NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 · VOL. CXXXVIII, NO. 66 · yaledailynews.com
INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING
CLOUDY CLOUDY
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CROSS CAMPUS
ORANGE IS THE... NEW BLACK PULP! EXHIBIT OPENS
CLASS OF 2020
AMTRAK-ING
Despite tumultuous fall semester, admits still interested in Yale
CT RESIDENTS WEIGH POTENTIAL AMTRAK EXPANSION
PAGES 12–13 CULTURE
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$50 million to transform HGS
Sweet 15. Online encyclopedia Wikipedia turns 15 this month. To celebrate the equation, the site released statistics on its most viewed and edited articles. Wikipedia’s most popular entry of all time is its article about former President George W. Bush ’68. The page has been edited 45,862 times since its creation. Billion Dollar Baby. Paul Giamatti ’89 DRA ’94 stars in a new television drama “Billions,” which premiered on Sunday on Showtime. Giamatti plays Chuck Rhoades, a U.S. attorney, who goes after Bobby Axelrod, a hedge fund executive portrayed by Damian Lewis. The series also stars Malin Akerman and Maggie Siff. A slice of New Haven. The fate of Sally’s Apizza — one of the Elm City’s famous pizza parlors, along with Pepe’s — has been uncertain since owners announced that the restaurant was for sale in 2014. Sally’s was recently profiled by boston.com, and Zagat founder Tim Zagat LAW ’66 called its founders “leaders since before most of the rest of the country knew what pizza was.” Overlord at Yale. Here at
Yale, we apply for everything, and that includes leadership of popular student forum “Overheard at Yale.” The former moderator Tyler Blackmon ’16 circulated an application for the role which was due Monday. The Yale community awaits his decision.
Wedding bells. Entertainment
Weekly interviewed the stars of the hit show “Girls,” asking about the fifth season set to premiere on Feb. 21. Allison Williams ’10 spoke about her character Marnie’s TV wedding, which will be featured in the premiere. “It’s so fun to be able to turn that dial way up and leave it there,” Williams told EW. Lead actress Lena Dunham will direct the episode.
Network it. The Yale Women’s
Leadership Initiative and Smart Women Securities invites students to a joint networking event featuring Eldridge Industries at 6 p.m. this evening at the Study. Eldridge offers debt and private equity financing services.
Battle at the Brady. The top
two men’s squash teams in the nation will come to Payne Whitney gymnasium this evening. No. 1 Trinity and No. 2 Yale will battle for supremacy on the hardwood. The No. 4 Yale women will also battle against the No. 6 Trinity women. Action starts at 6 p.m.
THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY
1989 University President Benno Schmidt Jr. announces that the Yale Police Department will hire more patrol officers to enhance security on campus.
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BY THE NUMBERS Survey shows minorities face greater challenges in transition to college PAGE 7 UNIVERSITY
State on track to eliminate homelessness BY NOAH DAPONTE-SMITH AND MICHELLE LIU STAFF REPORTERS
with the ambitious project. Taken together, the gift — which ranks among the largest gifts to the humanities in the history of American education — and the committee’s approval of a humanities center signal a renewed commitment to a field that many academics have worried is faltering.
Connecticut is well on its way to eliminating chronic homelessness in 2016, Gov. Dannel Malloy announced during a press conference in New Haven earlier this month. Malloy’s Jan. 8 announcement marks another milestone in Connecticut’s ongoing efforts to eliminate chronic homelessness — long-term or repeated homelessness for a year or longer — in the state. The governor had previously announced in August 2015 that the state had ended chronic homelessness among Connecticut veterans. Speaking at the West Village Apartments, Malloy attributed Connecticut’s success to the substantial progress the state has made in erecting affordable housing units, especially in urban areas. Malloy said Connecticut’s homeless population has reached historic lows, with results from the state’s annual point-in-time survey showing that the number of chronically homeless has dropped by 21 percent and the number of unsheltered homeless has fallen by 32 percent in the past year. “When [Malloy] created the Department of Housing in 2013, he sent a very clear message that housing development needed to be a
SEE HGS PAGE 4
SEE HOMELESS PAGE 4
KEN YANAGISAWA/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
An anonymous $50 million gift will fund the renovation of HGS and reaffirm Yale’s commitment to the humanities. BY FINNEGAN SCHICK STAFF REPORTER After months of speculation about the future of the building, the Hall of Graduate Studies is set to transform into a new home for the humanities through a $50 million gift, the single largest donation ever made to the humanities at Yale. The anonymous gift, which was
announced Tuesday, will go toward renovating and refurbishing an aging building in need of repair. Furthermore, a report released online the same day from the HGS Exploratory Committee, which was tasked last year with assessing whether a central home for the humanities would be desirable to faculty and students, recommended that the University move forward
