remaining in the game and the Blue and White down by 12, forward Matt Knowling ’24 and guard Bez Mbeng ’25 made consecutive baskets to start a final push, but Butler’s Simas Lukosius silenced any chance of a comeback with back-toback threes, bringing his team to a comfortable 71–61 win.

Knowling, who leads Yale in scoring with 16.1 points per game on the season, scored just six points on 3–10 shooting.

“I was not frustrated with the looks we were getting,” Knowling said. “I thought we all had some good looks that didn’t fall. I think getting to the free throw line would

YALE ATHLETICS

Wednesday's game against Butler will begin at 6:30 p.m and will be televised on Fox Sports 1.

help us a lot. I think we only shot five free throws compared to their 20, so getting to the line would help slow the game down and help us get a bit of a rhythm.”

The Elis had attempted just one free throw all game until the final minute, while Butler had 20 attempts from the line. In their matchup at the University of Colorado earlier this season, Yale shot just one free throw all game to Colorado’s 16. Head coach James Jones kept his thoughts brief when asked about his team’s free throw attempts this time around.

“Not much to say, felt we should have gotten to the line more,” he told the News.

Despite the 10-point loss, Butler head coach Thad Matta had praise for his fellow Bulldog team after the game.

“I will say this: we beat a really really good basketball team tonight,” Matta said. “I kept telling these guys in the second half, [Yale] won’t go away, they just keep on running their stuff, but I thought we did a really good job of guarding all their actions.”

Matta also emphasized the importance of keeping Knowling to just six points, calling him a “nightmare to prepare for.” Yale’s second-leading scorer, guard John Poulakidas ’25, was also held to just five points on a difficult 1–9 shooting night.

Yale will hope to build off of the promising second half as they prepare for the upcoming matchup away against No. 16 Kentucky, by far their most difficult matchup of the season.

“A road game at Rupp [Arena] is going to be a tough environment to play in,” Jarvis said. “We’re aware of the challenge we're going to face but prepared for it. We’re going into the game locked in and ready to compete. We deserve to be on a Power 5 court, and we’re not scared.”

Yale’s game at Kentucky will tip off at 1 p.m. Saturday and will air on the SEC Network, with the option to stream on the ESPN app.