Donald M. Roberts receives Yale Medal

In November, Donald M. Roberts ’57BS received the Yale Medal, which is bestowed by the Yale Alumni Association for “outstanding individual service to the University.” Roberts led an effort through which the Class of ’57 endowed and helped formalize the School of Music’s Music in Schools Initiative.

In its announcement about this year’s Yale Medal recipients, the YAA explained, “As founder of the Music in the Schools Initiative at the Yale

School of Music, Roberts began a now-thriving program that has enhanced music education for more than one thousand New Haven Public Schools students and counting. His generous personal donation to the Class of 1957 Music Endowment led many of his fellow classmates to join him in support of music in public schools.”

The endowment’s inception can be traced back to the Class of ’57’s 40th reunion, in 1997. Roberts was class secretary, and he and his classmates wanted to provide support for a “worthy cause.” The Class of ’57, Roberts said, was also driven to “strengthen the association between Yale and the City of New Haven.”

Over the course of a decade, a program was conceived that included a partnership with the New Haven Public Schools, a biennial Symposium on Music in Schools designed to recognize music educators across the United States for their excellence, and a faculty position at the School of Music whose curricular focus was community engagement. On the occasion of its 50th reunion, the Class of ’57 made a gift to the School with which to fund the initiative. Today, more than a thousand young musicians from the New Haven Public Schools have been mentored by graduate students from the School of Music whose work supports the certified public music educators in the local public-school district.

“I vividly recall the class meeting in November 1997 at which Don and his classmates outlined a vision for a national arts policy that would ensure the birthright of music for all children in America,” School of Music Dean Robert Blocker wrote in a letter nominating Roberts for a Yale Medal. “None of us could have begun to imagine the impact that the Initiative has had as a national model and lodestar for diversity, equity, and inclusion in city schools.”

Roberts, speaking understatedly on behalf of the Class of ’57, said, “Microscopically, I think we’ve helped.” Reflecting on performances by students who’ve participated in the Initiative, Roberts said he and his classmates “marvel at each other.” The program today, he said, is “a lot bigger than when we started. There have been other efforts in other cities around the country to replicate the New Haven teaching scheme.”