127-589: Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University . Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, when its schools were confederated and the institution was renamed Yale University. It is ranked as one of the top colleges in the United States. Originally established to train Congregationalist ministers,
254-517: A classical language , along with Greek and Latin , and essential for study of the Old Testament in the original. Reverend Stiles, president from 1778 to 1795, brought with him his interest in Hebrew as a vehicle for studying ancient Biblical texts in their original language, requiring all freshmen to study Hebrew (in contrast to Harvard, where only upperclassmen were required to study it) and
381-406: A $ 10 million gift from Harkness in hand, eight houses for Harvard College were completed by 1931. Dismayed, Yale administrators appealed to Harkness to reconsider his offer. In 1930 he agreed to give Yale $ 11 million for nine residential colleges of its own. Harkness persuaded Yale to retain his friend James Gamble Rogers as the colleges' architect. He also made gifts that established
508-551: A cappella in the United States. The earliest choral group, the Beethoven Society, dates to 1812 and emerged in the mid-nineteenth century as the Yale Glee Club . Although glee clubs around the country had spawned small collegiate ensembles since that time, the all-senior, all-male Whiffenpoofs , formed in 1909, are often considered to be the oldest collegiate a cappella society in the United States. Formalizing
635-524: A changing culture. Levesque concludes, noting he may have misunderstood some of the challenges, but he correctly anticipated the enduring tensions that have accompanied the emergence of the modern university. Milton Winternitz led the Yale School of Medicine as its dean from 1920 to 1935. Dedicated to the new scientific medicine established in Germany, he was equally fervent about "social medicine" and
762-425: A classical background. The report meant the classics would not be abandoned. During this period, institutions experimented with changes in the curriculum, often resulting in a dual-track curriculum. In the decentralized environment of US higher education, balancing change with tradition was a common challenge. A group of professors at Yale and New Haven Congregationalist ministers articulated a conservative response to
889-403: A clear winner, because scoring is subjective. With late 19th-century concerns about the impact of modern life on the body, athletics offered hope that neither the individual nor society was coming apart. In 1909–10, football faced a crisis resulting from the failure of the reforms of 1905–06, which sought to solve the problem of serious injuries. There was a mood of alarm and mistrust, and, while
1016-493: A dining hall, library, and student facilities ranging from printing presses to darkrooms. Each is led by a Head of College, a faculty member who serves as its chief administrator, and a Dean, who oversees student academic affairs. University faculty and distinguished affiliates are associated with the colleges as fellows. Unlike their English forerunners, the colleges do not administer academic degree programs or courses of study, but they do sponsor academic seminars that fall outside
1143-417: A holistic study of humankind, lasted only a few years before resentful antisemitic colleagues drove him to resign. Before World War II , most elite university faculties counted among their numbers few, if any, Jews, blacks, women, or other minorities; Yale was no exception. By 1980, this condition had been altered dramatically, as numerous members of those groups held faculty positions. Almost all members of
1270-523: A hostile sexual climate. In response, the university formed a Title IX steering committee to address complaints of sexual misconduct. Afterwards, universities and colleges throughout the US also established sexual harassment grievance procedures. Yale instituted policies in the early 20th century designed to maintain the proportion of white Protestants from notable families in the student body (see numerus clausus ) and eliminated such preferences, beginning with
1397-730: A medical campus adjacent to the Yale–New Haven Hospital . In western New Haven, the university holds 500 acres (2.0 km ) of athletic facilities, including the Yale Golf Course . In 2008, Yale purchased the 17-building, 136-acre (0.55 km ) former Bayer HealthCare complex in West Haven , Connecticut, the buildings of which are now used as laboratory and research space. Yale also owns seven forests in Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire—the largest of which
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#17327717422651524-554: A moral philosopher, was president from 1871 to 1886. During an age of expansion in higher education, Porter resisted the rise of the new research university, claiming an eager embrace of its ideals would corrupt undergraduate education. Historian George Levesque argues Porter was not a simple-minded reactionary, uncritically committed to tradition, but a principled and selective conservative. Levesque says he did not endorse everything old or reject everything new; rather, he sought to apply long-established ethical and pedagogical principles to
