T H E O L D E ST C O L L E G E DA I LY · FO U N D E D 1 8 7 8
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · THE ALUMNI REUNION EDITION 2019 · yaledailynews.com ERIC WANG/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Welcome Alumni
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YALE DAILY NEWS · ALUMNI EDITION 2019 · yaledailynews.com
OPINION GUEST COLUMNISTS
GUEST COLUMNIST
E L I Z A B E T H T E R RY A N D E M I LY F OX
MELINDA BECK
Basking in reflected glory
The YDN, then and now
BY ELIZABETH TERRY AND EMILY FOX THE CLASS OF 1994
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t our 20th reunion in 2014, newly appointed Yale President Peter Salovey accepted our invitation to give a brief talk to our class. Salovey was a beloved figure when we were undergraduates at Yale — a record number of students enrolled in his class “Psychology and Law,” forcing a venue change to the enormous Battell Chapel. When President Salovey arrived to speak to our class on the Friday of reunion, it was with all the star power of an NBA champion plus British royalty plus Tom Hanks. He walked into the room, and suddenly it felt like all of us were back in college, acolytes thoroughly enraptured by the cheerful wisdom of our guru, as luminaries of bygone days gazed down at us from their oil portraits on the walls of Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall. Salovey’s talk that day focused on a research interest of his called “Basking in Reflected Glory” or “BIRG-ing” — the psychological phenomenon that accounts for why we feel great when “our” team wins a championship or “our” candidate wins an election. We all like to feel affiliated with prestige, with power, with winners. But sometimes — especially for Yalies, especially at reunions — it’s hard not to look left and right, clock the success of your peers, and think: why them and not me? Instead, guru Salovey suggested, a class reunion is the ideal time to indulge in the positive effects of “BIRG-ing.” He advised us to sidestep the impulse to compare and contrast; instead, simply applaud the success of your classmates, and let them applaud you. Revel in your collective success and any lingering envy will melt away. Both of us have reflected often on that advice in the last five years. The mid-forties are… an adventure. The term “midlife crisis” may sound trite and overused, but it’s real and it’s a sucker punch — even though everyone told us it was coming. But we realized we’ve experienced a newfound peace, too, that comes from looking back over the last four decades and realizing that no one’s unscathed by now. Even the most successful of our peers, the ones with the highest profiles, awards on the mantle, more money in the bank than they could spend in a lifetime — all of us have lost loved ones, survived health crises or had major career setbacks. Marriages have imploded, our parents’ health has deteriorated, the economy has been a gut-churning rollercoaster, never mind the state of our democracy. Life is a great equalizer. No one’s unscathed, but we’re all in this together, so no one’s alone, either. When we let ourselves BIRG a little, we find so much to feel great about. We find true delight in our friends’ successes, big and small. We take enormous pride in the bond of friendship among our classmates
— some of whom we’ve known since the first day of college, some of whom we are now just meeting for the first time this weekend. We feel lucky to be here, and now more than ever, we feel lucky to be together.
MARRIAGES HAVE IMPLODED, OUR PARENTS’ HEALTH HAS DETERIORATED, THE ECONOMY HAS BEEN A GUT-CHURNING ROLLERCOASTER, NEVER MIND THE STATE OF OUR DEMOCRACY. Peter Salovey’s attendance record finally fell last year to Laurie Santos’ “Psychology and the Good Life,” which met in Woolsey Hall — even bigger than Battell. Her class explores research into the behaviors and practices that boost well-being. It’s heartening for us to see that young, vibrant, idealistic undergrads are interested in unlocking the secrets to happiness and mental health. It’s not just for grownups anymore. One of Santos’ assignments is to keep a gratitude journal, which experts say can be a very powerful happiness practice. We’re giving the Class of ‘94 that assignment too: one of the souvenirs for this 25th reunion is a small navy blue bound book in which we hope our classmates will note the things in life that they feel grateful for, the things that spark joy, that give them that unique BIRG glow. The two of us are thankful to have had the chance to burnish our 25+year friendship through months of Zoom video calls, random texts and pizza emojis as we planned this reunion. We’re thankful we had the chance to go to college at Yale, and to our families who made that possible. We’re thankful to the Alumni Association staff that works tirelessly on these reunions. We’re thankful the Yorkside menu hasn’t really changed since we last had a Greek salad there when we just couldn’t face the dining hall. And we’re truly thankful to every single classmate who decided to take the time and spend the energy to return to New Haven this weekend. We’re basking in reflected glory. Elizabeth Terry ’94 and Emily Fox ’94 are co-chairs of their 25th reunion committee. Terry is a writer and editor based in Washington, D.C. Fox is a TV producer and writer based in Los Angeles.
BY MELINDA BECK THE CLASS OF 1977
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urn on a cable news show these days, read a top newspaper or listen to a political podcast. You’ll likely find a News alum breaking an important story. The current roster of top journalists from Yale includes The Washington Post’s White House Bureau Chief Philip Rucker ’06, its Deputy Editorial Page Editor Ruth Marcus ’80 and the host of its daily news podcast Martine Powers ’11. Michael Barbaro ‘02 hosts The New York Times’ daily podcast, and David Leonhardt ’94 is an op-ed columnist. Zeke Miller ’11 covers the White House for the Associated Press. Michael Crowley ’94 is the White House and national security editor for Politico. Isaac Arnsdorf ’11 covers the Trump administration for ProPublica, the award-winning investigative news organization founded by Paul Steiger ’64, after he served as The Wall Street Journal’s Managing Editor for 16 years. At a time when serious, factbased reporting is more essential than ever, the News continues to train some of the best journalists in the world, just as it did in the days of Briton Hadden and Henry Luce, both members of the Class of 1920. Last month, the Society of Professional Journalists named the News the best all-around student newspaper of 2018. The News also won the national prize for best breaking news reporting, and the Yale Daily News Magazine was a finalist in the best student magazine category. But the economics of college newspapers have changed drastically over those years, and News alumni have rallied to help. Older alums may remember a time when the News was so flush that when graduating editors split up the year’s profits, their share could cover the cost of a car, an engagement ring or a full year’s tuition. That was largely due to cigarette advertising, as rival tobacco companies aggressively promoted smoking among college students and competed to win their brand loyalty early on. In 1963, U.S. tobacco companies voluntarily agreed to stop advertising in college newspapers — eliminating about half of those papers’ national ad revenue overnight. Liquor and beer ads made up much of the remaining revenue, and those gradually dried up, too, leaving college newspapers, including the News barely profitable by the 1970s. The News also had another issue: its historic building at 202 York Street, built for the paper in 1932 without an endowment to maintain it, was in such bad shape that the University contemplated
taking it over and giving the space to the Art and Architecture building next door. In 1978, future-minded student editors, guided by former publisher Eric Nestler ’76, asked News alumni for help to pay for the building repairs and set up a retirement fund for Frances Donahue, a fixture at the paper for more than 50 years. That effort inspired a group of News alumni, led by Jim Ottoway ’60, Jonathan Rose ’63 and Joseph Lieberman ’64 LAW ‘67, to establish the Oldest College Daily Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization that could solicit tax-deductible contributions to assist the newspaper they loved. The student-run Yale Daily News Publishing Co. also filed for not-for-profit status. In the subsequent years when the News made money, those profits were added to the foundation’s endowment to be available for future needs. In years when the News didn’t make money, the Foundation has provided a safety net and a way to fund major capital improvements. (Since 2003, the Foundation’s endowment has been invested along with Yale University’s endowment, which has greatly enhanced its returns.) Over the years, funds from the OCD Foundation (recently renamed the Yale Daily News Foundation) have helped the News launch its website and online publication, purchase state-of-theart software and other equipment and pay for repairs. Even before he graduated, Paul Needham ’11, now the Foundation’s vice president for development, raised over $600,000 to fund an extensive renovation of the building that was completed in 2010. From the start, the Foundation has left the daily business and editorial operation of the News to the students. (We all remember that making high-stakes decisions over coverage, trying to cut costs, making mistakes and facing the consequences were what made the News such a valuable experience — and also so much fun.) But Foundation members are available to give advice and expertise as needed. Board members over the years have included numerous lawyers, publishing executives and financiers, as well as working journalists. As part of its mission to support young journalists, the Foundation also helps pay for living expenses for News staffers working at low or unpaid summer journalism internships, a classic stepping-stone to a career. Since 1993, the Summer Fellowship program has helped some 300 Newsies take internships at over 100 media outlets, ranging from the Financial Times of London to the BBC in Kazakhstan and Vanity Fair. In recent years, the Foundation also heard growing concerns that
promising reporters and editors had quit the News because they couldn’t manage to work at a campus job (as required by their financial-aid package), keep up with their classes and devote 20 or 30 hours each week to producing the News. In 2016, after extensive debate, the Foundation began offering stipends of up to $3,000 a year to beat reporters and editors on financial aid to allow them to work fewer hours and devote more time to the News. (Many other Ivy League papers have similar programs.) The stipends have clearly helped individual students. One recipient wrote: “I am incredibly grateful for the stipend from the YDN Foundation. I can’t emphasize enough how much stress it has taken off my shoulders. This makes it possible for those of us with a [student-income requirement] to participate at the News with the same time commitment and intensity as everyone else on the board.” In a recent survey of News staffers and alumni in the classes of 2013 to 2021, 85 percent said it “very important” for the Foundation to provide some financial assistance to Newsies on financial aid. Meanwhile, the economics of publishing have taken an even more challenging turn. Print advertising for all newspapers and magazines has dropped precipitously in the internet age; web advertising hasn’t grown fast enough to take its place. Newspapers across the country have folded or cut back on production. Many college newspapers no longer publish every day; some no longer publish at all. The News remains marginally profitable—thanks in large part to student-led innovations. (Among them: a book coming out next summer profiling current Yale students and including their admissions essays to feed the insatiable hunger for advice on how to get into college.) But if current trends continue, the News will need to rely on its alumni more than ever for financial help in the coming years. For now, though, those of us on the Foundation mostly watch in awe as student journalists put out the News in print and online, with video reports, blog posts, podcasts, a daily headline service and other offerings we never dreamed of in our day, fully bringing the Oldest College Daily into the new media age. Come see for yourself. The News and the YDN Foundation are hosting a reunion open house for News alumni and friends on Saturday, May 25th and Saturday June 1, from 3:00 to 4:30pm. Melinda Beck ’77, a longtime Wall Street Journal editor and columnist, is the chair of the Yale Daily News Foundation.
ale daily news open house 202 york street may 23 and june 1st 3pm-4:30pm
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YDN alumni and guests are invited to visit the renovated Briton Hadden Memorial Building and hear about the Oldest College Daily in the New Media Age. Brief presentation at 3:30.
EDITOR’S NOTE: THE NEW’S FIRST EVER ALUMNI REUNION ISSUE
For many years, the students and alumni of the Yale Daily News have discussed how our newspaper can better engage with the Yale alumni community. I and my fellow editors sincerely hope that this special issue of the News, written and edited specifically for this year’s alumni reunions, will help do just that. This “alumni reunion issue” is the first of its kind, and we eagerly anticipate any and all constructive criticism on what can be done better for next year. If you ever have any thoughts about the Oldest College Daily that you want to share with our editorial board, we can always be reached at editor@yaledailynews.com The alumni reunion issue is split into three parts. These comprise an opinion section authored by Yale alums, a suite of “articles from the archives” and a set of stories summa-
rizing the biggest news events that happened on campus this year. The articles from our archives are particularly special. Our reporters went through old issues of the News dating back to 1950 to dust off some of our most interesting stories that coincided with each reunion class’ time at Yale. They range from historically significant to outright quirky. Please do have a meaningful reunion this weekend. In the meantime, we at the News will be at 202 York Street, eagerly working to keep all of our readers informed about the nuances and developments of the Yale-New Haven community. I hope it makes a difference to you. Sincerely, Britton O’Daly Editor in Chief of the Yale Daily News
YALE DAILY NEWS · ALUMNI EDITION 2019 · yaledailynews.com
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GUEST COLUMNIST
GUEST COLUMNIST LAUREN HOFFMAN
JAY M U S O F F
It’s on us
Why reunions? BY JAY MUSOFF CLASS OF 1989
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his Memorial Day weekend, I return to New Haven for the Class of 1989’s 30th reunion. This will be my sixth class reunion. And because my wife is a member of the Class of 1988 and I have accompanied her to several reunions, I can safely say that I have been to at least ten Yale reunions. So, why do I return to campus for these events? Why reunions? When I was a junior, more than 30 years ago, I distinctly remember a group of alumni who had returned to campus for their 10th reunion knock on my suite door in Davenport and ask if they could see their old room. And I distinctly remember thinking that these guys were old and pathetic. Didn’t they have anything better to do than wallow in nostalgia? Recently, a classmate told me that he worked reunions while he was an undergraduate and recalls feeling something like pity towards those “old folks” who were coming back for their 30th reunion. As I walk through campus, I try to imagine what the current undergraduates think of us; the class of 1989 is to the class of 2019 what the class of 1959 was to my class. Before this reunion, I was speaking with one of my old roommates, and he asked me who was I most excited to see at our reunion. Of course, we both agreed that we were
excited to see our group of close friends. But the person we both agreed we were most excited to see was not among our closest friends. Rather, it was someone who we both enjoyed bumping into in the dining hall, someone who was funny, creative and interesting, but someone who we no longer regularly see. I will not mention him by name for fear of embarrassing us all, but this person is why I return to campus for reunions. Not him specifically (although I am excited to see him), but whom he represents — all of those interesting, creative, funny, witty people I had the pleasure of bumping into in the Davenport dining hall. Never before and never since my time at Yale have I had the simple pleasure of walking into someplace and be guaranteed to find so many people with whom I could easily share a meal and a good conversation. I marvel at the sheer randomness and spontaneity of it all. So, why do I return for reunions? Of course I enjoy spending time with my close and dear friends. But part of it is to try to recapture — to reignite — those random and spontaneous encounters with people I bumped into in the dining hall so many years ago. Reunions offer an opportunity to recreate the magic of the dining hall. Those funny, freewheeling, often provocative discussions with a group of people we may not have realized at the time we were so fortunate to share a meal with. A brief word on randomness
and spontaneity. In the dark ages before social media, emails, texts and mobile phones, the dining halls encouraged these chance encounters. Without reliable or instantaneous communication, we did not necessarily plan to meet anyone for a meal; we often just showed up. Not only do undergraduates today lack any need to just show up in the dining halls, but fewer of them are living in the residential colleges and eating in the dining halls in the first place. According to the News, more than 40 percent of all seniors and nearly 25 percent of juniors are living off campus. Whether this trend is good or bad is beyond the purview of this column, particularly because each generation of Yalies gets to write their own chapter. However, I cannot help but think that they might be missing out on the unexpected joy of these unplanned encounters. The randomness and spontaneity of the dining hall, filled with funny and fascinating friends, may never be fully duplicated. But we can still find joy in the random conversations or spontaneous encounters among our classmates. For me, this is the reason why I still come to reunions. Jay K. Musoff ’89 is a co-chair of his 30th reunion committee and co-chair of Loeb & Loeb’s White Collar Criminal Defense and Investigations Group. He is a former Publisher of the News.
GUEST COLUMNIST WA Y N E G . W I L L I S
Reunion clerking through the centuries BY WAYNE G. WILLIS CLASS OF 1969
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hen I graduated Yale in 1969, I stayed in New Haven for a summer job, waiting to go into Navy Officer Candidate School (OCS) in the fall. I signed up to be a reunion clerk — it was very good money ($100/ day!) and a lot of fun.
OUR CLASSMATES, WHO ARE ALL MALE, RESPECTED AND REVERED THE REVEREND SIDNEY LOVETT, YALE’S CHAPLAIN, WHO LITERALLY PUT THE FEAR OF GOD IN US — AND ALSO INSPIRED US. WHILE THE PRESIDENT OF YALE, WHITNEY GRISWOLD, WAS A WONDERFUL MAN AND GREATLY ADMIRED, SID LOVETT WAS THE PERSON WHO REALLY GOT OUR MOTORS GOING, OR STOPPED THE WRONG ONES. I was assigned to the Class of 1909, which was celebrating its 60th reunion in Jonathan Edwards College. While I was bartending, under the tent, an old man came up to me and asked, “So, you’re a student, just graduated, right?” “Right,” I answered. “Well, what’s on your mind? What are you concerned about? What’s the big challenge? Don’t sugar coat it. I read about your generation, and I want to hear it straight.” “OK,” I said. “Here you go: First, this illegal, immoral war! It’s
killing lots of American boys and maybe millions of Vietnamese. We’ve been lied to, it’s unnecessary and it seems intractable. “Worse, the American public is fighting mad; people are at each other’s throats. My father, who served in World War II, does not understand my antipathy towards the war in Vietnam. The ‘silent majority’ really hates liberals. The generation gap is very wide. The war, the riots, the violence, assassinations, the polarized politics… we feel that the country could crack up at any time.” He looked down, reflecting on what I said. “You know, it’s very interesting,” he said, shaking his head slowly. “You see, when I graduated from Yale in 1909, I, too, served as a reunion clerk. We were on Old Campus for reunions back then — these residential colleges didn’t come until much later. I, too, was assigned to one of the old classes — not the 60th reunion like you, but the 50th reunion of the Class of 1859.” He continued. “At one of the wine events, I asked one of the men from that class the same questions I just asked you... what concerned him when he graduated, what was on his mind. You know what he said?” “No.” “He said, ‘We were worried about the terrible plight of the slaves. Many of us were studying for the ministry, and most of us were abolitionists. We didn’t know what we were going to do, but we knew we had to do something. The country was coming unglued, not just North and South, but city and country. And we turned out to be right, of course; the Civil War started just two years after we were graduated, and some in our class were killed.’” The old man from 1909 continued, “I’ll make note that there was also an illegal war during his time as a student — the Mexican-American War. “Isn’t it interesting that you are talking to a man, who talked to a man who was exactly your age, only 110 years ago? And that distant man faced and feared exactly the same challenges you face and fear: racism, injustice, violence, revolt and a country that was tearing itself apart, brother against brother in some cases.” I was stunned. What he said was true, but the Yale connection made it all too real and very immediate. And so we come to 2019. I plan to ask some of today’s reunion clerks about what’s on their minds. What are they concerned about? What are the big challenges they face? Are they concerned about
black lives in America? Will they worry that the country is increasingly acrimonious and in danger of tearing itself apart? Alfred Korzybski, in Science and Sanity, observed that humans are unique in their use of language and the cultural institutions surrounding them. While plants are “chemical binders” (photosynthesis) and animals are “space binders” (moving around, defining territory), humans are “time-binders,” passing on accumulated wisdom embedded in language and history and transmitted through institutions like Yale.
