NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2015 · VOL. CXXXVIII, NO. 1 · yaledailynews.com
INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING
SUNNY CLEAR
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CROSS CAMPUS Welcome to the bigs. You’ve
finally made it to day one, freshmen. And now it begins. Be warned, however: These years go by quickly, and before you know it, you’ll be on the other side of the curb, pulling luggage from the cars of freshmen and guiding them up the impossibly high staircases of Old Campus.
BE THEIR GUEST! 2 RESTAURANTS, 4 BUSINESSES OPEN
WHAT’S IN A TITLE?
MORE MONEY
Three students and a prof weigh in on the meaning of “master.”
MORE PROBLEMS. ENDOWMENT DRAWS CRITICISM.
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As national attention turned to the Confederate flag still waving above the state’s capitol, Yale undergraduates, graduate students and alumni focused once again on the name of Calhoun College, which many said was as much a reminder of racial prejudice as the Southern flag. A group of law students authored a petition asking the Uni-
Religious Studies professor Stephen Davis’s announcement that he no longer wishes to be referred to as the “master” of Pierson College has initiated a debate over the use of titles at Yale, with some calling Davis’s decision commendable and others arguing that is fails to take into account the history of the term. Some argue that Davis’s announcement, which comes amid ongoing debate over Calhoun College, whose namesake was a staunch proponent of slavery, is a step in the right direction for a campus and a country still torn by racism. But others note that the title’s use at Yale originates from the racially innocuous academic nomenclature of Cambridge and Oxford. There, the title, which is derived from the Latin “magister,” denotes the “head or presiding officer of a society, institution … or of certain colleges” — a definition given by the Oxford English Dictionary that dates back to the 14th century. The dictionary’s definition for the word “master” in this sense specifically cites Yale as one place where the word is used this way. The same word “master” is used to signify an advanced degree of study, such as a master of arts or master of science.
SEE CALHOUN PAGE 4
SEE MASTER PAGE 4
KEN YANAGISAWA/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Stay classy, Yale. Yalies do, however, seem to get just as excited about picking classes as they do about the presemester frivolity. Bluebooks line the shelves of the Yale Bookstore, and CourseTable is live. Bear in mind that a draft of your schedule is due on OCS by Sept. 1.
PAGE 14 SPORTS
BY EMMA PLATOFF AND VIVIAN WANG STAFF REPORTERS
welcome back to those of you who’ve been around long enough to appreciate this gloriously mild weather. Which works out well because CVS seems to be sold out of box fans at the moment.
always something to do during Camp Yale, ranging from the University-sanctioned “Social Activities” to those that are more under-the-radar. Go forth and discover everything that this campus has to offer.
Football gears up for a new season and a new schedule.
Campus called to reflect on race, tradition Davis drops “master” title, spurring debate
Carry on. And a hearty
Gone camping. There’s
ALL OF THE LIGHTS
iJohn C. Calhoun, a prominent anti-abolitionist, is depicted here, on a window in the common room of Calhoun College.
Title, college names come under scrutiny BY TYLER FOGGATT, EMMA PLATOFF AND VIVIAN WANG STAFF REPORTERS The start of the fall semester will open a campus-wide debate over names and titles that have drawn new and criticism for their racial undertones. When Stephen Davis, a religious studies professor who heads Pierson College, asked on Aug. 14 that his
students cease calling him “master,” he added a new dimension to ongoing campus conversation about racially charged names and symbols. Calhoun College, whose namesake was a fervent advocate of slavery, has long been a contentious topic on campus, but debate surrounding the college’s name was reignited this summer following the shooting in Charleston, S.C. that left nine black churchgoers dead.
Safety first. Above all,
watch out for your personal well-being. Just yesterday, members of the University community received two campus safety alerts from Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins, sandwiching a note from Deputy Vice President for Human Resources and Administration Janet Lindner that emphatically warned all to leave their weapons at home.
Gunning for the top. While you were away, two former Elis continued their quest for the presidency. Much as Wharton grad Donald Trump has stolen the show of late, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton LAW ’73 and neurosurgeon Ben Carson ’73 remain active on the campaign trail. Though, according to the results of our survey, the class of 2019 has someone else in mind. Read on to find out who! Not yet at the bottom. The
financial markets, another destination for Yale’s most “driven” alumni, have taken a turn for the worse in the past few days, and Nobel laureate Robert Shiller claims that the worst has yet to come, despite signs of stabilization. “It isn’t over yet,” the Yale economics professor told Fox Business.