1651-613: A new partnership with the National University of Singapore led to the opening of Yale-NUS College in Singapore, a joint effort to create a new liberal arts college in Asia featuring a curriculum including Western and Asian traditions. In 2017, having been suggested for decades, Yale University renamed Calhoun College, named for slave owner , anti-abolitionist , and white supremacist Vice President John C. Calhoun . It
1778-558: A reputation as having the worst record of labor tension of any university in the U.S. Moreover, Yale has been accused by the AFL–CIO of failing to treat workers with respect, as well as not renewing contracts with professors over involvement in campus labor issues. Yale has responded to strikes with claims over mediocre union participation and the benefits of their contracts. Yale's central campus in downtown New Haven covers 260 acres (1.1 km ) and comprises its main, historic campus and
1905-472: A student of Yale President Timothy Dwight in 1809, and black abolitionist James W. C. Pennington , who was allowed to audit theology courses in 1837. Moses Simons , a descendant of a slave-holding South Carolinian family, has been suggested to be the first Jew to graduate from Yale. Though his maternal ancestry is disputed, he may have also been the first person of African-American descent to graduate from any American college. In 1854, Yung Wing graduated from
2032-538: A style pioneered by black barbershop groups in New Haven, their repertoire was amplified by the founding of similar groups across the country. Coeducation in 1969 made possible all-women's groups and mixed groups. In all, there are now at least eighteen undergraduate a cappella groups in Yale College, ranging from a Slavic chorus to Christian a cappella. Student publications at Yale date back as far as 1806, but
2159-571: A substantial sum of money. Cotton Mather suggested the school change its name to "Yale College". The name Yale is the Anglicized spelling of the Welsh name Iâl , which had been used for the family estate at Plas yn Iâl, near Llandegla , Wales. Meanwhile, a Harvard graduate working in England convinced 180 prominent intellectuals to donate books to Yale. The 1714 shipment of 500 books represented
2286-565: A trustee and major donor. After graduating, Edward Harkness married Mary Stillman , daughter of wealthy New York attorney Thomas E. Stillman, in 1904. Her maternal grandfather, Thomas S. Greenman, was a shipbuilder in Mystic, Connecticut and the co-founder George Greenman & Co shipyard, now part of the Mystic Seaport Museum . Harkness' mother gave the couple a new Italian Renaissance mansion on Manhattan's Upper East Side as
2413-444: A web of friendships and affiliations built up in school." CNN suggests that George W. Bush benefited from preferential admissions policies for the "son and grandson of alumni", and for a "member of a politically influential family". Elisabeth Bumiller and James Fallows credit the culture of community that exists between students, faculty, and administration, which downplays self-interest and reinforces commitment to others. During
2540-455: A wedding present. As the building's architect, Harkness chose Yale College classmate James Gamble Rogers , who would later design many of his philanthropic building projects. The home, at 75th Street and 5th Avenue and now known as the Edward S. Harkness House , became the headquarters of Harkness' Commonwealth Fund after Mary's death in 1950. Harkness briefly served as a railroad director for
2667-420: A week. Some of the oldest society buildings are enclosed and windowless; members refer to them as "tombs." Their activities have varied over time and across societies, but most societies meet for dinners, discussion, drinking, and long-form disclosure of members' life history. Despite a long history of social exclusion—of Jews and women in particular—many of these societies have prioritized membership diversity in
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#17327717422652794-667: Is a portrait of them in Sterling Memorial Library , painted by Brenda Zlamany . In 1966, Yale began discussions with its sister school Vassar College about merging to foster coeducation at the undergraduate level. Vassar, then all-female and part of the Seven Sisters —elite higher education schools that served as sister institutions to the Ivy League when nearly all Ivy League institutions still only admitted men—tentatively accepted, but then declined
2921-511: Is in the Georgian style . Georgian-style buildings erected from 1929 to 1933 include Timothy Dwight College , Pierson College , and Davenport College , except the latter's east, York Street façade, which was constructed in the Gothic style to coordinate with adjacent structures. The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library , designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill ,
3048-500: Is now Hopper College, after Grace Hopper . In 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd protests , the #CancelYale tag was used on social media to demand that Elihu Yale's name be removed from Yale University. Much of the support originated from right-wing pundits such as Mike Cernovich and Ann Coulter , who intended to satirize what they perceived as the excesses of cancel culture . Yale spent most of his professional career in