THAT’S WHAT BINDS ME TO TODAY’S REUNION CLERKS, TO MY 1909 INTERLOCUTOR AND ALL OF US TO THE PRE-CIVILWAR YALIE. THAT ONLY LEAVES THE QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER GIVEN THE LIGHT AND TRUTH YALE HAS IMPARTED ON US, WE DO ANYTHING TO ENSURE THE NEXT REUNION CLERK WON’T HAVE THE SAME STORY TO TELL. That’s what binds me to today’s reunion clerks, to my 1909 interlocutor and all of us to the preCivil-War Yalie. That only leaves the question about whether given the light and truth Yale has imparted on us, we do anything to ensure the next reunion clerk won’t have the same story to tell. Wayne Willis is a member of the class of 1969, and the Webmaster of Yale1969.org. Contact him at wayne@willisdomain.com .
BY LAUREN HOFFMAN CLASS OF 2014
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uring my first year at Yale, in the fall of 2010, my classmates — Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) fraternity pledges — chanted in front of the Yale Women’s Center, “No means yes! Yes means anal!” As a freshman, I remember being very jarred. But at the same time, I naively accepted that college life was just as popular culture portrayed it. In the five years since I have graduated from Yale, the #MeToo movement has spread across the country, but instances of sexual harassment and assault continue to plague Yale. In April 2019, the News reported that Professor Thomas Pogge still teaches at Yale despite allegations of sexual harassment from a former student and a letter condemning his actions signed by more than one thousand professors from around the world. In February 2019, three female undergraduate students sued Yale and the fraternities on campus in a federal class-action lawsuit, arguing that the fraternity culture at Yale facilitates sexual harassment and gender inequality. And in March 2018, the News reported that Yale received a record number of 124 sexual misconduct complaints between July 2017 and January 2018, a number likely resulting from more survivors bravely coming forward and reporting instances of sexual harassment and assault. I am an advocate for gender justice and have spent the past year working at the National Women’s Law Center. All of these instances of sexuall harassment and assault at Yale have left me wondering – what can Yale be doing better so that it can be the model university that it should be, and how can Yale alumni be part of this change? Indeed, Yale has taken positive measures to address sexual harassment and assault on campus — especially as the law has changed to protect students. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects all students from sex discrimination, including sexual violence, and in 1977, in Alexander v. Yale, the 2nd Circuit held that sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title IX. Following a 2011 Title IX Complaint and subsequent investigation of the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Education, Yale improved its Title IX policies and created a University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct (UWC) to address sexual misconduct claims. Yale began publishing its records of sexual misconduct. Following the 2010 DKE pledge event I mentioned, then Dean of Yale College Mary Miller opened a 6-month-long investigation before prohibiting DKE from engaging in on-campus activities. In 2018, Yale started requiring all students to complete annual Title IX training and not just read emails or booklets about the University’s sexual misconduct policies and resources. And following Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’s proposed harmful revisions to Title IX regulations in 2019, Yale University President Peter Salovey critiqued these proposed revisions because they would “discourage survivors from coming forward to seek help and redress.” Clearly, these changes are not enough. Yale still needs to address and prevent ongoing sexual harassment and assault on campus. The best way Yale can do so is by listening to current students and recent graduates and instituting policies to formally and substantively address their concerns. Currently, Yale does not have a ban on hiring faculty with records of sexual misconduct, and if a faculty member is found to have engaged in sexual misconduct, the Provost, not the University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct (UWC), has the final say on punishment. In a recent piece in the News, current students Valentina Connell ’20 and Miranda Coombe ’21 impor-
tantly suggest that Yale should institute and enforce a ban on hiring faculty with records of sexual misconduct, that the UWC should have the final say when it comes to punishment and that the chair of the UWC should have no previous association with Yale to ensure impartiality. Furthermore, as the recent class-action lawsuit argues, the fraternity culture at Yale facilitates sexual harassment and gender inequality. Yale should seriously consider these plaintiffs’ concerns and look to model its campus social life off of peer institutions. Harvard now requires its fraternities, sororities and finals clubs — which are not officially affiliated with the University — to be gender-inclusive. According to university policy, members of such single-gender organizations are unable to hold campus leadership positions or be endorsed for outside scholarships. A Harvard task force found that finals clubs fostered “a strong sense of sexual entitlement.” According to Mollie Johnson ’18, a survivor of sexual assault at DKE, “Yale trails far behind its fellow Ivies in protecting students. The administration has essentially thrown up its hands, claiming that it has no legal standing to regulate fraternities. This simply is not true, and both Harvard and Princeton have taken stands against Greek life. Why hasn’t Yale?” While students play a central role in advocating for Yale to improve its sexual misconduct policies, we as alumni also have an important role in this process. In 2017, for instance, 145 alumni signed an open letter urging Yale to keep specific sexual misconduct policies amidst Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’s proposals to revise Title IX. This is an issue that all alumni should care about. We should form an alumni committee and have discussions with Yale based on students’ concerns. Yale should furthermore consider having an alumni steering committee of experts as part of the UWC.
IT’S THUS ON US, YALE ALUMS, TO MAKE SURE THAT YALE BECOMES THE MODEL UNIVERSITY THAT IT SHOULD BE WHEN IT COMES TO ADDRESSING AND PREVENTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND ASSAULT. LET’S GET TO WORK. Dr. Ann Olivarius ’77, LAW ’86, SOM ’86, Alexander v. Yale plaintiff and founder of the law firm McAllister Olivarius, thinks that alumni have untapped power and ability. According to Olivarius, “Yale has all the resources to be a leader in this area, but in my experience, it fights victims of sexual harassment… rather than concede that important professors or other members of the Yale community have done anything wrong. It is time for alumni to add their voices to those on campus who are still trying to make the promise of equal educational opportunities for women a reality.” It’s thus on us, Yale alums, to make sure that Yale becomes the model university that it should be when it comes to addressing and preventing sexual harassment and assault. Let’s get to work. Lauren Hoffman ’14 is co-chair of her 5th reunion committee and is currently a law student at American University Washington College of Law.
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YALE DAILY NEWS · ALUMNI EDITION 2019 · yaledailynews.com
OPINION GUEST COLUMNIST RUSSELL REYNOLDS
GUEST COLUMNIST A N T H O N Y L AV E L Y
A message from the class of 1954 BY RUSSELL REYNOLDS CLASS OF 1954
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s the Class of 1954 contemplates its 65th (and hopefully not last) reunion this coming weekend, a great many thoughts and memories come to mind. First of all, our classmates, who are all male, respected and revered the Reverend Sidney Lovett, Yale’s Chaplain, who literally put the fear of God in us — and also inspired us. While the President of Yale, Whitney Griswold, was a wonderful man and greatly admired, Sid Lovett was the person who really got our motors going, or stopped the wrong ones. We had a tightly knit class from the beginning. Our first class secretary, the late William K. (“Sandy”) Muir, Jr., was an inspirational leader and a great man, even though he did it all from a wheelchair, having contracted the dreaded Poliovirus the summer after our graduation. Sandy organized the class council, and got people behind him. It has been a very productive council ever since then. At one point, around 25 years out, Dick Gilder ’54, Joel Smilow ’54, Fred Frank ’54, a few others and I got together and decided we hoped we would be able to give a significant gift to Yale for our 50th reunion. We formed the 54/50 fund and invited classmates five years later to make contributions. After the fund was formed, around 60 classmates had contrib-
uted approximately $600,000 to it. The university offered to manage the funds for us, but we were young and optimistic, and maybe even a little visionary, so we gave the funds to Joe McNay ’54 in Boston, who managed it with Dick Gilder and a few others, and leveraged it to the hilt. The fund grew dramatically. Ultimately, with some prodding from Rick Levin, the class was in a position to give Yale around $70 million to fund the Class of 1954 Science Center. There was some serious negotiating between our class and Yale. At the time of our 50th reunion, the fund was nearer to $110 million, and our brilliant classmates, Gilder, Smilow and company, arranged for us to have the Class of 1954 Skybox at the Yale Bowl, which we still have. One of our classmates, Charlie Johnson ’54, who played football and was recently encouraged to join our 1954 Whiffenpoof group, which still performs, made one of the largest gifts in collegiate history, providing the initial funding for Yale’s two new colleges. Irv Jensen ’54 and his family provided the funds for the dramatic entrance to the Yale Bowl, and Joel Smilow ended up endowing the Smilow Cancer Hospital as part of the Yale New Haven Health System. During this period, Dick Gilder and his daughter Ginny also funded the beautiful Gilder boathouse for the winning Yale crews. Also, at President Levin’s request Fred Frank helped establish and fund the Yale School of Management in 1976, now
a globally ranked business school. None of this would have been possible without the spirit that Yale drummed into us — namely, to become leaders and to do the right and honorable things for the right reasons. Today, Yale is a vibrant, thriving, much different place than it was in 1954. So many changes have taken place. Change creates not only opportunity, but also controversy. There are those in our class today who feel that the university is too liberal, and there are others who probably think it is not liberal enough. The good news is that regardless of what we think, and concerns we may have, Yale College is stronger than ever, financially and academically, as are its flourishing world-leading law school, medical school and divinity school. To have been part of the great Class of 1954 has been a particular blessing for all of us. I hope Yale will continue to encourage people to do the right things for the right reasons, and to listen to the Chaplain, as well as the professors and the coaches. Our class is just one of many, but we have been lucky to have some very generous classmates. Our class motto is “Be Positive, Be Grateful, and Be of Service.” I am very proud of our classmates, who have exemplified our motto. Russell Reynolds ’54 is the founder and chairman of Russell Reynolds Associates, an international executive recruiting firm.
GUEST COLUMNIST ARTHUR RUBIN
Wilson and the “Wiki test” BY ARTHUR RUBIN CLASS OF 1989
I
t has been 30 years since I wrote my last column for the News (March, 1989: “It is time to legalize drugs in the City of New Haven”). My 30th reunion provides an opportunity for this onetime denizen of Formerly Known as Calhoun College to comment on the 2017 decision by Yale to rename Calhoun as Grace Hopper college, which has prompted everything from sober reflection to heated ranting. While criticism of the Yale administration for the somewhat halting process to adopt the name change was warranted, the report that the Committee to Establish Principles on Renaming (CEPR) issued presented a model of the kind of even-handed, thoughtful discourse so woefully lacking in today’s political culture. It was a welcome echo of the 1975 Woodward Report that set the standard for the defense of free speech on college campuses, which seems to have increasingly lost its influence today (including, sadly, at Yale itself). A recurring criticism of the decision to rename Calhoun is that it uses a double standard: the sins of Calhoun are allegedly no worse than of other slaveholders whose names figure prominently on campus, including Elihu Yale himself. This whitewash of history, it is claimed, picks Calhoun as a convenient target to assuage liberal guilt, ignoring complex historical realities and overlooking Calhoun’s achievements as a statesman and political theorist. Is it reasonable to single out one dead white man for our collective ire when so many others whose names adorn great institutions have their own sins to bear? Or has the conservative backlash against politi-
cal correctness become so all-consuming in today’s polarized culture that it fails to distinguish between left-wing snowflakism, and a reasoned examination of whether the symbolism a name carries is consistent with Yale’s values? In evaluating the merits of changing an institution’s name, I suggest it is reasonable to adopt a kind of “Wikipedia test” to see how a historical figure’s defining qualities are remembered in the first few lines of his or her Wikipedia entry. To illustrate, compare the entries for John C. Calhoun and Woodrow Wilson, another controversial figure whose embrace of racist theories and policies prompted demands that his name be removed from a school at Princeton. For Wilson, Wikipedia highlights his positive achievements — serving as President of the United States, Governor of New Jersey, sponsor of progressive legislative policies, and some lesser accomplishments (President of Princeton). His racism and actions to remove African Americans from the civil service while President deserve condemnation, but these are not what primarily define him for posterity. Calhoun, by contrast, is described by Wikipedia as a statesman who strongly defended slavery and “Southern values.” He is remembered first and foremost for being not only an apologist for slavery, but also an active defender of it as a positive good. No less a liberal icon than John F. Kennedy called Calhoun “a masterful defender of the rights of a political minority against the dangers of an unchecked majority” when he named him one of the five greatest U.S. Senators. But even if you believe in the importance of the political rights of minorities (as I do), to the extent that Calhoun’s defense of such rights was primarily driven by
his desire to maintain slavery, holding up Calhoun as a statesman worthy of commemoration is deeply problematic. This “Wikipedia test” falls short of the CEPR’s charge that the University “study and make a scholarly judgment on how the namesake’s legacies should be understood” but is a valid way to consider how contemporary society measures a figure’s essential historical relevance against its values. Too easily have conservative critics of Calhoun College’s renaming hurled charges at Yale’s administration of succumbing to political correctness. While criticisms of the tyranny of political correctness have been all too valid in many other contexts (notably in Yale’s sorry handling of l’affaire Christakis), the case of Calhoun is fundamentally different than that of Wilson and other historical figures whose names grace buildings at Yale. The failure of conservative critics to make this distinction weakens their argument both in this case and in others where such charges are on firmer ground. And the failure of liberals to distinguish between the likes of Calhoun and other dead white male slaveholders whose relevance to posterity is not defined by slave ownership simply drives their political opponents to adopt more extreme positions in reaction, escalating the cycle of polarization. I will forever think of myself as a “Hounie,” even if of the “f/k/a” variety. But I can hold onto a sentimental identity formed 30 years ago, and at the same time acknowledge the validity of the decision that it was time for the Calhoun name to go. Arthur Rubin ’89 works in Latin American finance in New York City and is the former Chairman of the Yale College Republicans.
VALERIE NAVARRETE/ILLUSTRATIONS EDITOR
Designed for Controversy BY ANTHONY LAVELY CLASS OF 1964
C
all me a cynic, but when the News asked me to write an opinion piece about “any pressing matter that relates to the Yale alumni community,” I assumed it was an invitation to stir the pot from the vantage point of 55 years out of Yale. Looking back now with many more life experiences, I concede that attending an allmale and mostly white Yale College was a limiting factor in developing my perspectives — but we still had more than enough controversies.
LOOKING BACK NOW WITH MANY MORE LIFE EXPERIENCES, I CONCEDE THAT ATTENDING AN ALL-MALE AND MOSTLY WHITE YALE COLLEGE WAS A LIMITING FACTOR IN DEVELOPING MY PERSPECTIVES — BUT WE STILL HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH CONTROVERSIES. As Secretary of the Class of 1964, I regularly receive emails with polarized and heated opinions from classmates at all points on the political and cultural spectrum. I am not writing this as a spokesperson for my classmates. Rather, I am offering my personal observations that sharp differences of opinion and controversies have always been a feature of Yale. Historically, it seems that many campus controversies have pit newer Yalies (especially current students) against older alumni. So, I revisited my 1964 Class Book to recall what issues agitated us in 1960-64. There were plenty: civil rights, diversity, the environment, co-education and Vietnam, to name a few. To be sure, we did some stupid things, too, like launching snowballs down on New Haven’s “finest,” knocking down the construction barrier at the Beinecke to protest extravagance and regularly violating parietals. (Note: I never participated in these things; this is not self-incrimination!) Our more conservative elders in the Class of 1909 — who were just celebrating their 55th reunion when we graduated — mostly thought we were naïve and foolhardy. For me, the lesson here is that all generations of college students challenge and protest the status quo. And what better place to assemble talented and aspiring young people at any time than a place like Yale? Yale was designed for controversy. In recent years, the 1964 Class Council has met in person with diverse groups of Yale undergraduates to gain a better understanding of 21st Century student life. We have met with students from the African American Affinity Group, the Muslim Student Association, and some LGBTQ Affinity Group members among the first undergraduates at Benjamin Franklin College, where we dedicated the “Class of 1964 Gate.” These groups did not exist when we were undergraduates. The consensus reaction that I heard from my classmates was, “These kids are way smarter than we were — and they love Yale just as much as we did!” For their part, many of the students candidly admitted, “We’re stunned that you [old] Yalies wanted to hear about our experiences!” We’ve also met with New Haven innercity kids (and their Yale stu-
dent-coaches) who are enrolled in Squash Haven as well as Yale interns in the Urban Resources Initiative who work with New Haven inner-city residents to build community greening projects. As members of the Class of 1964 gather for their 55th reunion this month (over 200 classmates out of about 780 who survive will attend), we will be encouraging the widest possible range of viewpoints, in what we’re calling “Conversations.” Topics will include: “Free Speech on College Campuses,” “How Can Red & Blue America Learn to Talk with Each Other,” “Stopping Climate Change is Hopeless. Let’s do It!” “Wealth Inequities” and “The Erosion of Ethics in the 21st Century.” Certainly, tempers sometimes flare (especially at the bar), but we try to avoid ad hominem attacks. Our reunion theme song posted on our class website is Clint Eastwood’s Don’t Let the Old Man In. This appetite for debating issues is not just a reunion phenomenon. The Class of 1964 has produced more than 70 published authors who have written over 200 books in aggregate (and numerous articles in leading publications) on topics such as politics, the environment, conflict and war and health care. And there are 20 regular bloggers among us, who also address many controversial issues. It’s common these days to cite the evils of social media for feeding people only what they want to hear (confirmation bias). Certainly, that is a systemic weakness, but for people with open and inquiring minds, social media can be a wonderful platform for sharing experiences and points of view. I’m impressed by the way Yale has adopted social media for connecting alumni more frequently than the bi-monthly issue of Yale Alumni Magazine could ever do. Beyond one’s own Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages, there are many private Yale special interest groups with pages that resonate with interesting and — yes — controversial posts. To me, it feels like being back in a late-night Branford Common Room debate all over again.
BEYOND ONE’S OWN FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND LINKEDIN PAGES, THERE ARE MANY PRIVATE YALE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS WITH PAGES THAT RESONATE WITH INTERESTING AND — YES — CONTROVERSIAL POSTS. TO ME, IT FEELS LIKE BEING BACK IN A LATENIGHT BRANFORD COMMON ROOM DEBATE ALL OVER AGAIN. So, call me an optimist. I believe Yale is an ideal place to wrestle with our differences and also remember that, in the words of our alma mater, “Time and change shall naught avail / To break the friendships formed at Yale.” Anthony M. (“Tony”) Lavely ’64 works as a consultant to the restaurant industry and private equity firms and is a former member of the varsity football team.