Laurans to retire after 43 years BY MANASA RAO AND DAVID SHIMER STAFF REPORTERS Jonathan Edwards College Master and Special Assistant to the President Penelope Laurans announced Tuesday that she would retire from Yale in June after 43 years of service to the University. After arriving at Yale as an assistant professor of English in 1973, Laurans went on to serve in a variety of University positions, including as special counselor to the last three deans of undergraduate admissions and two directors of athletics, special assistant to the president and the master of JE since 2009. Laurans told the News that she hopes her legacy will center on her dedication to and passion for serving the University. “I fell in love with Yale more than four decades ago, and since then my whole aim has been to
be at its service,” she said. “I am overwhelmed by the privilege I have had in working here — people have had faith in me time after time. I have learned a lot about myself, and I feel enormously grateful that I have had these opportunities to work with these amazing people.” Laurans added that after retiring, she plans to write more and perhaps audit Yale courses. After advising hundreds of students on University course offerings, she said she would like to take the opportunity to explore them personally. Former University President Richard Levin, under whom Laurans said it was a true privilege to work, told the News that Laurans served Yale with “exceptional distinction.” “Penny Laurans is one of a kind. She is not only an incomSEE LAURANS PAGE 4
COURTESY OF JOE WOLENSKI
JE Master and Special Assistant to the President Penelope Laurans announced her retirement on Tuesday.
UA deal historic for Ivy League BY DANIELA BRIGHENTI STAFF REPORTER Recent discussions surrounding the marketing and lucrative branding deals of college athletics have often focused on power conference schools such as the University of Maryland and the University of Wisconsin. Perhaps for the first time, however, an Ivy League institution can be added to the list of schools translating amateur athletics into major money. Reportedly valued at $16.5 million over the course of 10 years starting July 1, the new deal is much larger than all previous or current deals at other Ivy League schools, according to Yale Intercollegiate Equipment Operations Lead Assistant Jeffrey Torre. Yale athletics administrators explained the magnitude of the deal by noting that it will go beyond
providing the Bulldogs with apparel and equipment: Under Armour and Yale plan to build on each other’s strong market presence to further extend the reach of their own brands. “If you sell both Notre Dame and Yale T-shirts in … other countries, I put our brand up against any other one,” Yale Associate Athletics Director Marketing and Licensing Patrick O’Neill said. “We will help [Under Armour] internationally.” Under Armour is currently the second biggest sports brand in the United States, behind Nike but ahead of Adidas. The brand usually sponsors “big sports schools” such as Notre Dame, Maryland and others, Torre said. Under Armour’s deal with Notre Dame, finalized in 2014 and valued at $90 million over the span of 10 years, was the largest
apparel deal in the country before being eclipsed by other schools since then. With Maryland, Under Armour is committed to $33 million in 10 years. Although both deals are significantly larger than Yale’s, the Bulldogs are set to receive more money in the upcoming 10 years than many other schools wellknown for their sports programs, such as Rutgers and Iowa. “Rutgers [is] sponsored by Nike, and some of their sports play on national television,” Torre said. “They are getting $450,000 a year from Nike, so the magnitude of our deal covers way more than what schools like those are getting.” Yale also outshines its peers in the Ivy League. According to Torre, Yale’s partnership with Under SEE UNDER ARMOUR PAGE 6
Bagley lawsuit moves forward BY DAVID SHIMER AND QI XU STAFF REPORTERS More than two years after the start of a discrimination lawsuit, Yale has filed an offer of proof which explains why former School of Management professor in practice Constance Bagley’s contract was not renewed. The offer of proof, filed on Dec. 28, came in accordance with an order from Senior District Judge Charles Haight, who asked Yale to explain in “clear and specific languages” why Bagley’s reappointment was denied. In the order, Haight said the record at that time did not sufficiently reveal the reasons why Yale opted not to reappoint Bagley. Attempting to justify the University’s decision, the 12-page offer of proof cites both the Board of Per-
manent Officers’ vote against renewing Bagley’s contract and 50 negative student comments for her class “State and Society.” But in a statement to the News, Carla Reeves — a representative from Burns & Levinson, the firm representing Bagley — said student evaluations were not provided to the BPO and therefore could not have formed the basis for Yale’s decision not to reappoint Bagley. While the University continues to maintain that the lawsuit is without merit, Bagley will be seeking a trial date this spring. Bagley sued Yale in December 2013 alleging that she had not been reappointed in May 2012 because of her gender and age. Bagley also filed suit against SOM Dean Edward SEE LAWSUIT PAGE 6