3175-415: Is one of the largest buildings in the world reserved exclusively for the preservation of rare books and manuscripts. The library includes a six-story above-ground tower of book stacks, filled with 180,000 volumes, that is surrounded by large translucent Vermont marble panels and a steel and granite truss. The panels act as windows and subdue direct sunlight while also diffusing the light in warm hues throughout
3302-457: Is responsible for the Hebrew phrase אורים ותמים ( Urim and Thummim ) on the Yale seal. A 1746 graduate of Yale, Stiles came to the college with experience in education, having played an integral role in founding Brown University . Stiles' greatest challenge occurred in 1779 when British forces occupied New Haven and threatened to raze the college. However, Yale graduate Edmund Fanning , secretary to
3429-582: Is the 7,840-acre (31.7 km ) Yale-Myers Forest in Connecticut's Quiet Corner —and nature preserves including Horse Island . Yale is noted for its largely Collegiate Gothic campus as well as several iconic modern buildings commonly discussed in architectural history survey courses: Louis Kahn 's Yale Art Gallery and Center for British Art, Eero Saarinen 's Ingalls Rink and Ezra Stiles and Morse Colleges, and Paul Rudolph's Art & Architecture Building . Yale also owns and has restored many noteworthy 19th-century mansions along Hillhouse Avenue , which
3556-507: The Colony of Connecticut on October 9, 1701. The Act was an effort to create an institution to train ministers and lay leadership. Soon after, a group of ten Congregational ministers, Samuel Andrew , Thomas Buckingham, Israel Chauncy, Samuel Mather (nephew of Increase Mather ), Rev. James Noyes II (son of James Noyes ), James Pierpont , Abraham Pierson , Noadiah Russell , Joseph Webb, and Timothy Woodbridge , all Harvard alumni , met in
3683-749: The Colony of Connecticut . Originally situated in Abraham Pierson's home in Killingworth, Connecticut , the college moved to Old Saybrook, Connecticut in 1703, when Nathaniel Lynde, the first treasurer of Yale, donated land and a building. The college moved again to New Haven in 1718, and was renamed for Elihu Yale , an early benefactor, merchant, and philanthropist. Founded as a school to train ministers, original curriculum included only coursework in theology and sacred languages . Although early faculty, including Jonathan Edwards and Elisha Williams , maintained strict Congregational orthodoxy, by
3810-571: The Democratic or Republican ticket in every U.S. presidential election between 1972 and 2004. Yale-educated presidents since the end of the Vietnam War include Gerald Ford , George H. W. Bush , Bill Clinton , and George W. Bush , and major-party nominees include Hillary Clinton (2016), John Kerry (2004), Joseph Lieberman (vice president, 2000), and Sargent Shriver (vice president, 1972). Other alumni who have made serious bids for
3937-690: The Intercollegiate Athletic Association . While the big three had attempted to operate independently of the majority, the changes pushed did reduce injuries. Starting with the addition of the Yale School of Medicine in 1810, the college expanded gradually, establishing the Yale Divinity School in 1822, Yale Law School in 1822, the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1847, the now-defunct Sheffield Scientific School in 1847, and
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4064-498: The Israel–Hamas war . The student protestors demanded that Yale University divest from companies with ties to Israel 's war on Gaza. Protests continued during the summer and in the new academic year starting September 2024. The Boston Globe wrote in 2002 that "if there's one school that can lay claim to educating the nation's top national leaders over the past three decades, it's Yale". Yale alumni were represented on
4191-925: The Metropolitan Museum of Art , and the University of St Andrews in Scotland. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1934. Harkness inherited his fortune from his father, Stephen V. Harkness , whose wealth was established by an early investment in Standard Oil , and his brother, Charles W. Harkness . In 1918, he was ranked the 6th-richest person in the United States by Forbes magazine's first "Rich List", behind John D. Rockefeller , Henry Clay Frick , Andrew Carnegie , George Fisher Baker , and William Rockefeller . Edward ("Ned") Harkness
4318-838: The Southern Pacific Railroad , but within several years decided to become a full-time philanthropist. He began making gifts to the Egyptian collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1912, and that same year was appointed to the museum's board of trustees. Harkness' older brother Charles died in 1916 at age 55, leaving Edward more than US$ 80 million, $ 2.24 billion in 2023, much of it in Standard Oil stock. Charles had continued to invest substantially in Standard Oil as manager of
4445-643: The Tony Blair Faith Foundation 's United States Faith and Globalization Initiative. As of 2009, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo is the director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization and teaches an undergraduate seminar, "Debating Globalization". As of 2009, former presidential candidate and DNC chair Howard Dean teaches a residential college seminar, "Understanding Politics and Politicians". Also in 2009, an alliance