YALE DAILY NEWS · ALUMNI EDITION 2019 · yaledailynews.com
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FROM THE ARCHIVES
“I fully believe that the U.S. has the obligation to honor its debt.” STEVE MNUCHIN, B.A. ’85 UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
THE CLASS OF 1954
Tap Day: After 80 Years, Abolition, But No Solution BY EDWARD WHITTEMORE MARCH 27, 1953 In the late 1870’s President Noah Porter decided that the selection of juniors in their rooms by the secret societies was an outdated procedure. “So we shall put an end to this annual nocturnal election riotings,” he said, and thus Tap Day was born. This 19th century progressive originated a system which served the small Yale campus well, and although the societies fretted at first, in a few years they rejoiced at the unique, new-found institution. In fact they were so happy with Tap Day that it lasted over 80 years, continuing until, in the opinion of many, it had outlived the Yale for which it had been adapted. ‘TOO SACROSANCT’ The history of the battles for and against Tap Day is a turbulent one. Once the societies were considered to sacrosanct that Tap Day was rarely discussed.
This was the case during the 1920’s, when students brought parents to view the proceedings on the Old Campus and the New York papers carried detailed accounts of the day: why one person was not elected and another was not. Although the system came under fire from a few agitators during the 1930’s, nothing was done. But the advent of war and the veteran generation which followed resulted in a new approach. ‘LUDICROUS, NOT IMPRESSIVE’ The mature undergraduate who came to New Haven a decade ago was apt to be less awed by the spectacle of the society. The selection procedure which had often been described as the “most impressive and most ludicrous” tradition at Yale, seemed more ludicrous and less impressive after two years in the army. As a result opposition was united for the first time and Tap Day was abolished. Instead juniors were to receive their taps
in their rooms. For several reasons the new system proved to be a failure. It was found that a race often developed to the popular juniors rooms, and that the whole process took over two hours. Often the complete results were not generally known until the following morning. In addition there was the fact that juniors still could not tell from which societies they would receive bids. This deficiency was fundamental for it made it impossible for students to know whether to turn down a bid in hope that they favored one would arrive. BACK AGAIN IN 1948 Faced with these obstructions the plan proved impractical and Tap Day, for lack of a better program, was reinstated in 1948. The old problems were still in the air, however, and the abolition enthusiasts still sallied forth each spring with cries of “slave market” and “exhibitionism.” Positive steps toward aboli-
tion were taken in 1951 and 1952. Influential members of both the junior and senior classes formed anti-Tap Day groups and sent letters to Dean DeVane asking for a change, proposing new methods. AND THE SUGGESTIONS Many new suggestions were offered by these and other individuals, a few by some of the societies themselves. Some thought that Tap Day should be moved to the Payne Whitney gym, thus eliminating “the spectator sport which makes Yale the annual laughing stock of other universities.” Perhaps, the most constructive suggestion was that presented by a member of Berzelius in 1951. The plan called for a central committee, composed of members from all the societies, which would give the juniors bids in their rooms. Although many considered the plan an improvement, this system still embodied many of the loopholes which had made the postwar attempt unsuccessful.
IN 1951, AN ATTEMPT Discussions were held, but the societies refused to come to an agreement. DeVane said definitive plans would not have to be made; they were not forthcoming; and the class of 1952 went once more to Branford Court in May, 1951. However, members of the class of 1952 had pledged that they would attempt reform from within the societies during the next year and that, if positive backing was offered by the 1953 class, abolition might be possible. The class of 1953 as juniors repeated the same process as its predecessors: much was said and little materialized. As before, some promised to work for abolition once they were members. The cry was an old one, but the announcement yesterday proved it had been a potent one. Although the societies have not yet approved a substitute plan, the initial round of a long battle has been won. Transcribed by Asha Prihar.
YALE DAILY NEWS
THE CLASS OF 1954
Shelved by Societies; No Substitute Plan Fixed Yet BY JOSEOH H. HEAD MARCH 26, 1953 There will be no Tap Day in Branford court this May. As yet, no substitute plan has been approved by the societies. The action culminates various anti-Tap Day sentiments from both within and without the societies which has grown up since the
election ceremony was returned to Branford court after a war-time lapse in May, 1948. During the war elections were given in rooms. Dean Harold B. Whiteman Jr., in a statement to the News yesterday, cited “general agreement among the societies” that the Branford ritual was “undesirable.” The societies are now in the process of selecting an alternate
method. Any new plan will probably have to be approved by Dean DeVane, who returns to New haven today after a week’s absence. Whiteman would not speculate as to when a new plan would be set up. DeVane had earlier informed the societies that he was “unwilling” to use Branford court for society elections.
DEVANE SUBMITS TWO PLANS Devane has submitted two plans both of which have been rejected by the societies. The first, originally formulated by Irving S. Olds, 1907, called for an “inter-society council.” Juniors would fill out preference cards which would be compared to the societies election lists. The “inter-society
council” would meet and arrange the society rosters, honoring the junior’s preference in cases of conflict. The second DeVane proposal called for election in the rooms in “shifts.” First round elections would be given to juniors desired by more than one society. Transcribed by Asha Prihar .
THE CLASS OF 1959
Liquor Dealers Ask Yale Aid BY JONATHAN J. SEAGLE FEBRUARY 11, 1958 Several New Haven liquor dealers suggested yesterday that the University furnish free identification cards to its students in order to expedite the sale of alcoholic beverages to legally qualified purchasers. The dealers contacted by the NEWS reported a noticeable decline in their business since the recent change in the regulations governing the establishment of the right to purchase liquor in the state of Connecticut. They believe that a part of this decline can be attributed to the necessity to sell liquor only to those students who can present maturity cards authorized by the state liquor commission or who are obviously over 21. The proprietors pointed to the fact that few students have acquired the state identification cards. They feel that they have turned away students who are eligible to purchase liquor but who have not taken the trouble to obtain the state permits. This reluctance is traced to the existence of a one dollar charge for the state cards. Drivers’ licenses and draft cards are only accepted as a proof of maturity after
“strict examination.” DEALERS CAUTIOUS The issuance of free University identification cards would presumably alleviate the stores’ problem by enabling all students who are really over 21 to establish proof of their age. The dealers’ sense of caution was apparently intensified by the November arrest of Irwin Fried, proprietor of the College Liquor store, and David Stahl, owner of the Chapel Liquor store, for the illegal sale of liquor to under-age Yale students. The College Liquor store is still closed. The state authorities disallowed the owners’ contention that the student purchasers had shown them drivers’ licenses which indicated that they were over 21. The officers stated that the state maturity cards were the only acceptable form of proof. The owners stressed that they have no desire to sell alcoholic beverages to minors. They agree with the aim of the state law in this respect. “We don’t want to sell to youngsters.” Transcribed by Alan Liu.
YALE DAILY NEWS
Leading Chapel Street liquor store displays sign reflecting disturbing conditions in present New Haven sales market.
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YALE DAILY NEWS · ALUMNI EDITION 2019 · yaledailynews.com
FROM THE ARCHIVES
“For every young person I meet, I learn an idea.”
RONAN FAR-
ROW, J.D. ’09 AMERICAN JOURNALIST
THE CLASS OF 1964
Rules Increase, New Colleges Grow as Yale Changes During Summer BY CHRISTOPHER CORY SEPTEMBER 20, 1960 The University’s greeting to its upperclassmen is something sterner this year than it has been in the past. Although a slew of new buildings were begun or planned during the summer to alleviate crowding in colleges and libraries, security regulations underwent new tightening in the wake of riots and morals cases. Every Yale student is now required to carry an “identification card” at all times. The new cards, which must be shown in case of entanglement with campus police, also serve as dining hall and library cards. A similar policy has been in effect for several years
at Harvard. EXPANSION AGAIN Countless earthworms underwent relocation this summer as foundations were dug for the two long-heralded new colleges. Latest in the string of “projected completion dates:” September, 1962. Estimated final cost: 7.7 million dollars. A further twist in the current orgy of building expansion will be a rare book library. Plans for the project were made public in June. The gift of 11 members of the Beinecke family, a family long associated with Yale, the building will rise on the corner of Wall and High Streets, diagonally opposite the Sterling Library. A tunnel will connect it
with the ain library. In face of demolition necessary to make way for the proposed building, the Associated Student Agencies fled to a new location in Hendrie Hall. Tottering Ivy Magazine was forced to move out, but members of the publication’s staff have announced plans to carry on, from students’ rooms if need be.” Housing conditions for graduates underwent only mild summer improvement. Apartments on York Street were refurbished to make room for 22 married graduate students. However, apartment listings of the Yale Housing Bureau fell sharply as landlords refused to subscribe to the University’s anti-discrimination pledge.
NOAH PORTER GATE CLOSED AGAIN After being open all summer, Noah Porter gate swung shut again as the first students reached New Haven. Barbed fencing now menaces attempts to retrace the traditional route between the Old Campus and Commons. Use of the gate as a barrier was continued as part of the security campaign to achieve “better operating relations” between the University and the town of New Haven. The University’s fund drive posed itself for its major efforts. Propaganda was prepared, centering around a 21-page booklet written by A. Whitney Griswold, president of the University. A nationwide orga-
nization was readied to conduct the solicitation. The completed drive will provide Yale with the equivalent of $69,500,000 in new capital. Tanks of the chemistry department were temporarily thinned by the untimely deaths of John G. Kirkwood and Werner Bergmann, professors of chemistry. To fill the gap, Yale College dean William C. DeVane announced what he termed two “brilliant” new appointments. As remors of a possible relaxation in social restrictions seeped into circulation, the academic year 19601961 seemed well underway. Transcribed by Marisa Peryer.
THE CLASS OF 1969
T H E C L A S S O F 1 974
Brewster Offers Coeducation Plan; Students Protest Housing Proposals
Charges Dropped Against Seale, Huggins
YALE DAILY NEWS
BY ERIC ROSENBERG AND STEPHEN SCHLESSINGER NOVEMBER 15, 1968 Kingman Brewster Jr.’s plan to bring undergraduate women to Yale next dall ran into strong opposition last night when he asked Trumbull students to vacate their college for 250 freshmen girls. Coed Steering Committee Chairman Aviam Soifer, 1969, told the Trumbull College dining hall audience fo 400 he found Brewster’s proposal “unacceptable.” He said the proposal was unfair to both freshmen and transfer women who wanted integrated housing. Many Trumbull students told Brewster they resented what they considered his ultimatum to either accept his original proposal of vacating Trumbull or do without girls at Yale next year. Students from other residential colleges and several women speakers voiced their support of the dissident Trumbull students and indicated general dissatisfaction with Brewster’s proposal. After asking Trumbull students to come to a decision on his original proposal, Brewster said that in spite of strong misgivings, he would consider a student proposal to house the freshmen girls in Weight Hall in the event of a Trumbull rejection of the present plan. The president also told his audience, “We will consider the optional residence of women transfer students in Yale residential colleges if it can be done without overcrowding existing facilities.” Today Trumbull students will discuss the original proposal of vacating their college for freshmen girls with Master Ronald Dworkin, who said he will be in his office all day. Dworkin said he will convey the sense of Trumbull opinion to president Brewster. The president said a final coed plan must be adopted by early next week so that recruitment of Yale girls or 196970 can begin. Brewster said the choice of Trumbull was influenced by its size and location and also by the fact that Trumbull Master Dworkin is taking a two-year leave of absence to teach at Oxford next year. He said housing freshman girls in an integrated setup or in Wright Hall or one half of Berkeley College would pose “a degree of ambiguity that is not acceptable in recruiting the type of women Yale deserves.” Brewster added he would have great difficulty explaining an uncertain integrated residence arrangement to “women applicants, their
parents, and their schools.” Last night Associate Director of Admissions John O. Wilson told the News though, that “insofar as admissions and recruitment is concerned, the impact of coeducation is os overpowering that the details of housing would be lost on any potential female applicants. “I would anticipate no adverse effect on recruitment in regard to the use of Weight Hall instead of Trumbull College.” The president said he thought complete integration of 250 freshman women into several residential colleges would not be a “fair test” of coeducation. Under the plan the administration would try to help groups of Trumbull men maintain college unity by offering entire entryway to them in other residential colleges. Trumbull students would have the option of affiliating with their new residential college. OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING Ask where Yale would going to house the women transfer students, Brewster said “a preliminary survey done with the help of the Treasurer’s office indicates that with the proper renovation of Yale owned off-campus buildings we can house 250 girls.” But Brewster declined to specify the locations of these housing units. Earlier Soifer told a cheering crowd that, “all along, one of our first guidelines was ‘no shoe-string boarding house rooms for women.’” Master Dworkin advised his students to accept President Brewster’s proposal although he said “neither I nor the Yale College masters participated in the ultimate decision.” TRUMBULL AS VANGUARD He further said, “Trumbull’s role has always been in the vanguard of reform a Yale, Trumbull can have a hand in actively designing the future of coeducation if we accept this plan. We could not play this part if we reject it.” Both Soifer and SAB Chairman Ray Nunn said student has never been consulting in formulating coed plans. “Perhaps the real difficulty was that we never had anything definite to shoot at. This was President Brewster’s mistake, not outs,” said Nunn. He continued, “We are not advocating irresponsibility. We want to participate in responsible decisions.” Brewster closed the four-hour meeting by warning that he was “not interested in the translation of the whole thing into student power and confrontation.” Transcribed by Marisa Peryer.
BY JEFFREY MAYER MAY 26, 1971 Defendants, counsel, courtroom spectators and press listened in hushed, expectant silence yesterday afternoon as Superior Court Judge Harold Mulvey announced his decision to dismiss charges against Bobby Seale and Ericka Huggins on grounds that an impartial jury could not be selected “without superhuman efforts.” Judge Mulvey’s statement to the court appears on page 3. There was a brief pause as the Judge concluded at 2:40 yesterday afternoon, “The motion to dismiss is granted in each case, and the prison ers are discharged forthwith.” RELIEF AND SURPRISE Then, despite the judge’s earlier warning against any outburst or demonstration, the air broke with tears and cries of relief and surprise from spectators and press. Mrs. Huggins, who sat enigmatically throughout the judge’s decision smiled broadly and embraced her lawyer Catherine Roraback. Seale was also quizzical during the final moments of the six-month-long trial and he gripped attorney Charles Garry’s arm as Garry fought back tears and wearily looked on. The enthusiasm drowned out an objection and exceptions to the dismissal by State’s Attorney Arnold Markle. The motions were denied. It was the climax of a trial that appeared to be over Monday when the jury, after siz days and 25 hours of deliberations, sent a note to Judge Mulvey saying further deliberations were “in vain” and that it was impossible to reach a verdict on either case. ‘ABSOLUTELY’ Mulvey excused the jury of seven whites and five blacks Monday afternoon and declared a mistrial for the defendants. At that time he asked to meet with attorneys yesterday at 2 to discuss further disposition of the case, and Markle told reporters he would “absolutely” ask for a retrial. When the court reconvened shortly after 2 the jury box was once again empty and many spectators who have been following the case closely — including Huggins’ mother-in-law and Chicago 8 defendants Jerry Rubin and John Froines — were not present. It has been expected that the court session would be preoccupied with bond applications for the two defendants pending the start of pre-trial hearings. EXUBERANCE There was unrestrained exuberance outside the first floor courtroom as word of the decision spread quickly among those unable to get seats in the spectator section and those who have stood on the New Haven Green daily awaiting the outcome of the trial since jury deliberations began last Wednesday. Within minutes after charges against her were dropped, Mrs. Huggins walked alone from a rear entrance of the courtroom, and, her face revealing a mixture of emotions, slowly approached the close to 200 cheering observers restrained by uniformed state police and country sheriffs. There were tears and embraces as she entered the crowd. Many of those who greeted her were friends whom she hadn’t spoken with in more than two years of confinement. Meanwhile, Seale, who still must face a four-year contempt sentence from CHicago Judge Julius Hoffman, was handed over to a federal marshal and taken into the adjoining jury room.
‘KIND OF NUMB’ The Black Panther Party chairman and co-founder, whom Garry described as “kind of numb” after the decision to dismiss, awaited a decision on bail from the Seventh Circuit Court in Chicago. Soon after Huggins joined those outside the courtroom, Miss Roraback emerged exhausted from the courtroom. Garry also walked out and urged everyone in the threestory, collonaded hall to go out and demonstrate on the Green. There was a brief scuffle as Garry grabbed a man who had insisted the lawyer explain what was happening to eale instead of telling everyone to leave the courthouse, and threw him against the wall. The lawyer was restrained by a friend and the young demonstrator ran into the crowd. ‘LOOK AT THE SUN’ As the spontaneous demonstration left the courthouse by a side exit, there were cries of “the people won, the people will always win,” mingled with disbelief over the release of Huggins and the dismissal of the cases. The former defendant walked ahead with New Haven Panther Party spokesman, Big Man, who escorted her to the cinder path on the Green. “Look a the sun,” Huggins said, beaming. Roraback, catching up with her client, asked, “Ericka, how does it smell?” Laughing, Huggins replied, “Who are you?” As what she would do now, the tall, 23-year-old women said simple, “Live.” Hundreds crowded around Huggins and her lawyer and more arrived on the Green as they heard the news. Within minutes a copy of the New Haven Register announcing the verdict was circulated in the crowd. A few of the jurors who had been dismissed Monday joined the festive gathering. Inside the courthouse, Markle told reporters, “I have one comment, I did my job and I was ready to do it again.” Mulvey had begun his decision for dismissal by saying, “A the outset, I should say that I know of no more dedicated public servant than the State’s Attorney for New Haven County, Arnold Markle. He is a good lawyer and discharges his duties at all times in a manner that is a credit to the state.” Also questioned in the courthouse, Garry claimed that the dismissal of charges against his client “proves that a black man cannot get a fair trial in America. “The judge himself dismissed the case on the fact that a black man cannot get a fair trial in the state,” Garry said. “The fact is that there’s an acquittal after he’s been in prison for two years and away from his loved ones — probably it’s better late than never — but it doesn’t answer the basic problem that he should never have been here in the first place.”
‘MAN WITH A HEART’ Garry said he felt Judge Mulvey to be “human and a man with a heart” and added that though “there were many times when I disagreed vehemently with his rulings, I find Judge Mulvey to be on a much higher level than the judiciary in the rest of the United States, and I say that without reservation.” Garry also insisted on the significance of jury selection in the outcome of this case, in which four months were required to select from more than 1,500 possible veniremen the final jury of seven women and five men. “The guts of the trial or criminal case is going to be based on the trier of the facts,” the San Francisco lawyer said. “As carefully as we picked this jury there were at least two people who in my opinion were overt racists.” It was learned from sources Monday night that the jury had first voted acquittal for Seale but after some consideration of the Huggins case, one juror had changed his mind and the vote thereafter consistently stood a 11-1 in favor of acquittal. In the Huggins case sources indicated all but two of the jurors favored acquittal on all five counts of the indictment. Seale and Huggins were tried for kidnapping, murder, and conspiracy to kidnap and murder in the homicide of New York Black Panther Alex Rackley in May, 1969. Huggins, in addition, was charged with an infraction of the binding statute. “The two jurors who held out,” Garry added, “were called fascists in the deliberations. They said they were proud to be what they were. “And I’ve talked to enough jurors to make that affidavit,” he said. Following her release and appearance on the Green, Huggins was reported to have driven to the homes of friends. Garry said that if and when Seale is released on bond, probably in the next day or so, he will leave “the next morning” for Oakland, the national headquarters of the Black Panther Party. A private party was held last night with defense associates, a small number of the jurors, and Ericka Huggins in attendance. As Garry crossed Elm Street from the courthouse to the Green he was assaulted by friends and admirers who embraced and congratulated him. The Rev. William Sloane Coffin, driving past the Green on his way to New York, go out of his car and leaped the iron rail to shake hands with Seale’s attorney. “There’s a lot to rejoice about here,” he said, as he returned to his double-parked car. Shortly afterward, Garry left the now-diffusd crowd and walked leisurely to his Church Street office. Transcribed by Marisa Peryer.