Building an empire. Yesterday,
New York City’s Empire Hotel played host to an Ivy League Rooftop Summer Social for the Ancient Eight’s recent graduates. But how exclusive could it really have been, if almost 4,000 people attended?
THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY
2013 Yale Dining discontinues the use of meal swipes at a selection of local restaurants. Follow along for the News’ latest.
ONLINE y MORE goydn.com/xcampus
2019 by the numbers: First impressions
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n Aug. 12, the News sent all incoming freshmen a survey with questions running the gamut from family life to post-graduate plans. This is the first in a four-part series on the results. STEPHANIE ADDENBROOKE and EMMA PLATOFF report. Moving trucks and minivans crowding Elm Street, sweaty upperclassmen in colorful t-shirts, tearful parents not yet ready to let go — such are the hallmarks of freshman move-in. Today, hundreds of
new undergraduates will begin their four years at Yale. They were carefully chosen from a pool of 30,227 applicants in the second-most competitive admissions cycle Yale has ever seen.
Ward 1 race heats up as primary looms BY NOAH DAPONTE-SMITH STAFF REPORTER Most Yalies have been absent from the Elm City for four months, but that hasn’t stopped the three-way race for Ward 1 alder from heating up, with the Democratic primary only weeks away. The candidates — sitting alder Sarah Eidelson ’12, her Democratic challenger Fish Stark ’17 and their Republican opponent Ugonna Eze ’16 — have been active throughout the summer, making their cases to both incoming and returning students. For Eidelson and Stark, the urgency is particularly acute, as voters will head to the polls on Sept. 16. Eidelson has retained an active presence in New Haven over the summer. In June, the election of the first students to non-voting seats on the Board of Education took place, representing the fruition of a project Eidelson has worked on throughout her four years as alder. Earlier this month, she
organized a community cleanup effort in downtown and Wooster Square. Stark was also in New Haven this summer; he worked fulltime as a teaching fellow at Calvin Hill Daycare in Prospect Hill on a fellowship from Yale. Eze’s campaign has been less active than those of his two Democratic opponents this summer. Eze spent the summer in Washington, D.C., where he studied political philosophy through the Hertog Political Studies Fellowship. He said in an interview that he returned every weekend to New Haven to campaign, which he said involved talking with members of the Yale and New Haven communities. He emphasized the “unique perspective” that he will bring to the race. “I think the more voices in this race the better because we get these unique perspectives on the issues. Fish, Sarah and I come from very different backSEE WARD 1 PAGE 8
To get a sense of their backgrounds and views and expectations of Yale, the News distributed a comprehensive survey to the members of the class of 2019. Eight-hundred fifty-three responded. The
results are presented here .
THE BASICS
Many students said they were looking forward to being part of a diverse student body at Yale, both in terms of upbringing and interests. Five-hundred eighteen freshmen identified as Caucasian, 112 of which also indicated a second ethnicity. Asian-American and East Asian students made up the second largest group, totaling
175 students, with 14 identifying as mixed race. The freshman class also demonstrated socioeconomic diversity. One-hundred ten students reported coming from households with a combined income level of below $40,000 per year. On the opposite end of the spectrum, 95 students reported having household incomes of more than $500,000 annually. Half of the SEE SURVEY PAGE 6
Stress clinic closure leaves fewer mental health options
MICHELLE CHAN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The closure of the Yale Stress Center’s clinical side was announced just over a month in advance. BY AMAKA UCHEGBU AND VIVIAN WANG STAFF REPORTERS Nearly two months after the Yale Stress Center closed its doors to patients, members of the Yale community who are ineligible for many of Yale’s on-campus mental health resources are still struggling to find a replacement. The clinical side of the Stress Center, an
interdisciplinary research center that had been run by the Yale Medical Group and department of psychiatry, was shut down because it was running at a significant financial loss each year, said University spokeswoman Karen Peart. The research side of the center is still operative. The June 30 closure, which was announced SEE STRESS CENTER PAGE 8