4572-622: The Vanderbilt family , including Vanderbilt Hall, Phelps Hall, St. Anthony Hall (a commission for member Frederick William Vanderbilt ), the Mason, Sloane and Osborn laboratories, dormitories for the Sheffield Scientific School (the engineering and sciences school at Yale until 1956) and elements of Silliman College , the largest residential college. The oldest building on campus, Connecticut Hall (built in 1750),
4699-468: The Yale School of Architecture in 1916, the Yale School of Nursing 1923, the Yale School of Drama in 1955, the Yale School of Management in 1976, and the Jackson School of Global Affairs in 2022. The Sheffield Scientific School would also reorganize its relationship with the university to teach only undergraduate courses. Expansion caused controversy about Yale's new roles. Noah Porter ,
4826-468: The Yale School of Drama , the first independent drama faculty in the country, and erected its theater. Around the same time as his Yale-Harvard philanthropy, Harkness sought to reform the pedagogical techniques of the country's elite boarding schools. At Phillips Exeter Academy , he sought to innovate beyond rote learning by introducing the Harkness table method of instruction. Through further gifts,
4953-434: The Yale School of Fine Arts in 1869. In 1887, under the presidency of Timothy Dwight V , Yale College was renamed to Yale University, and the former name was applied only to the undergraduate college . The university would continue to expand into the 20th and 21st centuries, adding the Yale School of Music in 1894, the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies in 1900, the Yale School of Public Health in 1915,
5080-481: The colleges of Oxford and Cambridge in England and proposed to Yale President James Rowland Angell that he would fund a similar system for Yale's undergraduate college to relieve overcrowding and improve social intimacy. When the Yale Corporation failed to accept Harkness' offer by 1928, he went to Harvard with a similar offer. Harvard's president, Abbott Lawrence Lowell , quickly accepted, and with
5207-639: The third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States , and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution . Yale was established as the Collegiate School in 1701 by Congregationalist clergy of the Connecticut Colony . Originally restricted to instructing ministers in theology and sacred languages , the school's curriculum expanded, incorporating humanities and sciences by
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5334-427: The "secrecy" of these senior societies is dubious; their existence is widely known and membership rolls for most are published yearly. Ten present-day societies— Skull and Bones , Scroll and Key , Book and Snake , Wolf's Head , Elihu , Berzelius , St. Elmo , Manuscript , Shabtai , and Mace and Chain —have private buildings near campus; many other societies have a fixed on-campus meeting space where they meet twice
5461-680: The 1930s, following their lead. Now known as NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital / Columbia University Medical Center, the Harkness Pavilion, named for father Stephen, is a central part of the campus. Harkness was a major benefactor of the New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art . In addition to donations to the Decorative Arts Department, he gifted the Metropolitan Museum its initial ancient Egyptian art collection. He purchased
5588-616: The 1988 presidential election, George H. W. Bush (Yale '48) derided Michael Dukakis for having "foreign-policy views born in Harvard Yard's boutique". When challenged on the distinction between Dukakis's Harvard connection and his Yale background, he said that, unlike Harvard, Yale's reputation was "so diffuse, there isn't a symbol, I don't think, in the Yale situation, any symbolism in it" and said Yale did not share Harvard's reputation for "liberalism and elitism". In 2004 Howard Dean stated, "In some ways, I consider myself separate from
5715-1184: The British general in command of the occupation, intervened and the college was saved. In 1803, Fanning was granted an honorary degree LL.D. . As the only college in Connecticut from 1701 to 1823, Yale educated the sons of the elite. Punishable offenses included cardplaying , tavern-going, destruction of college property, and acts of disobedience. Harvard was distinctive for the stability and maturity of its tutor corps, while Yale had youth and zeal. The emphasis on classics gave rise to private student societies, open only by invitation, which arose as forums for discussions of scholarship, literature and politics. The first were debating societies: Crotonia in 1738, Linonia in 1753 and Brothers in Unity in 1768. Linonia and Brothers in Unity continue to exist; commemorations to them can be found with names given to campus structures, like Brothers in Unity Courtyard in Branford College. The Yale Report of 1828