YALE DAILY NEWS
Ericka Huggins was greeted by a joyous crows on the New Haven Green after she was released.
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“The tide of history only advances when peple make themselves fully visible.” ANDERSON COOPER, B.A. ’89 AMERICAN JOURNALIST
THE CLASS OF 1979
Snowstorm Blitzes Campus
YALE DAILY NEWS
BY JEFFERSON MORLEY FEBRUARY 8, 1978 The Chaplain’s office was open, the Post Office was closed, and classes were cancelled, so perhaps Yale’s priorities, as celebrated in song, were still intact, underneath 15 inches of snow, yesterday. Otherwise little decorum was observed. And today may be the same. University Secretary Henry Chauncey announced last night that, because Governor Ella Grasso has prohibited any driving until noon today, only essential University employees will be asked to report for work and that the libraries and gym will be closed. Classes will meet if professors can reach campus, Chauncey said. He insisted that classes were not cancelled yesterday, nor would they ever be. Perhaps bewildered by the glut of free time, students took to walking
the largely deserted streets, wearing their red or blue or yellow down jackets, looking like sprinkles on a vanilla cupcake. Cross-country skiers and photographers appeared in droves, most of the former saying, a trifle ungratefully, that the snow was good, “but not great.” FLYING THROUGH THE AIR Drift-diving was a popular pastime all over campus, and students quickly developed more daring versions of that usual winter pastime. An uninhibited group of Davenporters took to doing swan dives into their college’s snow-filled moat on York Street. Others favored leaping from second story windows. Trumbull sophomore John Muir leapt from a third story window with less happy results The slopes of the Divinity School were crowded with trayers. Two unruly mobs played tackle football on the Old Campus, figure skat-
ers glided on Berkeley’s improvised rink, a middle-aged man slogging through deeps now in front of the Co-op said he felt like he should be looking for a Soviet satellite. Appropriately enough, the Grove Street cemetery was open and two young women carefully built a small snowman among the tombstones which they insisted was not intended to be ironic. “They,” one said, pointing to the ground, “will appreciate it. He’s kind of quiet and peaceful.” Free spirits of both sports prevailed at the hastily scheduled Davenport happy hour. One student said happily, if a little uneuphonically, “After a hard day in the snow, there’s nothing I like better than a good Coke and rum.”
that the snowstorm had taken on the characteristics of a hurricane, explaining the thunder heard by some on Monday night. The East Coast is hit by such storms, he said, because of the warm air created by the Gulf Stream. This air rises to an altitude of between 10,000 and 20,000 feet and cools, condensing the water vapor in the clouds. If it is warm the result is rain; if it is cold, the result is snow. Had the temperatures been several degrees higher on Monday, Saltzman said, Yale would have received 1.5 inches of rain, not 15 inches of snow. Saltzman admitted though that for all his knowledge his “driveway was completely socked in,” and that he was “hoping” he could return to the classroom today.
WHAT’S UP? Professor and weather expert of Geophysics Barry Saltzman explained in a telephone interview
FORLORN FACULTY Not surprisingly, the faculty acted a bit more “weenie-like.” Acting President Hanna Gray stayed
home all day, catching up she said, on “the usual variety and profusion of things” and looking out the window. President-Designate A. Bartlett Giamatti was snow-bound in New York City. Robert Rescorla, Professor of Psychology, passed the day feeding laboratory rats and pigeons. Acting English Instructor Tom Hyde said he “graded papers, and spent a little more time than usual in the dining hall because I felt festive.” Union leader Vincent Sirabella said he spent the morning “in the realms of Morpheus.” Football coach Carm Cozza was in Florida as was Saybrook sophomore Rob Howell, who called his roommates to say that he had heard there was weather trouble in New Haven and that therefore he was going to extend his vacation until next Sunday. Transcribed by Alan Liu.
THE CLASS OF 1984
Giamatti forbids Bladderball because of student injuries Claims rules insufficient for safety
BY DAVE LACKEY NOVEMBER 9, 1982 Yale President A. Bartlett giamatti abolished Bladderball yesterday morning, in view of the injuries to students which occurred last Friday despite “meticulous” observation of the rules set by the Joint Council of Social Chairmen (JCSC). In a statement signed by Giamatti and Dean Howard Lamar, Giamatti said, “it is the nature of this event that no set of rules can guarantee that such injuries will not occur in the future, and we have therefore decided” to abolish the game. Three students were hospitalized for injuries incurred in Friday’s game, and all spent the night at the Yale-New Haven Hospital. One student was taken by ambulance to University Health Services and soon released. JCSC Co-Chairman Jonathan Hunter ’83 said that Giamatti’s decision didn’t surprise him. “It was just a matter of time. We did everything we could to adhere to the rules, but injuries still occurred,” he said. Giamatti agreed. “There were very good rules. This is not an issue of anger, guilt, or blame, but of the safety and well-being of human beings. I really think we’ve tried and so have the students.” Associate Dean for Student Affairs David Henson said that he felt that this year’s game was run well, but that he could not “conceive of any set of rules where an injury could be prevented.” He added that “marshals seemed more diligent and visible than those of last year.” “The problem with Bladderball is that the safety of students is difficult to ensure, especially given the large number of participants and the spontaneous nature of the game,” Henson continued. JCSC Co-chairman Mike Miles
SARAH MENDELSON
said that he was “disappointed” by Giamatti’s decision. “I always have thought that there was a great deal of restraint [by players] in the midst of the game,” he said. He said he understood Giamatti’s decision, though. “There’s nothing else he could do as President of the University to ensure the safety of the students,” Miles said. Giamatti said he went to see Lamar yesterday morning. Together they decided that Bladderball posed a hazard to student safety and that the University had a responsibility to try to prevent potential injuries. “I’m not blaming anyone for
getting hurt,” Giamatti said. “This isn’t an act of anger: this is an act of concern and safety,” he added. “This year’s game was the most violent I’ve seen in recent years,” Yale Police Chief Louis Cappiello said. “I’ve always tried to get tighter controls placed on the game,” he said. The Yale Police attended the game as a security back-up squad to the student marshals. Hunter said that JCSC “won’t fight” Giamatti’s decision. “It’s a shame that [Bladderball] has to go, but [Giamatti’s decision] is not a bad thing,” Hunter said. He added that he believed Bladderball tended
to bring the University together. “It’s a tradition in a school that is built around traditions.” “I don’t think it’s an event whose historical roots justify the risk of life and limb,” Giamatti said. Bladderball was conceived in the ‘50s as a competition between Yale’s four major media groups. Residential colleges first began playing Bladderball in 1971. The game was then run by the Council of Masters. In 1976, fifteen Saybrook students were suspended after they raided the Branford dining hall prior to the game. Because of the vandalism of
1976, the Council of Masters moved the game out to the fields near Yale Bowl. Very few players showed up to play the game. Past violence and apparent student apathy caused Masters to abolish Bladderball in 1978. The JCSC led a drive to reinstate Bladderball, and the Masters reconsidered their decision. Although the Masters considered the game “dangerous and unwise,” the JCSC was given control over the game, according to Chairman of the Council of Masters, Berkeley Master Robin Winks. Transcribed by Carly Wanna.
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FROM THE ARCHIVES
“I think peple are frightened of saying what they think, and I think that’s a bad thing for society.” CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE, M.A. ’08 NIGERIAN NOVELIST
THE CLASS OF 1989
Protestors build shanties at Beinecke Plaza
YALE DAILY NEWS
BY ANNE TOKER APRIL 7, 1986 Pro-divestment protestors erected two wood and aluminum shanties on Beinecke Plaza Friday, at 12:50 p.m. Although on Friday Yale President A Bartlett Giamatti and other administration officials said the shanties would have to be removed immediately, the University took no action to remove them and the protestors have received official permission for the shanties to remain through the Yale Corporation meeting on April 12. “We’re sick of waiting. We’re sick of dumb meetings. This is our new home base — we’ll be living here,” Coalition Against Apartheid (CAA) member Matthew Countryman ‘86 told the 100 people who remained at Beinecke Plaza after a Friday noontime pro-divestment rally. “If they didn’t get permission from the secretary of the University, the shanties will be removed,” Giamatti said at 1:30 p.m. Friday when told about the presence of the shanties. “It is disappointing when people don’t follow the rules — it’s too bad,” Giamatti added. Student organizers of the rally said they had received permission to hold a rally from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. but had no permission for any activities on Beinecke Plaza after that time. “They had permissions for a rally
— they said it would be over at 1:30 without any problem,” Maureen Murphy, associate director of the Office of Community and State Relations, said. When Giamatti arrived at Beinecke Plaza at 1:45 p.m., he asked the students if they had received permission for the shanties and told them that the shanties “are going to come down if you didn’t get permission.” Giamatti asked Countryman to “have a conversation” with him about the shanties. Countryman refused, maintaining that the shanties were “educational structures” and therefore did not violate University rules. “They can’t claim immunity,” Giamatti said. “There are regulations about what structures” can be erected on the campus, he added. “As there are rules about rallies, there are rules about structure — they have been in place for years and they are administered by the Secretary,” Giamatti said. “The police will remove [the shanties] if the physical plant won’t,” he added. Local 35 President Tom Gaudioso said the University had asked four grounds-people to remove the shanties. “The University said to consider it as trash,” Gaudioso said. “Once the grounds-people realized what it was and why it was here, they decided it
would be disrespectful to be a part of the removal,” Gaudioso added. At 3:30 p.m., Wilkinson told the students, “At some point you will be asked to withdraw and remove the shanties. You will be given a timetable — if you don’t respond it is probable that you will be suspended from the University until a committee from the school will decide what the sentence should be,” he said. A committee composed of four undergraduates, a law student, and a member of Union Local 34 then met with Giamatti and Wilkinson until 5:20 p.m. The administrators told the committee that the shanties could remain in place until noon the next day if the students would send a delegation to Wilkinson said, Another meeting between student protestors and Wilkinson was scheduled for noon the next day. Local 34 member Sheila Lloyd, who attended the first Friday meeting said Wilkinson told the group that the administration would “physically remove the shanties if [the students] did not remove them before tomorrow [Saturday] noon.” Friday night the students built two new shanties and erected tents. Approximately 20 students stayed in the shanties overnight, according to Mike Morand ’87. Morand said Yale police had told the group not to build more shanties
but did not attempt to stop the construction. At a rally Saturday morning, Local 35 Business Manager John Wilhelm said that although the issue had not yet been discussed at an official union membership meeting, “it is the opinion of as many stewards as we have been able to get in touch with that they shouldn’t be involved in tearing down” the shanties. Farnam Professor of History David Montgomery, who spoke at the rally, said that he favored the presence of the shanties. “University rules shouldn’t prohibit the demonstration of deeply felt opinions,” Montgomery said. “There is a lot of faculty support for the shanties — although I couldn’t quantify it,” he added. Calhoun Dean John Godfrey said on Saturday that Associate Dean of Yale College Martin Griffin had telephoned Godfrey on Friday to ask if he would be willing to identify students present at the shanties from photographs taken of them. Godfrey said he had agreed, since “it is part of our responsibilities if they [the students] are in violation of the regulations.” A group of about 10 people held a counter-protest during the rally to oppose the “methods and aims” of the pro-divestment protestors, according to group member Brice Peyre ’86. The group displayed a paper-mache model of a sledgeham-
mer during their counter-rally. A separate group, the Movement Opposed to Violence and Extortion (MOVE) formed Sunday evening to oppose the tactics, although not necessarily the aims, of the pro-divestment protestors, according to MOVE member Michael Ware ’88. Student pro-divestment protestors met with Wilkinson on Saturday afternoon, and at 6:50 p.m. Wilkinson gave the students a written statement granting permission for “the structures on Hewitt Quadrangle to remain there until after the next meeting of the Yale Corporation on Saturday, April 12.” Wilkinson said the statement was issued by the offices of the president, the provost, and the secretary. “Students have indicated that they would have the structures remain for an indefinite period, but the University did not grant such permission,” the statement read. “We met and decided it would make sense to let them stay through the Corporation meeting. They are attempting to educate the Yale Corporation and the Yale Community, and it is the Corporation which has the fiduciary responsibility in this matter,” Wilkinson said. The shanties “will be removed after the Corporation meeting which ends on Saturday,” Wilkinson said. Transcribed by Carly Wanna.
THE CLASS OF 1994
Inaugural Rites initiate President BY HARA AMDEMARIAM AND REBECCA HOWLAND OCTOBER 24, 1993 On a day marked by medieval pomp, bluegrass and rock music, ice cream and bright sunlight, Yale inaugurated Richard Levin GRD ’74 as its 22nd second president Saturday. Almost 3,000 people, ranging from students and U.S. senators to other university presidents, gathered in Woolsey Hall as Levin, former Dean of the Graduate school, was inducted into the office. After the formal ceremony, people flocked to an open-air reception on Cross Campus, hosted by Levin and his wife Jane. “It was a wonderful day, distinguished by its music and its brevity,” said Yale Corporation member Jose Cabranes LAW ’65. “That’s the nice thing about Yale events — they all are.”
The ceremonies began with a procession, rife with traditional regalia. A procession of professors and 108 visiting dignitaries from other universities met and combined with a separate procession of Yale’s trustees and top officials on the Cross Campus lawn. Although participants’ ceremonial robes hearkened back to the medieval era, participants in the procession laughed, took pictures and talked amongst themselves as they marched across cross Campus down Elm and College Stress, and into Woolsey Hall. “Like Antigone, the University stands for transcendent principles, those which permit the preservation of culture and the advance of knowledge,” Levin said, referring to the Greek tragedy he used as the basis for his speech. “Our ability is to educate and to lead, to shape the values of
the wider world so that they, too, encourage the full realization of human potential.” The president’s 20-minute speech touched on three themes: the importance of science in the curriculum, the need for Yale to be more of an international university, and the strengthening of Yale-New Haven ties. While he spoke at a deliberate, slow pace in enunciating the University’s broad mission and philosophy, Levin, an economist specializing in technology, seemed more at ease discussing Yale’s role as a center for research and development. “As we enter the 21st century, we must aspire to educate leaders for the whole world,” Levin said. “Today, the scientific capability of American universities is the envy of the world. We neglect its support at our own peril.” In contrast to previous inau-
gurations, very little controversy arose during the ceremony. At the 1986 inaugration of former President Benno Schmidt Jr. ’63 LAW ’66 students protested Yale’s investments in South Africa and mounted police had to escort Schmidt to the ceremonies. “This inauguration was so calm. There were no pickets. Nobody booed the president,” said former Corporation senior fellow Right Reverend Paul Moore Jr. ’41. “Yale is losing some of its spirit,” he said tongue-in-cheek. But this year’s ceremony was not without protest. Two students, representing the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, carried signs protesting Yale College’s decision to re-evaluate having a permanent coordinator for Chicano students. In addition, few members of the Yale Glee Club refused to
sing Levin’s chosen passage from “Antigone” because the translation Levin chose used masculine pronouns when referring to humanity as a whole. The translation by Robert Fitzgerald and Dudley Fitts is used by Yale’s English 129 class. Yale endeavored to include students in the day’s celebration. Thirty students form each residential college were given invitations to the formal ceremony and were all invited to the reception. At a University-sponsored party Saturday night, students danced to rock band Max Creek and Yale’s own Professors of Bluegrass, sampled free food from local restaurants and jostled for free commemorative t-shirts. Leesa Klepper and Charlotte Akor contributed reporting of this article. Transcribed by Sammy Westfall.
WHITNEY LAWSON
The President of Bluegrass: Richard Levin and his wife, Jain, join psychology professor Kelly Brownell and the Professors of Bluegrass at the Inauguration party on Old Campus Saturday Night.
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“Our power and stength as Americans lives in our hard work and our belief in more.” STACEY ABRAMS, J.D. ’99 AMERICAN POLITICIAN
THE CLASS OF 1999
Speaking out — the many faces of student activism at Yale
TIMOTHY LOVELOCK
Sarah Donaldson ’00 participated in a spring knit-in for Students Against Sweatshops. BY MACKENZIE BARIS COMMENCEMENT ISSUE 1999 Discussions of campus activism in recent releases have usually drawn accusations of Generation X apathy and inevitable comparisons to the anti-war demonstrations that fragmented many campuses during the late 1960s and early ’70s. While activism now may not be as prominent, many argue that it is still alive and kicking at campuses all over the country. While Yale hardly has a reputation as a hotbed of activist activity, the past four years have seen students take strong action over issues as close to home as financial aid reform and as far away as the plight of farm workers in California. The high-profile Local 43 and the strikes of 1996-97 attracted susch student support and helped revitalize Yale’s student activist groups. Increased activity prompted Dwight Hall, Yale’s center for community service, to found the Social Justice Network, an umbrella organization for Yale groups working on social justice issues. And this spring saw a burst of activism nationwide in the form of anti-sweatshop rallies and protests that the [New York Times] called the biggest surge of undergraduate activism in nearly two decades. “The thought and action on the Yale campus has definitely grown. We’re having a burst, an explosion of social justice,” former Dwight Hall executive Committee Social Justice Coordination Nicole Tuchinda ’99 said last year. Yale activists work for a wide range of causes, from corporate responsibility to clean air. Groups like the Student Labor Action Coalition and Green Corps
are activist to the core, with histories of highly visible public actions. Other groups that do not define themselves as strictly activist — such as the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Co-op, the Yale Student environmental Coalition, and the Women’s Center — have agendas that include activism. While students make themselves visible on campus, Yale’s many activist groups often have few members relative to the University’s total undergraduate population. Activists struggle not only to influence administrators but also to gain the attention of other students and create unity within the activist community. FORGING LINKS Though campus groups have had successes and are certainly visible on campus, membership is often smaller, Limited limiting the scale of what groups can do. Many hope that creating a more unified activist community will allow stronger actions and more effective campaigns. The social justice network, which is funded largely through Dwight Hall, provides resources and funds for its 20 or so member groups and attempts to bring together students working on different projects. SJN holds monthly meetings where representatives from member organizations share ideas and information. Often the most useful function of the meetings is to allow groups to inform each other of their activities and coordinate schedules to avoid conflicting events, SJN co-coordinator Jessica Champagne ’01 said. Several recent campaigns have been successful in bringing together groups that do not usually work on the same issues.
