Yale Daily News

“To be for is to be human. It’s an act of radical optimism.” So says the keynote video on the website of ‘For Humanity,’ Yale’s ongoing fundraising campaign. Despite possessing an endowment of 40.7 billion dollars — greater than the GDP of 88 countries — our university has decided it needs 7 billion more. Yale’s plan to raise that money seems to involve taking advantage of the idealism of its students and alumni. As images of campus’s beautiful libraries, dining halls and theaters flash by, the ad reverberates with hope and optimism. Sometimes being for something “seems to be against our better judgment,” it admits — but that is no excuse for inaction. “To be for is to believe in the possibility of a more perfect world. In our power to build it.”

May 21, 2024

Graduates of the Class of 2024, family members, and friends: It gives me great pleasure to greet you today and to offer a few words […]

May 20, 2024

I came to Yale with an Obama-era faith in diversity and the power of Black exceptionalism. At 17 and at the top of my high school class, I believed I was the next iteration of the talented Black student entering an elite space and using his position to make change. I was certain that Yale had offered me a place at its university because it saw that promise in me. My family believed it too. 

May 20, 2024

At 2:30 a.m., on the couches of a Davenport suite, my friends and I were reflecting on how we got to know one another, and how we got to know our other close friends. My friend Ian said something that is now stuck in my brain, which I remember as “you NEVER develop deep connections INTENTIONALLY.” 

May 20, 2024

During my first-ever week as a Yale student, sitting alone in a large, empty ‘dingle’ — a room with two beds but one inhabitant — I closed the tab containing a YouTube video titled “President Salovey’s Address to Yale College Class of 2024,” and submitted my first-ever piece for the News. It was titled “In Pursuit of the Perfect Goodbye.” Four years later, I am still in pursuit. And further away than I’ve ever been.

May 20, 2024

Recently, I reflected on what I could have done differently at Yale, and what I can do differently as an alumnus to improve my life. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, scaling the ranks of academia or another field was not one of them. Nor was writing a good book. I’ve chosen to focus, instead, on intimacy.

May 20, 2024

On April 2, University President Peter Salovey emailed the Yale community under the subject line “Your Yale, Your Voice,” asking us to complete the 2024 Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Misconduct and Resource Awareness. The third in a series of quadrennial surveys administered by the Association of American Universities, it aims to collect data on patterns of sexual misconduct on campus and shed light on possible strategies officials can take in response.

May 20, 2024

On Sunday, May 19, alumni will have their final chance to vote David Millstone onto the Board of Trustees. This is no presidential election, but the future of Yale may depend on it given the power of the board to shape university policy and operations. The question remains to be addressed in earnest: does Mr. Millstone have what it takes to be a good steward of the University?

May 17, 2024

Millstone’s ties to conservative efforts to stifle the free exchange of ideas and the teaching of complex historical narratives, alongside his company’s investments in the military-industrial complex, demonstrate that he is the wrong person to serve as Yale’s next trustee. He is ill-equipped to protect the free speech of students, faculty, staff and community members, much less engage in good faith in the ongoing conversations at Yale surrounding disclosure and divestment. To Yale’s alumni: please consider voting against indoctrination and corruption. Vote against Millstone. 

May 13, 2024

Welcome to Beinecke Plaza, or as it’s now affectionately known, Gaza Solidarity Plaza. If you look to the left, you’ll see posters idolizing terrorists, like Leila Khaled, who hijacked two planes, and Walid Daqqa, who was convicted of leading the terrorist ring that kidnapped, castrated, gouged out the eyes of, tortured and murdered a 19-year-old Israeli. 

May 2, 2024

My name is Zack Thibodeaux and I am a senior at Yale who is blind. I am writing this column to give the Yale community another perspective on the protests and their effects on people with disabilities. I would like students to understand that their actions have severe consequences on others.

May 2, 2024