I spent November 16 and 17 on campus in my capacity as a YAA Delegate representing the Yale College Class of 1963 at the annual YAA Assembly and Convocation, which this year addressed The Creative Economy at Yale: Innovations in Culture, Science and Technology
It was an interesting experience, one unexpectedly free of any significant surprises. I did not encounter anyone who made much sense out of the announced topic of the Assembly, but I did form several impressions.
First, I can say that the physical state of the University appeared to me to be superb. I participated in a detailed tour of the Schwartzman Center, which encompasses what we knew as Freshman Commons, Woolsey Hall, and a wholly new subterranean complex which includes eating facilities, a dance studio, multiple spaces for students, and even The 21 Club, a public bar which serves wine and liquor Wednesday through Friday from 5 t0 11 PM. The details are available at https://schwartzman.yale.edu.
The overwhelming impression relates to quality and luxuriousness, a demonstration of what one can do with several hundred million dollars. The sense of the physical plant was continued as I criss-crossed the campus by foot: the benefits of meticulous renovation are evident in every detail. The program to renovate and update a number of the colleges and the Old Campus has given the entire campus a fresh and energizing look.
Second, a major impression was triggered by the Friday morning sessions, which featured President Salovey, a panel of three professors (engineering, public health and drama) and a conversation with two trustees, all in rapid succession.
The briefest of summaries would be that the state of the intellectual university appeared to me to be superb as well. Peter Salovey was relaxed, seemingly confident and utterly compelling, making his last appearance as President at the event. After some words of welcome and brief kibitzing about The Game (he merrily predicted a Yale win over Harvard, which the team made good on), he turned to the events of October 7.
His observations touched only briefly on off campus developments ( " I (Salovey speaking) will say that when I hear the chants of 'Free Palestine!' I respond 'Free Palestine of Hamas!' " - quite a complex thought, as you mull it over. It was met by spontaneous applause from the assembled delegates.).
Speaking as the President of the University, Peter noted that the campus had largely avoided the tumult that had overcome so many schools. New Haven had some tricky demonstrations, but while Yale had protests, "they didn't even include any where students yelled at each other across a courtyard. " Peter did not explicitly provide a rationale to explain the relative quiet, other than to empathize that he had engaged in sustained efforts to reach out to all manner of constituencies on campus. In the end, I and my fellow delegates seemed satisfied with the reporting on a very complicated circumstance.
There was one final point that I thought deserves mention: the role of women in the event. We, of course, struggled along on a male only undergraduate campus. As I sat there in Sprague Hall surrounded by a mass of delegates in which males seemed slightly outnumbered, it was absolutely striking to muse about how things might appear had that vastly impactful decision to admit women not been made. Everything that I witnessed during my stay on campus demonstrated that the university we graduated from so many years ago is moving forward very well indeed.
Best, Sutton