Tenure reform has drawn support from a wide range of campus groups, including cultural associations, the LGBT Co-op and the Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Program, while the campus United Farm Workers chapter enjoy strong support from Yale’s Latino community. Many groups also coordinate with organizations outside of Yale. A small group of Yale students joined community activists to call for justice after Molique Jones, a 21-year-old black New Haven resident, was fatally shot by a white East Haven police officer. The students join community-organized events and circulated a petition on campus. SLAC frequently supports local unions, by joining rallies and picket lines, as they did last spring for local 217 members protesting at the Omni hotel and this fall for striking SNET workers. But the increasing importance of social justice at Dwight Hall has sparked controversy during the past few years, and there is still a rift between students involved in direct service and those involved in activism. GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT Faced with a somewhat complacent campus and limited manpower, activist groups must work hard to be heard. T h e m e t h o d s a c t iv i s ts employee are as diverse as the causes they support. This fall, for example, a large rally for faculty diversity on cross campus attracted student attention while a smaller group of students met privately with Yale officials to discuss the issue. This kind of action is characteristic of the protesting strategies of many gales many of yells activist
groups — staging nonviolent public demonstrations to raise awareness and draw students support while establishing dialogue with administrators. During the fall of 1997, students demanding greater faculty diversity organize the number of actions, including disrupting several Association of Yale Alumni events, and this year the Tenure Action Committee held several large rallies. But this spring students used to different tactics. The Student Coalition for Diversity and the Yale College Council co-sponsored a panel discussion of faculty and curricular diversity. The forum, held at the African American cultural center, drew around 100 students. RAISING AWARENESS For some groups, activism focuses on educating peers as much as — or more than — on influencing administrators. This fall the Student Labor Action Coalition, best known for its protests and citizens during the Local 34 and 35 strikes, used flyers, table tents and posters and an education forum to educate undergraduates about the Graduate Employees and Students Organization. The Yale UFW chapter held events and put up posters around campus for months last spring and preparation for the UFW March Through Manhattan.They managed to draw nearly 100 Yale students, including many students not involved in any kind of campus activism. Still, some groups have chosen to employ more dramatic attention — getting action to capture student interests. Guerrilla theater uses street drama to make political state-
ments and educate other students. Amnesty International has used such methods to protest human rights violations in Burma and draw attention to the planned execution of former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal who was accused of killing a police officer nearly 20 years ago. Green Corps has to use costumes and large props and its rallies and protests, and the Yale College Vegetarian Society recently sponsored a veggie-burger eating contest on cross campus to raise awareness about the benefits of vegetarianism. The Student Coalition for Diversity carried out a more controversial auction last year for National Affirmative Action Day, which saw protest at campuses across the nation. As part of an event called “White-out,” supporters of affirmative action wore white face paint in an attempt to demonstrate what yelled look like without diversity. The action drew criticism from some students who found the tactic offensive. Overwhelmingly, the latest generation of student activists have shown themselves willing to engage in discussions whenever possible. Their demands are generally modest and specific and their actions quieter and less confrontational than those associated with the protests of the 1960s. Administrators have often been receptive, agreeing to open dialogue and rarely calling police in to break up demonstrations. As activist efforts slowly gain in number and strength on campuses, time will tell whether slow and steady will win the race. Transcribed by Sammy Westfall.
THE CLASS OF 2004
Choice abounds on Super Tuesday BY JACOB LEIBENLUFT MARCH 2, 2004 Connecticut Democrats will go to the polls today to help select a presidential nominee, but with Mass. Sen. John Kerry ’66 widely expected to win the state, Super Tuesday is not attracting much notice here. While Kerry and his main rival for the Democratic nomination, N.C. Sen. John Edwards, are devoting their time and money to larger states like New York and California, Connecticut’s primary — with 49 delegates at stake — has earned little attention. But although state and local Democrats said they harbor no illusions about their role in the nomination process, they are excited for an opportunity to help choose a candidate who will challenge President George W. Bush ’68 in the November election. “We’re a small state with a smaller delegation than many of the states that happen to hold their primaries on the same day,” said Leslie O’Brien, executive direc-
tor of the Connecticut Democratic State Central Committee. “But I think that Democrats as a whole, not just in our state, have been very tuned into this primary and are very anxious to defeat George Bush in November.” Some Yale voters will also have an opportunity to cast their ballots in a much more local race, as Ward 22, which includes Ezra Stiles, Morse, Silliman and Timothy Dwight colleges as well as Swing Space, features a three-way race for co-chair of the ward’s Democratic Committee. Alyssa Rosenberg ’06 and Shaneane Ragin are running as a slate in Ward 22, as are former Alderwoman Mae Ola Riddick and Douglas Bethea, while Cordelia Thorpe is running alone. But in most of New Haven and many parts of the state, the only race on the ballot will be the presidential primary, in which recent statewide polls show Kerry with a commanding lead. In addition, Kerry has also earned the endorsement of many of the state’s most prominent Democrats after Sen.
Joe Lieberman ’64 LAW ’67 ended his campaign last month. U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr., Attorney General Richard Blumenthal LAW ’73 as well as the highest ranking Democrats in the Connecticut General Assembly have all thrown their weight behind Kerry. Joe Courtney, the state coordinator for the Edwards campaign, said volunteers for Edwards were hard at work for the North Carolina senator, but he said he recognized the odds were against Edwards in Connecticut. “I don’t think people can be delusional here about sweeping Connecticut,” said Courtney, a former state representative. “To some degree, any delegate you get in a state like this is like finding money on a street corner.” Still, Judy Reardon, a senior adviser to the Kerry campaign directing efforts in Connecticut, said the Massachusetts senator was not taking the state for granted, even if Connecticut is not the focal point of his campaign.
“On Tuesday, there are 10 states having elections, so that forces campaigns to make tough decisions on where to deploy resources,” Reardon said, although she also noted that Kerry is the only candidate with a campaign office in Connecticut. While the candidates make last-minute stops in more closely watched states like Georgia, Ohio and Maryland, the Kerry and Edwards campaigns have only sent surrogates to Connecticut. On Sunday, Teresa Heinz Kerry rallied supporters for her husband in Stamford and Greenwich, while Edwards’ daughter Cate visited Norwalk. In addition to Kerry and Edwards, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich and the Rev. Al Sharpton are actively campaigning for delegates on Super Tuesday, although neither has devoted significant time or energy to Connecticut. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean ’71, who spoke in New Haven last week, is no longer campaigning for president, but some of his sup-
porters said they were still trying to send Dean delegates to the Democratic National Convention in July. Quinnipiac University poll director Douglas Schwartz said that while Connecticut Democrats have bucked national trends in the past — voting for Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown in 1992 when he faced off against Bill Clinton LAW ’73 and for Ted Kennedy in 1980 when he ran against incumbent President Jimmy Carter — Kerry’s position in Connecticut seemed safe Tuesday. “There’s no reason for me to think that Connecticut is going to be different from anywhere else,” Schwartz said. “The trends are all pointing to a big Kerry victory, especially since Kerry is from a neighboring state.” In addition to the 49 delegates who will be assigned on the basis of the results tomorrow, Connecticut will send 12 “superdelegates” to the Democratic National Convention, who will be permitted to vote freely for the presidential nominee. Transcribed by Serena Cho.
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YALE DAILY NEWS · ALUMNI EDITION 2019 · yaledailynews.com
FROM THE ARCHIVES
“Reading well is one of the great pleasures that solitude can afford you.” HAROLD BLOOM, PH.D. ’56 AMERICAN LITERARY CRITIC
THE CLASS OF 2009
Apache heirs sue Skull and Bones over remains BY NORA CAPLAN-BRICKER FEBRUARY 18, 2009 The descendants of the Apache Geronimo, a warrior chieftain whose remains are rumored to be held inside Yale’s oldest secret society, filed a lawsuit Tuesday demanding the return of their ancestor’s skull. Twenty members of the legendary warrior’s family are suing senior federal government officials, the University and the society Skull and Bones in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to seek the return of Geronimo’s remains as well as punitive damages. “I believe strongly from my heart that his spirit was never released,” Geronimo’s great-grandson Harlyn Geronimo said in the press conference on Tuesday. “Presently, he’s still imprisoned. The only way to put this into closure is to relieve the remains and his spirit so that he
can be taken back to his homeland, on the Gila Mountains, at the head of the Gila River.” One hundred years ago Tuesday, Geronimo died of pneumonia at Fort Sill, Okla., but the suit alleges that members of Skull and Bones exhumed his remains in 1918 or 1919 and transported them to the society’s High Street tomb in New Haven. The group that is rumored to have stolen Geronimo’s skull, bones and other items from his grave site is said to have included Prescott Bush, father of former President George H. W. Bush ’48 and grandfather to former President George W. Bush ’68. “To assure that all existing remains of Geronimo and funerary objects are recovered by Geronimo’s lineal descendants, the Order of Skull and Bones and Yale University must account for any such articles that are or have been in their possession, or on their property,” the formal complaint states. “And persons with knowledge
must provide any facts known to them concerning the claims.” Reached by phone Tuesday evening, four individuals — named in the society’s 2007 tax filings as directors of Skull and Bones’s corporate parent, the Russell Trust Association — said they had no knowledge of the lawsuit. Repeated knocks on the front door of the society’s tomb were not answered Tuesday evening. University spokeswoman Gila Reinstein said Tuesday afternoon she had “no knowledge” of the complaint filed by Geronimo’s descendants, adding that she could not comment on ongoing lawsuits. Even if Skull and Bones does have Geronimo’s remains, she said, the society is a separate entity from Yale and is not affiliated with the University. Because Geronimo’s initial place of burial was a U.S. military base, the suit’s 20 plaintiffs — all lineal descendants of Geronimo — named President Barack
Obama, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of the Army Pete Geren as defendants in the suit. Rumors that Bonesmen stole Geronimo’s remains have never been authoritatively confirmed or debunked. Experts remain split on whether the grave robbery ever took place. In an interview, Towana Spivey, director of the Fort Sill National Historic Landmark and Museum, said he has never believed the story. Some of the details of Bush’s story were also inconsistent with Geronimo’s tomb, Spivey said. For example, Bush described a stone vault with an iron door, Spivey said, but Geronimo’s grave would have been marked by a simple wooden headstone at the time when the robbery allegedly took place. But Alexandra Robbins ’98, author of the 2002 Bones exposé, “Secrets of the Tomb,” is not so quick to discount the idea that
Geronimo’s skull may have spent most of the last century at Yale. “Of all of the pilfered items rumored to be in the Bones tomb, Geronimo’s skull is the most plausible,” Robbins said in an e-mail to the News. “The society’s documented description of the grave-robbing is in standard Skull and Bones lingo, and Bonesmen I spoke to told me that there is a skull in the building that they call Geronimo.” If they win the suit, plaintiffs hope to re-inter Geronimo in a site close to his birthplace, in the Gila Wilderness of southwestern New Mexico. Geronimo’s descendants are legally entitled to ownership of his remains and any funerary objects buried with him under the provisions of the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the complaint argues. Transcribed by Asha Prihar.
THE CLASS OF 2014
Underdog victory BY ALISON GRISWOLD AND ASHTON WACKYM APRIL 11, 2013 PITTSBURGH — Quinnipiac beat Yale all season. Except when it mattered the most. The Bulldogs stunned the Bobcats, the CONSOL Energy Center and the college hockey world on Saturday as they rode a wave of upsets to its completion: the national championship. Sticks and helmets flew, goaltender Jeff Malcolm ’13 disappeared into a sea of players and the Yale coaching staff swarmed head coach Keith Allain ’80 as the team sealed a 4–0 victory over Quinnipiac to claim its first NCAA Division I title in program history. It was Yale’s first Frozen Four appearance since 1952, and made the nation’s oldest college hockey team the 19th program to join the list of DI national champions. Malcolm stopped all 36 shots he faced, captain Andrew Miller ’13 scored one and earned a record-breaking 114th career assist, and Jesse Root ’14 put away the game with an empty-netter at
13:02 in the third period. “This is a goal of ours and a dream,” said Malcolm, who celebrated his 24th birthday on Saturday. “I’ve been tearing up earlier, but I mean it’s just an unbelievable feeling to share with the coaches and the team.” The Elis broke through nearly 40 minutes of deadlock to take a 1–0 lead with just three-and-a-half seconds remaining in the second period. Defenseman Gus Young ’14 snagged a loose puck inside the blue line and shot it low on net while Clinton Bourbonais ’14 screened Hobey Baker runner-up Eric Hartzell, then deflected the shot through his legs. That set the stage for the momentum to take a definitive turn in the third. Left-winger Charles Orzetti ’16 started what would become a third-period scoring spree at 3:35, picking up his own rebound and niftily sliding it past Hartzell to put Yale up 2–0. Nine minutes later, right-winger Miller added to the tally for his second goal of the Frozen Four. The Yale captain picked up the puck in the middle
of the ice, broke away, and fired a low shot through Hartzell’s fivehole. Down 3–0, the Bobcats made a risky decision with nearly seven minutes remaining and decided to pull Hartzell in a 4-on-4 situation to give themselves a 5-on-4 advantage in hopes of breaking open the scoreboard. But the plan backfired when Root won the faceoff and Miller shot out of the zone with the puck. He made a bounce pass off the boards to Root, who swooped in and scored on the empty net to seal the deal for the Bulldogs, 4–0. “One of the things that I felt coming into the game tonight that gave us an edge is [Quinnipiac] hadn’t seen our A-game in the previous three games,” Allain said. “They saw the result of it, but I don’t think they knew what we had become as a hockey team. And I thought we could surprise them a little bit with that.” Quinnipiac, which topped the national polls for most of the season, had beaten Yale in each of the teams’ previous three meetings. In their first matchup on Feb. 2, the
Bobcats erased Yale’s early 2–0 lead with six unanswered goals. Yale fell to Quinnipiac again on Feb. 22 and in the ECAC consolation game on March 23, both times by a margin of three goals. Yale has been surprising teams since this NCAA Tournament began. The Elis slipped into the bracket after Notre Dame’s defeat of Michigan gave them the last available slot. Yale successively took down No. 1-seeded Minnesota and No. 2 North Dakota in the West Regional before knocking out UMass-Lowell in overtime during the Frozen Four semifinal. By the time they were finished, the Elis had defeated the top three teams in the national rankings. “If we look down the road and say we’re going to have to beat three number ones and a No. 2 seed, the task might have seemed daunting,” Allain said. “But we went into Grand Rapids and focused on Minnesota, took care of that job. We focused on North Dakota. When you chip away at it one at a time, obviously, it took a great deal of effort, but it’s not impossible, for sure.”
As silver confetti rained down at the conclusion of the championship game, Miller was named the third star of the game, Bourbonais was named the second, and Malcolm was named the first. “Everyone played their hardest and competed their hardest,” said Miller, who was named the most outstanding player of the tournament. “To bring a national championship back to Yale is unbelievable.” Yale has scheduled a celebration for the hockey team at Ingalls Rick at 5:00 p.m. today. This article was updated to reflect the version published in print on April 15. Correction: April 16 A previous version of this article stated that the men’s hockey team was the first Yale sport to win a NCAA team title since the men’s swimming team took one in 1953. In fact, the Yale women’s fencing program won NCAA team championships in 1984 and 1985. Transcribed by Serena Cho.
THE CLASS OF 2014
Miller announces DKE suspension BY JORDI GASSO MAY 17, 2011 UPDATED 10:04 p.m. In an email to students and faculty Tuesday afternoon, Yale College Dean Mary Miller informed the University community about the Executive Committee’s actions concerning the controversial Delta Kappa Epsilon pledge incident Oct. 13. After a full proceeding, Miller said, the Committee found that the Yale DKE chapter had violated the Undergraduate Regulations by threatening and intimidating others that night, when pledges were instructed to chanted phrases such as “No means yes, yes means anal” on Old Campus. The Committee also found several DKE brothers had breached the same regulations, resulting in individual penalties. “Although it is unusual to send a memorandum regarding a particular Executive Committee decision to the Yale community, a wide range of community members have been affected by this incident,” Miller said in the email. “As a result, I have decided to share the Committee’s decisions regarding this case.” Although Miller revealed that the Committee issued individual sanctions to fraternity members, federal and University privacy policies prevented her from communicating further details about these disciplinary actions, she said. But Miller did disclose that the Committee imposed penalties on the Yale DKE chapter — despite its status as an unregistered student organization — that prevent it from recruiting new members or holding any events on campus for five years. The sanctions also limit
the group’s ability to communicate with the student body and use the Yale name in connection with DKE. In a separate e-mail to the News, Miller decline to further comment on the matter. The Committee has formally asked that the fraternity’s national organization suspend the chapter for five years. After the Old Campus incident, DKE’s national organization promptly directed the Yale chapter to stop all pledge activities, including the initiation of new members. But the ban was lifted in early November, less than one month after it was imposed. If, after five years, the fraternity has adhered to these measures and registers as an undergraduate organization, the Committee suggests that the Yale College Dean’s Office lift the penalties. Although the national organization has yet to receive a formal request for suspension from the University, Executive Director of DKE International Douglas Lanpher said the measures detailed in Miller’s e-mail to the Yale community were “excessive” and that the fraternity’s headquarters would want to appeal the decision if possible. “I think we’ve addressed the situation internally,” Lanpher said. “We believe that corrective action has already been taken, but we would still like to be good partners [with the University].” Miller’s decision to reveal the disciplinary measures taken against DKE surprised Lanpher, he said, after Yale officials had assured him that the matter would remain confidential. Lanpher said that Yale’s call for suspension was “ironic” given the fact that the
University does not officially recognize Greek organizations. Still, he added, the national organization expects to work with Yale administrators to find an “appropriate solution.” Jordan Forney ’11, then-president of the Yale DKE chapter, declined to comment on the new sanctions. The DKE incident sparked a year-long debate on campus about Yale’s sexual climate and the University’s response to instances of sexual misconduct. Deeming the fraternity’s antics as the “last straw” in a long chain of public incidents, a group of 16 students and alumni filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, claiming that Yale violated Title IX regulations — a federal law that prohibits gender discrimination in schools that receive federal funding — by allowing a hostile sexual environment to persist on campus. On Mar. 31, the complainants announced that the OCR had officially opened an investigation into the University’s policies on sexual harassment. While it remains unclear what Yale’s new restrictions will mean for DKE since it is an unregistered organization, complainant Alexandra Brodsky ’12 said, Miller’s e-mail showed that the administration could be more transparent about its disciplinary proceedings. “If the suspension does create a serious disturbance to the fraternity’s activities, then a message will be sent that sexual harassment will not be tolerated on this campus,” she said. The decision also marked a departure from the administration’s usual response to incidents
of sexual misconduct, she said, adding that she was pleased to see Yale officials adopt this new approach. She declined to speculate on
whether the Title IX investigation had influenced Miller’s disclosure of the ExComm decision. Transcribed by Serena Cho.
LUCAS HOLTER/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
YALE DAILY NEWS · ALUMNI EDITION 2019 · yaledailynews.com
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THIS YEAR’S NEWS
“I believe there’s too little patience and context to many of the investigations I read or see on television.” BOB WOODWARD, B.A. ’65 AMERICAN JOURNALIST
Yale implicated in nationwide admissions scandal
COURTESY OF SAM RUBIN ’95
Meredith resigned from his position as women’s soccer coach last November. BY KELLY WEI STAFF REPORTER In a Boston courtroom on March 29, former Yale women’s soccer coach Rudy Meredith stood before a judge and pled guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy charges in relation to his role in what federal prosecutors have called the largest college admissions scandal ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice. The scheme, dubbed “Varsity Blues” by investigators, involved over 50 individuals, including prominent figures such as “Full House” actress Laurie Loughlin, and their children who attended elite colleges across the nation. According to court documents, Meredith “accepted bribes in exchange for designating applicants to Yale as recruits for the Yale women’s soccer team, and thereby facilitating their admission to the university.” His actions led to the admission of one student, whose
admission was rescinded in March. Yale believes that Meredith was the only University staff member involved with the scheme, according to a March 12 communitywide email sent by University President Peter Salovey in relation to the scandal. In an interview with the News, Director of Athletics Vicky Chun said that “the Department of Justice made clear that Yale has been the victim of a crime. The University has fully cooperated with the investigation and will continue moving forward.” The ringleader of the scandal and owner of a California-based forprofit admissions company William “Rick” Singer, received $25 million in bribes and kickbacks for helping more than 750 students gain admission into elite colleges nationwide. The Department of Justice claims that Meredith began working with Singer in April 2015. According to court documents, Singer agreed
to help “Yale Applicant 1” gain admission to Yale in exchange for $400,000. Allegedly, Singer collaborated with former women’s soccer coach for the University of Southern California Laura Janke to create a falsified athletic profile that would be included in the applicant’s Yale application. “[C]ould you please create a soccer profiles asap for this girl who will be a midfielder and attending Yale so she has to be very good,” a Nov. 10, 2017 email that Singer sent Janke stated, according to court documents. “Needs to play Academy and no high school soccer… awards and honors — more info to come — need a soccer pic probably Asian girl.” According to court filings, Singer forwarded the profile to Meredith who knew “at the time, [the applicant] did not play competitive soccer.” On March 24, University spokesperson Tom Conroy told the News
that the student’s admission had been rescinded. Meredith had also attempted to receive an additional $450,000 for facilitating the admission of “Yale Applicant 2” into the University. After a meeting with the parent in a Boston hotel in April of 2018 — which the FBI wiretapped — Meredith actively began to work as a cooperating witness for four months. During this time, Meredith made several tapped phone calls to Singer on behalf of the FBI, which led to its discovery that the Yale-related bribery was part of a much larger national scheme. In addition to Varsity Blues, two former soccer players alleged that Meredith pressed players to edit and write portions of his graduate school papers while he pursued a master’s degree at Ohio University. One player said that the team members had brought their concerns to the Department of Athletics as well as University President
Peter Salovey. After an investigation led by former Athletics Director Tom Beckett, the University took no action against Meredith despite various complaints. Beckett retired from his position in 2018 and was replaced by Vicky Chun. Since news broke of the admissions scandal, Chun has aimed to implement new policies to “ensure that student-athletes receive an excellent education at Yale and to enhance the quality of [Yale’s] athletic programs.” In addition, Chun will work alongside Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid Jeremiah Quinlan to implement “more robust training for all coaches to ensure they understand” Yale’s recruitment policies. Other schools implicated in the scandal include the University of Southern California, Wake Forest and Stanford. Contact KELLY WEI at kelly.wei@yale.edu .
Yale admits 2,178 to class of 2023 BY PHOEBE LIU STAFF REPORTER Yale College offered 2,178 students admission into the class of 2023, which represents 5.91 percent of a record 36,843 applicants from both the early action and regular decision pools. Keeping with recent trends, the number of applicants increased by 4.3 percent this cycle, and the pool represented a greater number of students who identify with a minority group or who will be first-generation college students than in years past. With this admissions cycle, Yale’s acceptance rate dipped below 6 percent, for the first time in recent memory. And, about a third of the class of 2023 was accepted from the early action pool, the early action cycle with the highest number of applications since 2013. “All of our admissions officers continue to be impressed with and humbled by the number of highly qualified applicants in our pool,” said Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid Jeremiah Quinlan. “We’re thrilled that the expansion of Yale College has allowed us to offer admission to more high-achieving students from such a variety of backgrounds.” The class of 2023 represents the third expanded class to be offered admission into Yale, following the opening of two new residential colleges colleges in 2017, named after Pauli Murray LAW ’65 and Benjamin Franklin. The additional space has allowed class sizes to expand by about 15 percent, or 200 students per class.
Quinlan said that the admissions committee was again able to select a larger class “without any significant changes to the holistic process.” In their press release on the admission of the new class, Yale reiterated its commitment to financial aid. “My colleagues and I look forward to working with the admitted students to the class of 2023 to ensure that cost of attendance is not a barrier for any admitted student when considering Yale,” said Director of Undergraduate Financial Aid Scott Wallace-Juedes. Mark Dunn, director of outreach and communications for the admissions office, said that outreach efforts from the admissions office, the QuestBridge National College Match program — a program that “matches” high-achieving and low-income students to one of its partner colleges with no parental contribution or student loans —and other factors contributed to a 110-percent jump of applicants from students “living in lower-income census tracts.” The admissions office focuses on making the Yale admissions process as transparent as possible through both their online presence and mail outreach, especially in lower-income areas, Dunn said. Additionally, according to Quinlan, “recent enhancements” to undergraduate financial policies to increase the accessibility of Yale to students with the greatest financial need include free hospitalization insurance coverage and a $200 “startup grant” intended to subsidize the cost of computers, clothing and
other necessary items. Admitted students were invited to Bulldog Days and Bulldog Saturday in April — two
events designed to showcase Yale to admitted students. The final decision date for commitment to Yale College was
May 1. Contact PHOEBE LIU at phoebe.liu@yale.edu .
ELLA STARK/PRODUCTION & DESIGN STAFF
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YALE DAILY NEWS · ALUMNI EDITION 2019 · yaledailynews.com
THIS YEAR’S NEWS
“Freedom means the right of people to assemble, organize and debate openly.” HILLARY CLINTON, J.D. ’73 FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES
ER&M obtains hiring power following campuswide activism BY AYUMI SUDO STAFF REPORTER Following over a month of student and faculty activism, the University committed to increasing its support for the program of Ethnicity, Race and Migration on May 2, after 13 of the program’s senior faculty members withdrew their labor from the program on March 29. The faculty members cited administrative disinterest in ER&M — including the University’s failure to recognize academic work in the field and ER&M’s lack of hiring ability — as reasons for their withdrawal. The move left the program without any tenured faculty member or professional leadership. But after the University announced that it would grant ER&M hiring power for five faculty positions weeks later, the professors returned to the program. “On behalf of my colleagues, I thank the Yale administration for affirming ER&M’s importance as a program that requires resources and standing on par with other academic units,” ER&M chair Alicia Schmidt Camacho wrote in a May 2 statement on the program’s website. “I take great joy in imagining the future of the Ethnicity, Race, and Migration Program at Yale and our new capacity to partner with institutions and colleagues beyond this University. I am grateful that our faculty remains committed to teaching and mentoring students interested in what has become one of our university’s most dynamic and fastest growing undergraduate majors.” A press release announcing the March 29 withdrawals said that faculty members had met with University administrators dozens of times since 2002 to discuss ER&M’s status. In the meetings, according to the press release, the faculty members stressed to the University officials that they should not be expected to “volunteer their labor to support” the program. They also argued that University administrators had not kept their repeated promises to
change ER&M’s status and funding, nor had they given newly recruited faculty members a primary appointment within the program. “For two decades we have been assigned to an irregular and precarious status within the University’s administrative structure, and in recent years we have seen Yale leaders turn away from the promises they have made to our program and the students we serve,” Camacho said in the March 29 press release. “… The administration has maintained a system that fails to recognize our work and prevents us from participating in the tenure and promotion process.” The faculty members who withdrew from the program in March stated in the press release that they remained committed to supporting their current junior and senior majors. But they could not guarantee that sophomore and first years would be able to major in ER&M. The March 29 press release stated that the professors “cannot responsibly meet our growing obligations to students or our respective research fields under the current structure.” The professors’ action drew support from outside of the University. By April 9, more than 500 scholars from various fields — many of which focused on ethnic studies — had signed a letter calling for University President Peter Salovey, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science Tamar Gendler and Dean of the Humanities Amy Hungerford to “do everything possible to restore and institutionalize the program.” Meanwhile, other petitions circulated online. One was signed by more than 1,500 Yale students, alumni and community supporters as of April 8. Brown University chair of American studies Matthew Guterl, who signed the nationwide petition with 500 signatures, said Yale’s ER&M program has “outsized significance” nationally. “The faculty who work in it — including those who have resigned — are globally import-
CARLY WANNA/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Students and faculty members were quick to organize following the professors’ withdrawals from the ER&M program. ant to ethnic studies, with sterling reputations as teachers and writers producing reorienting works of scholarship,” Guterl wrote in an email to the News. “To watch the program die slowly, killed off by a thousand cuts or by negligence, would have been extremely painful — for students at Yale and for all of us in the field. Their mass resignation was a wake-up call, with stakes that are just simply bigger than Yale.” Many Yalies also supported the faculty members’ decision to withdraw from the ER&M program. Three days after the announcement, the Coalition for Ethnic Studies at Yale — a student group
calling for Yale to make the ER&M program a formal department — created a pop-up library with their works on Cross Campus to express solidarity with the professors. The exhibit included two bookshelves with the works of the 13 professors who withdrew from the ER&M program last Friday as well as those written by some of the 41 scholars who have departed from the program since its inception in 1997. On May 2, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Faculty Resource Committee — which allocates faculty “slots,” a commitment to a department or program allowing it search and hiring power — voted to grant the program five slots. Fol-
lowing the vote, the 13 professors returned to the program. “We are deeply grateful to members of the Yale community and the thousands of educators and others worldwide who have supported the Ethnicity, Race, and Migration Program,” Camacho stated in a May 2 press release. “We received remarkable affirmations of the importance of our collective work and have formed new relationships in the process.” According to the March 29 press release, 87 students have declared ER&M as their major. Contact AYUMI SUDO at ayumi.sudo@yale.edu .
Strife over student effort continues BY MACRINA WANG CONTRIBUTING REPORTER With protests, pamphlets and petitions, the campus group Students Unite Now has long demanded the elimination of the student effort section of a Yale financial aid package — colloquially known as the “student income contribution” — arguing that it causes socioeconomic disparities in students’ college experiences. Still, many University officials — including University President Peter Salovey, Yale College Dean Marvin Chun and Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid Jeremiah Quinlan — have continued to defend the structure of Yale’s financial aid packages, contending that students should contribute to the cost of their education and that getting rid of the contribution would not be an easy fix. Student effort is the amount of money students on financial aid are expected to pay beyond their parents’ expected financial contribution. As defined by Yale’s Financial Aid website, it is the aggregate of the “student share” and “student campus employment option.” The share is the University’s estimate of wages that students could earn over the summer,
which is currently set at $1,600 for first years and at $2,600 for upperclassmen with standard levels of need, while the “student campus employment option” is the University’s estimate of wages students could earn through workstudy, which is set at $2,850 for first years and $3,350 for upperlevel students who do not belong to “high-need” families. Most of the money earned for student effort is not paid directly to the University, but instead applied toward unbilled costs like textbooks and personal expenses. “I think the administration hears what we’re doing loud and clear, and I think it’s on them to decide what to do,” said Julia Salseda-Angeles ’19, a SUN organizer. “Students have demonstrated over and over again over the past six years, that this is a really harmful and unfair policy.” SUN has protested the student effort since 2012. Members of the group have characterized it as an “unnecessary burden” that further separates students along the lines of race, class, ability and documentation status, according to SUN member Carlos Rodriguez Cortez ’21. During the 2018-2019 academic year, the group hosted a February town hall, which attracted around
200 attendees and allowed students to share the difficulties they have encountered with the “student income contribution.” SUN then set up a weekend-long encampment outside of University President Peter Salovey’s office in SSS in April and released a report that same month on student experiences with student effort, all after having staged multiple rallies throughout the year around campus. National media outlets like Newsweek have publicized the group’s campaign. During this year’s Bulldog Days, which took place from April 15 to 17, 24 students were arrested while participating in sit-ins opposing the contribution. Five students were arrested in front of Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall, while 19 others were arrested in front of Phelps Gate for obstructing traffic. “We’re fighting for the class of 2023,” said Salseda-Angeles. “I’m a senior, I’m about to graduate, so I’ve paid my SIC for four years. I want the class of 2023 to have a different experience than I had.” While Yale has lowered the amount that students must contribute to their education over the past few years, administrators have long defended keeping the student effort, emphasizing that eliminating it entirely would not be a simple financial process.
Quinlan told the News in February that getting rid of student effort is not as easy as “simply pulling more money out of the endowment.” He explained that the endowment supports a little more than half of the yearly undergraduate financial aid budget. “The endowment is not a bank account; it is made up of hundreds of smaller funds, many with unbreakable indentures that prevent it from covering the full cost of a Yale education for all students,” Quinlan said. SUN’s activities have drawn administrative attention. During the group’s weekend-long encampment in April, Dean of Student Affairs Camille Lizarríbar told protestors in SSS that they would be cited for trespassing if they did not exit the building by midnight. Chun and Quinlan engaged in conversation with protestors at the encampment, with Quinlan describing their discussion as “brief, but … productive.” Salovey, Quinlan and former Dean of Yale College Jonathan Holloway also met with SUN leaders in May 2017. Quinlan told the News that he was not able to attend SUN’s late February town hall but “extended an invitation to meet with several small groups of students” who expressed concerns about Yale’s
financial aid policies. He added that small group meetings have in the past been a “more productive venue” for discussing personal experiences and the details of Yale’s policies and emphasized that students with personal financial concerns should speak with a financial aid counselor to discuss their individual situations and find solutions. Salovey said in the fall of 2017 that eliminating student effort was not a priority in what was then the University’s next major fundraising push. He said that the administration would “never articulate a goal that would be around such a specific area of financial aid policy.” Rather, he said fundraising goals should be stated in a way that “motivates the greatest number of people to give” and that there should be “flexibility in the implementation of campus policy.” SUN has received endorsements from several Yale student organizations including MEChA, Asian American Studies Task Force, Yale Hillel Student Board, Trans@Yale, the LGBTQ Co-op, Fossil Free Yale, Broad Recognition, Yale Undergraduate Prison Project and the Yale Women’s Center. Contact MACRINA WANG at macrina.wang@yale.edu .
COURTESY OF HANNAH SCHMIDT
Students Unite Now has been protesting the student effort since 2012.
YALE DAILY NEWS · ALUMNI EDITION 2019 · yaledailynews.com
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“A ship in a port is safe, but that’s nto what ships are built for.” GRACE HOPPER, M.MATH ’30, PH.D. ’34 AMERICAN COMPUTER SCIENTIST
Hundreds protest shooting of unarmed citizens by Yale, Hamden Police
DANIEL ZHAO/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Community activism continued in the days following the officer-involved shooting. BY ALAYNA LEE STAFF REPORTER In the early hours of April 16, 22-year-old Stephanie Washington and 21-year-old Paul Witherspoon were shot numerous times while in their car at New Haven’s Newhallville neighborhood by two police officers — Devin Eaton and Terrance Pollock of the Hamden Police Department and Yale Police Department, respectively. Witherspoon was not injured, and Washington was shot in the torso. Both victims were unarmed. The State Attorney’s Office and the Connecticut State Police opened an investigation into the officer-involved shooting immediately after the incident. In the days that followed the shooting, hundreds of New Haven and Hamden residents, as well as Yalies, gathered to protest the officer-involved shooting and demand justice for Washington and Witherspoon. Protests took place on consecutive days for over a week, often lasting a few hours in locations across New Haven and Hamden — including the Hamden Police Department and Yale President Peter Salovey’s house. One major protest occurred on Yale’s campus two days after the officer-involved shooting. Hundreds of Yale students and community activists gathered outside Woodbridge Hall at approximately 5:30 p.m. on April 18 to protest the incident. The protestors made demands for city, law enforcement and Yale officials, with the main
demands including the release of the officers’ body camera footage, the immediate firing of both officers and reparations to both victims. Growing to over 500 protestors, the group moved to the middle of Broadway and York Street, where they sat in a circle, chanted, sang and told stories for a few hours — all while closing down several streets surrounding the Broadway-York intersection. The group marched through Downtown New Haven, shutting down major thoroughfare streets around the city until midnight. “When you kill our young people this is what you get,” New Haven Rising’s Rev. Scott Marks said at a rally on April 26. “These are our children. Enough is enough. … [We need to] make sure we lift up Stephanie and Paul, that we lift up jobs for New Haven residents, that we lift up calling for a better quality for life. It’s time for change.” Less than 17 hours after the seven-hour, 500-person protest on April 18, hundreds reconvened in Hamden to march down Dixwell Avenue — a major road conjoining New Haven and Hamden — to the Hamden Police Department. At least 400 people joined the march, chanting, “No justice. No peace. No racist police,” and, “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now.” In a communitywide statement on April 17, University President Peter Salovey stated that Yale will cooperate fully with the state investigations and said that the Yale administration had been
in contact with New Haven Mayor Toni Harp, as well as both the Yale and Hamden Police Departments. “We will also engage with our fellow members of the greater New Haven community. Our relief that the young woman who was shot did not suffer life-threatening injuries must not signal closure, but rather an opening: now is the time for all of us — city residents, their elected leaders, community organizers, and the Yale community — to come together,” Salovey said in the statement. According to University spokesperson Tom Conroy on April 18, Pollock had been placed on administrative leave following the incident. The Hamden police officer has also been placed on leave pending the outcome of the investigation conducted by the State Attorney’s Office, according to acting Hamden Police Chief John Cappiello. The officer-involved shooting and subsequent protests drew national attention, bringing forward issues of police brutality that New Haven community members had long been fighting against. In January — after decades of activism — New Haven established a citywide Civilian Review Board to hold the NHPD accountable. Eight days after the incident, Connecticut State Police released Hamden police body camera footage and all relevant dispatch audio from the shooting at a April 24 press conference in New Haven. However, the release only included the body camera foot-
age from Eaton, the Hamden officer, because the Yale Police officer’s camera was turned off during the incident. Commissioner of the State Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection John Rovella said at the press conference that the inactivation of both cameras is “inconsistent with policy and procedures.” At the conference, Rovella added that usually footage is only released after an investigation is terminated. He added that he “[has] no intention of charging the officers” before the results of the full investigation are concluded. On April 23, in a campus-wide email from Yale University Vice President for Human Resources and Administration Janet Lindner stated that Pollock will “remain on leave throughout the state’s investigation.” Lindner’s email also announced that the University will begin its own investigation following the release of footage. The Yale Black Men’s Union and Yale Black Women’s Coalition issued a statement saying that they stand in solidarity with the victims, their families and the hundreds of protests demanding justice, as well as “the millions who continue to be at risk of police mistreatment and injustice.” A group of Black undergraduate students formed the Black Students for Disarmament at Yale organization in the week following the shooting, uniting to demand that the Yale administration disarm the Yale Police Department and restrict the Yale Police Depart-
ment’s patrol area. In a letter addressed to Salovey, Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins and senior members of the Yale administration, Black Students for Disarmament at Yale stated that the power exercised by the YPD is “incongruent with the needs of Yale students and new Haveners.” “Yale must knowledge its complicity in the violence its private police force commits against new Haveners,” the letter read. “As students of this university, we refuse to have the injustices of the YPD committed in our name” On April 22, the Hamden Legislative Council originally scheduled a regular budget meeting, but after the shooting, more than 200 community activists and Hamden residents used the forum as an opportunity to share grievances with Hamden officials. “I know you guys are in a bad spot, but I honestly feel — and my family feels — that you are going to do the right thing,” Rodney Williams, Witherspoon’s uncle said, addressing a panel of city officials at a Hamden council meeting on April 23. “These people behind me, until they start seeing something moving in the direction that it needs to move, you guys are going to be paying a lot of overtime for marches.” Established in 1894, the Yale Police Department is the nation’s oldest university police department. Contact ALAYNA LEE at alayna.lee@yale.edu .
Elm City gears up for mayoral race BY VIOLA LEE STAFF REPORTER With the general election taking place in six months, the 2019 mayoral race in the Elm City is expected to be one of the most competitive races in recent history. Incumbent Toni Harp, the 50th mayor of New Haven, announced in February that she is seeking
re-election for her fourth consecutive two-year term. She will be running against four contenders: Justin Elicker FES ’10 SOM ’10 — executive director of the New Haven Land Trust and a top contender in the 2013 mayoral race — affordable housing advocate Urn Pendragon, Elm City philanthropist and former Yale-New Haven Hospital nurse Wendy Hamilton
and labor and community health care advocate Seth Poole. Poole is the only unaffiliated candidate — the other four candidates are Democrats. “[Party] endorsement or not — in our cities that are Democratic — you can get away with not having the party endorsement,” Gage Frank, Elicker’s campaign manager told the News. “I really do feel that
ALEXANDRA SCHMELING/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Harp’s bid for re-election has been met with filings by four other candidates so far.
people are ready for change.” This year, Harp’s campaign faces challenges unseen in the 2015 and 2017 mayoral races, in both of which the incumbent won by a landslide. Harp’s opponents this year have highlighted problems with the city’s finances, particularly calling attention to budget deficits and the lack of affordable housing and public school funding. Several members of the Democratic Town Committee have also expressed dissatisfaction with City Hall’s failure to report expenditures as required, criticizing the lack of fiscal transparency in covering pension payments and deficits. Ward 1 Alder Hacibey Catalbasoglu ’19 emphasized that the money spent by City Hall belongs to taxpayers, who have a right to know where their money is being spent. “I’m sick of the greed and the graft,” said Hamilton, whose campaign highlights a general discontent with the fiscal health of the city. Elicker has made fiscal responsibility a priority of his candidacy. On April 21, he wrote an op-ed in the New Haven Register stating his three-point financial plan: being honest about the budget, rooting out mismanagement and asking partners to pay their “fair share.” “We need a mayor who isn’t afraid to stand up and ask others to pay their fair share, starting with developing better relationships with Yale, Hartford and neighboring towns — all of whom benefit greatly from their proximity to New Haven jobs, services and culture,” Elicker wrote in the op-ed. Pendragon told the New Haven Independent that the Elm City
needs to appeal directly to the governor for more state aid, which can be made more convincing by arguing that the city is “falling apart.” Amidst Harp’s controversial financial decisions, Elicker’s campaign further called into attention the incumbent’s campaign practices by filing a complaint on March 4 alleging 13 major violations of campaign finance law. In response to Elicker’s complaint, the State Elections Enforcement Commission, which oversees all of Connecticut’s campaign and elections, opened a formal investigation into Harp’s 2017 mayoral campaign. The investigation is ongoing. In April, Elicker told the News that the success of his campaign’s fundraising efforts — having raised more than four times the amount Harp’s campaign has — is a strong “indication that people in New Haven are interested in change.” In the first quarter of 2019, Elicker’s team raised $117,694, in addition to the $48,000 expected from the city’s public financing system, while Harp’s raised $26,042. Elicker stated that it is unusual for an incumbent mayor’s reelection campaign to not raise a comparable amount. Hamilton and Pendragon are currently self-funding their campaigns. According to the New Haven Independent, Poole, who filed his papers to run for mayor on May 1, is looking to begin raising money for his campaign soon. The primary election will take place on Sept. 10. Contact VIOLA LEE at kyounga.lee@yale.edu .
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YALE DAILY NEWS · ALUMNI EDITION 2019 · yaledailynews.com
THIS YEAR’S NEWS
“The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy.” MERYL STREEP, M.F.A. ’75 AMERICAN ACTRESS
Greek life in review: DKE report, Engender lawsuit BY YUKA SAJI CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Over the past year, campus fraternities have come into the spotlight as allegations of sexual assault continued to arise and a prominent lawsuit threatened Greek life at Yale. In the midst of a contentious campus dialogue surrounding Greek life, the results of a longawaited review of allegations that the Yale chapter of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity fosters a hostile sexual environment were released in January. Led by Yale Senior Deputy Title IX Coordinator Jason Killheffer, the review was conducted in response to multiple sexual assault allegations against DKE members reported by the News and Business Insider. The review drew upon interviews with representatives from approximately 15 student groups on campus and with approximately 200 students in order to identify general trends in student perceptions of DKE culture and in the role of Greek letter organizations in social life at Yale. “I condemn the culture described in these accounts; it runs counter to our community’s values of making everyone feel welcome, respected and safe,” Yale College Dean Marvin Chun wrote in a Jan. 14 email to the Yale community sharing the review’s findings. “I also offer some plain advice about events like these: don’t go to them.” DKE’s fraught history includes a controversial 2010 event in which pledges chanted “no means yes, yes means anal” outside the Women’s Center, after which the University imposed a five-year ban on the fraternity. In early 2018, the News and Business Insider reported sexual assault allegations against two former members of the fraternity, including its former president, who was suspended in March 2017 for “penetration without consent.” Thirty Communication and Consent Educators, first-year counselors and sorority members also told the News that DKE’s sexual misconduct issues extend beyond just a few “bad apples” and reflect a wider institutional problem. DKE is also known for its association with former member and incumbent Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh ’87 LAW ’90, against whom allegations of sexual misconduct were raised in the midst of his Supreme Court confirmation hearing last year by classmates from his time at Yale. Although the January report did not address specific accounts of misconduct at DKE, including the sexual misconduct allegations, participants in the review cited the “debauchery” of DKE events and “a contempt by DKE members for generally acceptable standards of conduct.” Despite condemning DKE’s culture, Chun added in a subsequent email that the University will not punish the fraternity. He stated that Yale lacks the legal standing to impose disciplinary sanctions on independent organizations like DKE, and that former disciplinary action on off-campus groups achieved lit-
tle to change their behavior. However, Chun’s claim has been contested by legal experts such as David Easlick, former executive director of DKE and current lawyer and consultant on fraternity-related cases, who asserted that Yale has the “absolute” right to discipline fraternities. In response to the report, DKE President Hugh Perkins ’20 told the News that the fraternity remains “committed to the path of improvement” started by an internal working group last year. In a DKE-conducted review released in February 2018, the working group recommended reforms to foster a safer environment at the chapter, such as introducing sober monitors, co-ed TIPS-certified bouncers, house renovations to prevent crowding and the termination of alcohol service at 1 a.m. “We appreciate the candid assessment given by Dean Chun, hope that the reforms we have implemented have addressed many of the root causes of these issues and will continue to improve,” Perkins said in his statement. Still, DKE and other campus fraternities faced other threats this school year, as the group — along with every other campus fraternity — faced a federal class action lawsuit filed this February. Three Yale students — Anna McNeil ’20, Ry Walker ’20 and Ellie Singer ’21 — filed the suit which alleges alleges sex-based discrimination in fraternities at Yale for their denial of membership to female and non-binary students. McNeil, Walker and Singer serve as the co-directors of Engender, a student group on campus known to advocate gender integration of Greek life. The suit was also filed against the University itself. Engender has previously worked to promote gender inclusion in fraternities by meeting with Yale administrators, protesting an annual DKE-organized Spring Fling party known “Tang,” and organizing female and non-binary students to participate symbolically in the fraternity rush process. Sigma Phi Epsilon, colloquially known as SigEp, ultimately allowed Engender members to “rush” the organization and was the only one of nine all-male fraternities at Yale to do so. Despite allowing these students into the fraternity rush process, SigEp ultimately denied the Engender rush participants membership to the fraternity, citing national chapter regulations. According to Will McGrew ’18, a former SigEp member and founding member of Engender, making fraternities coeducational will help resolve the issue of their sexual climate. In an “all-male space” like a fraternity, McGrew said, “it’s really hard to have a zero tolerance policy [for sexual assault].” In contrast, he said a mixed-gender space could lead to positive change. McGrew observed that improvements in SigEp’s sexual culture tended to originate in women who were dating or friends with the fraternity’s members.
McNeil, Walker and Singer highlighted the fact that the lawsuit is not just aimed at “bad” fraternities like DKE, whose members have faced sexual misconduct allegations in the past. “Just focusing on those bad fraternities allows every other frater-
nity to hide behind them and say ‘Oh, we don’t do that. We don’t have seven rape accusations,’” said Singer. “But that doesn’t mean that those spaces don’t perpetuate the same toxic masculinity, the same male privilege, even if they have different ways of doing so.”
Beside DKE and SigEp, the other fraternities on campus include Sigma Nu, Leo, Chi Psi, Sigma Chi, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Alpha Delta Phi and Zeta Psi. Contact YUKA SAJI at yuka.saji@yale.edu .
LUCAS HOLTER/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Several members of the campus group Engender have filed a lawsuit against Yale’s fraternities.
Bass Library renovation plans stir controversy BY SAMUEL TURNER STAFF REPORTER Following pushback from the Yale community on original renovation plans, the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Library will undergo a modified set of renovations this summer. The remodeled library — set to reopen before the start of the fall semester — will retain 61,000 out of its cur-
rent 150,000 print volumes while expanding its study space. Since its construction in 2007, Bass has been a go-to spot for undergraduates hurrying to complete readings, papers and problem sets. In part, the planned renovation aims to accommodate the 800-person expansion to the student body from 2017 to 2021, allowed by the addition of Pauli Murray and Benja-
LUCAS HOLTER/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Bass library will reopen this fall after undergoing a modified set of renovations this summer.
min Franklin Colleges. During the 2017-18 academic year, the library commissioned anthropologist and library culture expert Nancy Fried Foster to investigate how students and faculty interact with the library. Her report found that students often come to Bass for intensive, individual study, so the summer renovations will focus on adding more individual study spaces, rather than tables or rooms. University Librarian Susan Gibbons said that both the expansion of class sizes and declining circulation of print volumes justified the proposal, which would have reduced the collection in Bass to just 40,000 books and required closing the library for the entirety of the fall 2019 semester. “Through expanded study space, a renewed collection and the move of two librarians to more visible, upper-level offices, we will make Bass a more effective gateway to all the resource of Yale University Library,” Gibbons said in an email to the Yale community. But the proposed plan and its timeline garnered negative reactions from students and faculty members, prompting modifications to the plans’ earliest iterations. Both News Staff Columnist Leland Stange ’19 and English Professor Leslie Brisman, who chairs the Yale College Library Research Skills Committee, wrote opinion pieces for the News in opposition to the renovation plan. Additionally, Stange created a Facebook
event called “Browse Bass: Save Our Library!” and urged students to check out Bass books to raise circulation numbers. Nearly 1,000 students signed up on social media to participate in this “browse in.” “You are removing what I and my students value so highly — to go look among books on reserve,” Brisman said when Gibbons first released the plans. “If we put them behind the desks, they can’t look and choose among them. You’re replacing that intellectual opportunity with seating.” Stange framed the renovation as an infringement on student academics that would make it harder to browse research materials and for the time being, would limit study spaces. “My main concern about the direction of the project is it is missing the fundamental nature of what it is to be a student,” Stange said at the initial presentation of the renovation plans. “The unique experience of browsing books in Bass — seeing a collection that does not just span a few of the primary works but also secondary works, and those that are deemed helpful for a certain project.” In response to the criticism, Gibbons announced changes to the renovation plan in early February. According to a Feb. 7 email from Gibbons to the student body, the library will retain more of its current furniture than previously planned, allowing for the construction period
— which was originally slated to last through the end of the fall semester — to be shortened. Gibbons also noted in the email that Bass will have a “soft opening” on Aug. 28 for students, but library staffing, services, collections and furnishings “will still be in flux” until Bass’s official re-opening on Oct. 1. Further, the library will retain 61,000 of its 150,000 volumes, rather than the earlier planned 40,000. The renovations will focus on making Bass a “gateway” to the full Yale library collection by renewing the Bass collection so that it emphasizes new titles, books assigned by professors and books that have been checked out by undergraduates in the last five years, according to a March 6 email from Gibbons to the Yale community. “As you know, the reason for this project is to make sure our growing undergraduate population will continue to find ample, good study space in Bass,” Gibbons told the News. “Although the increased study space is smaller now, I believe it will still make a significant difference for students.” Thain Cafe, which offers food and drinks to students directly outside of Bass Library, will remain untouched by the renovations. Bass was formerly known as Cross Campus Library. Contact SAMUEL TURNER at samuel.turner@yale.edu .
YALE DAILY NEWS · ALUMNI EDITION 2019 · yaledailynews.com
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“We all have a gift; we all have a passion — it’s just about finding it and going into it. Being an asset to your family and community.” ANGELA BASSETT, B.A. ’80, M.F.A. ’83 AMERICAN ACTRESS
Kahlil Greene ’21 elected YCC President BY ALAYNA LEE STAFF REPORTER Kahlil Greene ’21 has become the first black president of the Yale College Council after earning 1,100 votes, or 89.72 percent of the total votes, in April’s uncontested election. Greene — who served as the YCC Finance Director last year — and newly-elected YCC Vice President Grace Kang ’21 campaigned on a “4x4 Policy Plan” that focused on four points: facilitating meaningful interactions between Yale and New Haven; fostering a safer, healthier and more equitable campus culture; enhancing the quality of the University’s academics and facilities; and improving the YCC’s capacity to cater to student demands. Greene and Kang plan on proposing specific plans for each of these points. “I have a plan for what I want to get done between now and the end of my term, but the most fun aspect of the YCC is that I can’t know the exact goals this organization will end up accomplishing over the next 12 months,” Greene said. “As the first black president, it is important for me to symbolize the progress that this university has made over the years and the journey we still have ahead of us. Yale should continue working to become a more diverse and representative place. I’m grateful for the role that I will have in making that happen!” Kang, who ran on a ticket with Greene, also ran unopposed. In the only contested race this year, Steven Orientale ’21 won the election for YCC Events Director against Chloe Adda ’22. In 2018, five candidates ran for the YCC presidency, three ran for vice president and one for events director. Greene recognized that, as an uncontested candidate, he may have to work harder to prove that he deserves his place. He encouraged the Yale community to hold him accountable like they would for any other candidate. “Even though I don’t have contestants, I am determined to keep improving,” he said. “I
believe I am qualified, and I am determined to prove to everyone my capabilities as the YCC president.” Greene said that his priority for the upcoming year is fostering a safer, healthier and more equitable campus culture. Although the YCC has historically been silent on major campus events such as the case of racial profiling after a white student called the police on a black student napping in the Hall of Graduate Studies common room, Greene said that the YCC should be more “responsive” to campus issues and more engaged with the campus community. He added that the YCC should aim to sponsor student groups and their various activities, which includes providing support for student activists on campus While Greene noted during the YCC candidates’ debate on April 10 that although he cannot promise to solve issues like eliminating the student effort — the amount of money that Yale expects students to contribute from term-time and summer employment that is colloquially known as the student income contribution — and divestment, he said he believes that they are “worth our time” and that he “[promises] to make incremental reforms.” “This year’s YCC knows how to get things done, but it hasn’t been the voice of the undergraduate community,” Greene told the News earlier in April. “What the students are thinking and doing is the final frontier that we need to hone in on.” As finance director, Greene instituted new accountability mechanisms after last year’s Patagonia scandal in which the YCC used funds intended for student activities to purchase Patagonia sweaters for all 13 members of its events committee. The new policies include mandatory briefings for each YCC member on the best financial practices, new pre-purchase and post-purchase forms and strict oversight by the finance and events directors. In an effort to increase transparency, the YCC will also publish their monthly expendi-
tures on their website. Greene added that he has also introduced new pre-purchase and post-purchase forms to streamline reimbursements. According to a document distributed to each member of the YCC, Greene wrote that each purchase must be approved by the finance director, a member of the six-member business team or the events director. “I think that this administration is doing a great job at reflecting on previous years and seeing what we can do to improve on those past actions,” former YCC Finance Director and Student Organizations Director Addison Jakubowicz ’20 said. “The new finance director has been going to every YCC Committee meeting to list out financial best practices … but I really do think that it has greatly helped for transparency even just within YCC.” Last year, Greene was also involved in developing student programming related to New Haven. He co-founded the New Haven Interns Program and contributed to the creation of the New Havens Explorers Program. Both programs aim to connect Yalies to the Elm City with stipends provided by the YCC. This past year, Greene has secured various corporate sponsors for YCC initiatives. Greene helped secure corporate sponsors FLEX and Maxim Hygiene for the distribution of free menstrual products to the residential colleges, which he said “legitimized [the YCC’s] cause.” Under Greene’s leadership, the YCC also formed partnerships with Lyft, Red Bull and Vengo Labs, the brand behind the “wellness-to-go” vending machine that will be placed in Bass Cafe this fall. “In a very large sense, our business team, under Kahlil’s leadership, is very different than it was in previous years,” outgoing YCC President Saloni Rao ’20 said. “They’ve been branching out to seek out national and local partnerships with organizations in order to provide more services to Yale students.” The YCC was established in 1972. Contact ALAYNA LEE at alayna.lee@yale.edu .
COURTESY OF KAHLIL GREENE
Kahlil Greene ’21 will be the first black YCC president alongside newly-elected YCC Vice President Grace Kang ’21.
Students push for MENA cultural center BY MACKENZIE HAWKINS STAFF REPORTER
ASHA PRIHAR/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
The Middle Eastern and North African Cutural House Club held its first event as an official student organization in the Berkeley Common Room this March.
Although Yale currently has four cultural centers — the Afro-American Cultural Center, La Casa Cultural, the Asian American Cultural Center and the Native American Cultural Center — many students from Middle Eastern and North African backgrounds do not feel that these centers adequately represent them. These students have begun advocating for a fifth cultural house to fill this gap. While several of the other centers exist as the result of student protests, organizers from the Middle Eastern and North African Cultural House Club decided to approach the Yale College Council and the Un ive rs i ty a d m i n i s t ra t i o n directly, according to MENA Cultural House Club President Yasmin Alamdeen ’21. Shady Qubaty ’20, former president of the Arab Students Association and a student with Yemeni heritage, reached out to the YCC at the end of the Spring 2018 semester to ask for its support on the initiative. The MENA Cultural House Club became an official student organization at the beginning of the spring semester. Since then, a coalition of students has been working to gain recognition of MENA as an independent cultural center. “Students shouldn’t be divided by geography because culture isn’t just based on geography,” Qubaty told the News. Currently, students from the MENA region are assigned either to the Af-Am House or the AACC, depending on the country with which they identify. “We need a MENA house on campus to cultivate a community of MENA citizens or students who are actively striving towards creating an apolitical haven for students to celebrate and for us to appreciate our countries together.”
Since it formally registered as a student organization in January, the MENA Club has met in Room 110 on 305 Crown St., where students host events similar to the programming offered by the University’s four official cultural centers. In early March, the group hosted a launch event in the Berkeley College common room, where they collected emails for the MENA Club panelist and garnered over 50 signatures on a poster in support of the initiative. Attendees could taste cuisine from the region and do traditional arts and crafts such as henna and calligraphy. The event also featured other cultural organizations related to the MENA region, such as Students for Yemen, the Yale Muslim Student Association and the Yale Refugee Project. “We tried to encapsulate [Middle Eastern culture] in all of its beauty, and I think we did a pretty good job,” MENA Club Treasurer Demir Coker ’22 said at the event. “This is a very large community, and we would like to keep the issue salient.” Like the other cultural centers, the club plans to establish a peer liaison program in Fall 2019. Still, this has not come without challenges. At a discussion event in April hosted by the AASA and MENA Club, the event’s co-coordinator Qusay Omran ’21 explained that when he requested data from Yale related to the number of students who identify as Middle Eastern, he was given the number of international students from the region but not for all students with ethnic ties to it. Yale uses U.S. Census Bureau guidelines on University applications, which classifies students from Middle Eastern backgrounds as “white.” “A lot of Middle-Eastern and North African people don’t feel white,” Alamdeen told the News. “I think now is the time, especially in today’s climate, to
sort of realize that there is more nuance to culture than just what the nationally accepted categories are.” Some students have “fall[en] through the cracks” that these categories create, said Kayley Estoesta ’21, a head coordinator for the Asian American Cultural Center, at the MENA Club’s April event with the AASA. Omran said that he was excited about Yale’s cultural centers before he arrived on campus but then felt “left out” of cultural life at Yale because there is not a house where he can find a community that shares his identity. As Omran and others look to build that community, they will need to demonstrate student interest and “full functionality” as a traditional cultural house to receive administrative support, according to Sammy Landino ’21, the 2018-19 YCC task force director and a staff columnist for the News. Seventy-six percent of the 2100 respondents to YCC’s Fall 2018 Survey said they felt “strongly positive” or “positive” about the potential establishment of a MENA cultural house. “So often this region gets associated with political turmoil, violence, sectarian conflict, all those things,” Malak Nasr ’19, a member of the ASA who has been helping the MENA club in an advisory capacity, said at the March launch event. “A cultural house is fundamentally supposed to be something that celebrates cultural diversity, something that is politics-free, and this is the kind of launch event where we show and invite people to come celebrate our culture with us.” The Afro-American Cultural Center was established in 1969, La Casa Cultural in 1977, the Asian American Cultural Center in 1981 and the Native American Cultural Center in 1993. Contact AYUMI SUDO at ayumi.sudo@yale.edu .
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YALE DAILY NEWS · ALUMNI EDITION 2019 · yaledailynews.com
TODAY’S NEWS
“The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want.” BEN STEIN M.F.A. ’75 AMERICAN WRITER
JE First-Year Wins Oscar at the 91st Academy Awards
COURTESY OF SOPHIE ASCHEIM
Sophie Ascheim ’22 served as executive producer for the Oscar-winning documentary. BY MICHELLE LI STAFF REPORTER Every year, a number of Yalies are celebrated for their works on the silver screen at the Academy Awards. This year, current JE firstyear Sophie Ascheim ‘22 claimed her own Oscar title. This past February, “Period. End of Sentence.” received the Oscar for Best Documentary Short at the 91st Academy Awards, for which Ascheim served as executive producer. The 26-minute Netflix documentary about menstrual equity in India features a group of women in rural India fighting for menstrual equity and accessibility. Across the word, at least 500 million women and teenage girls lack access to menstrual health facilities, according to a report from the World Health Organization and UNICEF. In India alone, 80 percent of women face
restrictions around menstruation, according to data from nonprofits and organizations including the United Nations. “Menstruation is a big taboo in India,” explained Ascheim. She said that women lack access to menstrual products because of their “ridiculous prices” and because they are sold by men in convenience stores. Twenty percent of Indian girls drop out of school due to hardships caused by their periods, and 88 percent use homemade alternatives to sanitary pads including rags, fabric and sand. The documentary shows that by using locally sourced and biodegradable materials, the women are able to make sanitary pads using a special machine. Since the first machine’s arrival to India, the team installed two more machines in neighboring Indian villages due to the documentary’s increased atten-
tion since its Oscar nomination. The documentary was grown out of a group of Los Angeles high school students from Oakwood School who wanted to improve the quality of menstrual health in rural India. Alongside their English teacher Melissa Berton, the group of high schoolers created a Kickstarter campaign to fund their documentary film. The group raised $45,000 through the campaign, which funded the film, a one-year supply of menstrual products and the biodegradable sanitary pad machine which would produce menstrual products for the entire rural Indian village. Growing up in Los Angeles, Ascheim said that many of her classmates have parents in the entertainment industry, and experienced what she described as an “incredibly privileged” upbringing. The group of high schoolers
were unaware of the menstrual inequity issue in rural India until they attended a meeting for the U.N. Commission for Status and Women. In her efforts to discover a viable solution to the issue of menstrual inaccessibility, Ascheim and her former classmate Charlotte Silverman cofounded The Pad Project, a nonprofit that strives to put an end to “period poverty and menstrual inequity.” Ascheim admitted that The Pad Project cannot serve as a “onesize-fits all solution,” but said that the team has received many requests for their pad machine since the Oscar nomination. Silverman, who is also an executive producer for the documentary, said that she hopes that “people who see the film and see the momentum of this movement feel a connection and inspiration from stories that are shown in the
film.” She hopes that “people feel inspired by this quiet revolution depicted in the film.” The Brown University first-year added that she hopes the film will “inspire more people to see pad machines as a tool for empowerment and making real change” while allowing the “global network of activists to come together and create things we first envisioned.” Achiem said that by getting to the Oscars, “Period. End of Sentence.” had “done its job for us. We had already won because people were talking about it. That’s the reason we were doing this.” To close her acceptance speech at the Oscars, Ascheim’s English teacher and producer Berton summed up the film with the words: “A period should end a sentence, not a girl’s education.” Contact MICHELLE LI at michelle.li.mml59@yale.edu .
Yale professors win prestigious prizes BY MEERA SHOAIB STAFF REPORTER Throughout the 2018-19 school year, University professors won a variety of prestigious prizes that celebrated their research and writing. While many faculty members were honored over the past year, several Yale professors received international recognition. William Nordhaus ’63, Aaron Jay Kernis MUS ’83 and Gregg Gonsalves ’11 SPH ’17 won a Nobel Prize, a Grammy Award and
a MacArthur “Genius Grant,” respectively. David Blight and Jackie Sibblies Drury ’03 each won Pulitzer Prizes this year. Sterling Professor of economics Nordhaus was co-awarded the 2018 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in December for his work addressing the intersection between economics and climate change. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences highlighted Nordhaus’ development of an “integrated assessment model” — an interdisciplinary model that inspects the impact of climate
policy interventions. “It’s a wonderful day. It’s so nice,” Nordhaus told the News the day the award was announced. “It’s good for economics. People have written to me and said that in these dark times, it’s a bright spot.” Nordhaus, who worked on the Council of Economic Advisors under President Jimmy Carter, came to Yale in 1967 and has worked at the University since. He was named chair of the Presidential Carbon Change Task Force in 2014, a body which is part of Yale’s
YALE NEWS
Students congratulated professor William Nordhaus ’63 on his nobel prize in the middle of his class, when he found out.
pledge to eliminate its carbon footprint by 2050. His efforts culminated in the Yale Carbon Charge Project, the world’s first internal universitywide carbon market. Kernis, a School of Music faculty composer, won a Grammy for best contemporary classical composition in February for his piece “Violin Concerto.” The work — conducted by Ludovic Morlot — is comprised of three movements features violinist James Ehnes and the Seattle Symphony. “The primary inspiration came from the astonishing violin soloist I wrote the concerto for — James Ehnes,” Kernis said. “James is an especially inspiring performer because he is such a superb musician: The music comes first, without extraneous flash and glitter.” Gonsalves, a professor with a joint appointment between the School of Public Health and the Law School, received the MacArthur Fellowship Award in 2018 alongside four Yale alumni — Vijay Gupta MUS ’07, Titus Kaphar ART ’06, Becca Heller LAW ’10 and Okwui Okpokwasili ’96. The Fellowship describes itself as an “investment in a person’s originality, insight, and potential,” and awards a $625,000 prize to 20 to 30 U.S.-based individuals in any field. Gonsalves’ work focuses on epidemic prevention and he has dedicated much of his career to disease prevention. Gonsalves also aims to advise policymakers on the best ways to improve healthcare. His research and advocacy brought him to South Africa, where he worked with the AIDS & Rights Alliance for Southern Africa. After returning to Yale and enrolling in the Eli Whitney Students Program, Gonsalves founded a partnership between the Law School and the School of Public Health that addresses issues of health, human rights and social justice combined. “The MacArthur award is kind of like a Nobel for creativity in making a true impact in one’s discipline,” Dean of the School of Public Health Sten Vermund told the News. “Gonsalves and his activist and academic colleagues have literally changed policies around the world, accelerating drug development and access to care for persons living with HIV/
AIDS. We are immensely proud to have his leadership in the Yale School of Public Health and our Global Health Justice Initiative with the Yale School of Law.” This year, Pulitzer Prizes were awarded to Yale professors Blight and Drury for their outstanding writings in the fields of history and drama, respectively. Blight received the Pulitzer Prize for his book “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom.” The biography chronicles the life of Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave who fought for civil rights and told his story across the nation. Blight drew on a private collection belonging to Walter O. Evans — a Georgia collector — as well as Douglass’ recently uncovered newspapers when researching his book. Unlike many previous biographies on Douglass, his includes details from Douglass’ later life like the impact of the Klu Klux Klan on abolitionist efforts. “It warrants a Pulitzer because it’s a brilliant account of one of the seminal figures in American history,” said Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of History, Edward Rugemer. “David is a master craftsmen of history. He’s a great writer and a keen analyst of the American experience.” Drury, a lecturer in playwriting at the School of Drama, was named winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Drury’s play “Fairview,”which premiered at New York’s Soho Repertory Theatre in 2018, encourages the audience to probe at their inherent prejudices and explores race and privilege in America. She also won the 2019 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for English-language female playwrights. Other faculty who won major awards include Yale College Dean Marvin Chun, who received the Ho-Am Prize for Science, and School of Medicine psychiatry professor Rosemary Balsam, who became the first American woman to receive the Sigourney Award — an award honoring research that advances psychoanalytic thought. Contact MEERA SHOAIB at meera.shoaib@yale.edu .
YALE DAILY NEWS · ALUMNI EDITION 2019 · yaledailynews.com
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“Good manners will open doors that the best education cannot.” CLARENCE THOMAS, J.D. ’74 ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Peabody Museum prepares for renovations BY MATT KRISTOFFERSON STAFF REPORTER The Peabody Museum of Natural History’s public galleries are slated to close in mid-2020 for renovations and are not anticipated to reopen until the fall of 2023. Funded by a $160 million donation by Edward P. Bass ’67 — the largest donation made to a U.S. natural history museum, and one of the largest given to Yale — the renovation project will increase the museum’s exhibition space by 50 percent and expand its classrooms, research and storage facilities. As construction commences next year, many of the museum’s daily activities will continue. Specifically, research, undergraduate education and community enrichment programs will not be affected by the renovations. According to Peabody Director David Skelly, the new additions will help bolster student engagement with the museum’s collections. “What we are trying to do with the renovation is place these collections … and the expertise that is represented by the museum’s staff, the curators, in the hands of Yale faculty and students from all across the University,” Skelly said. The University hired the co m pa n i e s Ce n te rb ro o k Architects and Planners and Reich+Petch to coordinate with the museum on the project. Yale will also meet regularly with government agencies to ensure that the project meets Connecticut building codes and is both on schedule and within budget. Only 0.0004 percent of the museum’s vast collections are currently on display, according to Skelly. The increased gallery space will allow for more of the collections to be available to the public and will also feature student-curated exhibitions. “In recent decades, what we discovered is that what we can understand from objects
— from materials, from specimens — has just exploded,” Skelly said. “So, the collections in the museum have become this irreplaceable resource that can be put toward uses that the folks who collected these objects may never have possibly imagined.” As the Peabody begins the renovations, the museum’s on-site collections — including the Great Hall’s Pteranodon and Triceratops skulls — will be moved to alternative locations. While the dinosaur skulls will be put on display in Science Hill’s new Yale Science Building when it opens this fall, the remainder of the on-site collections will be transported to the collection study center on West Campus. In addition to the extra gallery space, the museum is slated to add five additional classrooms to its facilities. The new teaching spaces will be designed to help professors incorporate artifacts into their lectures in a similar way that current classes utilize classrooms found in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and the Yale Center for British Art. In addition to an expanded interior, the Peabody will also increase its parking capacity. The museum’s Project Director Carol DeNatale said that construction workers will add three more parking spots for buses along Sachem Street and 54 new bike racks. “The Peabody renovation is long overdue, and the enthusiasm toward all aspects of the project is contagious,” DeNatale wrote in an email to the News. “We want to preserve the character of the Peabody and pay tribute to the building through a variety of preservation and design techniques.” According to the Peabody’s website, over 150,000 people visit the museum each year. Contact MATT KRISTOFFERSON at matthew.kristofferson@yale.edu .
JAMES LARSON/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History was founded in 1866.
New Tsai CITY building set to open next spring BY AYUMI SUDO STAFF REPORTER
JAMES LARSON/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Tsai CITY is currently located on Elm Street.
Construction for a new Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale building has commenced and is slated for completion in the spring of 2020. Since its creation in the fall of 2017, Tsai CITY has grown into a campus hub for entrepreneurship in its temporary building on Elm Street. Its new 12,500-square-foot home behind the Yale Center for Engineering Innovation & Design will feature a steel and glass exterior and open studio configuration, according to University Planner Kari Nordstrom ARCH ’80. The new building will house nine meeting rooms of various sizes as well as administrative offices and areas for facilitating social events. Upon the project’s completion, the University will seek a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold certification, which is awarded to sustainable construction projects and buildings. “We want to create an ecosystem for students to develop and pursue their ideas, be it a social movement, a rock band, a documentary series or a nonprofit organization,” said Tsai CITY Associate Director Onyeka Obiocha. “With the construction of a new building, we are creating a physical space that will be as dynamic as the students coming in. The space will emphasize collaboration and interaction, helping students [to] learn from each other and realize their ideas.” According to Tsai CITY’s Managing Director Kassie Tucker, the new location will make its programs closer to “all of [its] collaborators around campus.” She said that the building’s proximity to the CEID, the Center for Business and the Environment, the School of Management and the University’s engineering buildings will encourage interactions among many of the center’s principal beneficiaries and strengthen the center’s interdisciplinary role on campus. The creation of Tsai CITY was announced in May 2017 after the
University received a major donation from Joseph Tsai ’86 LAW ’90. Tsai’s gift was allocated toward an endowed fund that covers all operating costs for the center and will support the construction project, Obiocha said. During the 2018-19 academic year, while still at its temporary home, the center reported that it worked with over 1,300 Yale students, hosted more than 30 workshops and provided over $100,000 in funding to students. “We’re feeling good about the statistics,” Tucker said. “Yale has a very vibrant and ever-growing culture around innovation. We will continue to seek opportunities to improve at every corner to offer what students want and need.” Nya Holder ’17 SPH ’18, an innovation fellow at Tsai CITY said that the center helps students in three main ways: providing mentorship, funding student innovation and offering various workshops and initiatives. She said that these resources are open to “anyone who is looking to realize an idea that they have” including writing books, launching a student club or building up their personal brand. Emma Funk, the social innovation fellow for Tsai CITY, said that it has a “huge focus on collaboration,” which has led to the coordination of programs with the Center for Business and the Environment and InnovateHealth Yale. She added that many of the student groups at Tsai CITY consist of a mix of students of various backgrounds, education levels and disciplines. “Students don’t always know everything that is available here, especially the resources at graduate schools,” Funk said. “So, we have focused on connecting all the available expertise across Yale to make it more accessible to students and to foster interdisciplinary innovation.” Tsai CITY’s benefactor Joseph Tsai is the co-founder of the online commerce company Alibaba. Contact AYUMI SUDO at ayumi.sudo@yale.edu .
MICHELLE LI/STAFF ILLUSTRATOR