5842-569: The Council of the Heads of College, composed of the Heads of College of the fourteen colleges. The most distinctive feature of Yale College undergraduate life is the residential college system. The system was established in 1933, through a gift by Yale graduate Edward S. Harkness , who admired the college systems at Oxford University and Cambridge University . Each college consists of dormitory buildings surrounding an enclosed courtyard, and features
5969-688: The Faculty of Arts and Sciences—and some members of other faculties—teach undergraduate courses, more than 2,000 of which are offered annually. In 1793, Lucinda Foote passed the entrance exams for Yale College, but was rejected by the president on the basis of her gender. Women studied at Yale from 1892, in graduate-level programs at the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences . The first seven women to earn PhDs received their degrees in 1894: Elizabeth Deering Hanscom , Cornelia H. B. Rogers, Sara Bulkley Rogers, Margaretta Palmer , Mary Augusta Scott , Laura Johnson Wylie, and Charlotte Fitch Roberts . There
6096-719: The International Union of Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America in late 2010, even though the Yale administration contested the election. In October 2014, after deliberation, Yale security decided to form a new union, the Yale University Security Officers Association, which has since represented the campus security officers. Yale has a history of difficult and prolonged labor negotiations, often culminating in strikes. There have been at least eight strikes since 1968, and The New York Times wrote that Yale has
6223-813: The State of Connecticut as Harkness Memorial State Park . They also owned another house on Long Island in Manhasset, New York , on 186 acres, called Weekend, like their New York City mansion designed by James Gamble Rogers. They had additional houses in North Carolina and in San Diego, California, and a camp at the Ausable Club in the Adirondacks. The Harknesses used their steam yacht Steveana (named after his parents) to commute between Long Island and
6350-571: The US Justice Department sued Yale for alleged discrimination against Asian and white candidates, through affirmative action admission policies. In 2021, under the new Biden administration, the Justice Department withdrew the lawsuit. The group, Students for Fair Admissions , later won a similar lawsuit against Harvard . In April 2024, Yale students joined other campuses across the United States in protests against
6477-459: The Wild West. The fictional, turn-of-the-20th-century Yale man Frank Merriwell embodied this same heroic ideal without racial prejudice, and his fictional successor Dink Stover in the novel Stover at Yale (1912) questioned the business mentality that had become prevalent at the school. Increasingly students turned to athletic stars as their heroes, especially since winning the big game became
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#17327717422656604-521: The Yale Corporation to oversee the affairs of each college. Residential college deans, who are supervised by the Dean of Yale College, are in charge of undergraduate academic oversight. Each residential college is governed by its Head of College, Dean, and Fellows, and has a college council of students with limited jurisdiction over student affairs. Issues affecting multiple colleges are governed by
6731-506: The Yale Corporation, or board of trustees, is the governing body of the university and consists of thirteen standing committees with separate responsibilities outlined in the by-laws. The corporation has 19 members: three ex officio members, ten successor trustees, and six elected alumni fellows. The university has three major academic components: Yale College (the undergraduate program), the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and
6858-459: The assistance of Henry Sloane Coffin as a tutor. Ned and Henry became friends and roomed together. Henry was later the pastor of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church , a few blocks away from Harkness and his wife's mansion in New York. Henry's brother William Sloane Coffin Sr. was the president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1931 to 1933. Ned had already been heavily involved with the museum as
6985-639: The behest of either Rector Samuel Andrew or the colony's Governor Gurdon Saltonstall , Cotton Mather contacted the Boston-born businessman Elihu Yale to ask for money to construct a new building for the college. Through the persuasion of Jeremiah Dummer , Yale, who had made a fortune in Madras while working for the East India Company as the first president of Fort St. George , donated nine bales of goods, which were sold for more than £560,
7112-504: The best of modern English literature, science, philosophy and theology. It had a profound effect on intellectuals at Yale. Undergraduate Jonathan Edwards discovered John Locke 's works and developed his " new divinity ". In 1722 the rector and six friends, who had a study group to discuss the new ideas, announced they had given up Calvinism , become Arminians , and joined the Church of England . They were ordained in England and returned to
7239-413: The century's end. Participation and leadership in these groups was an important social signifier and a route to induction into prestigious senior societies. Thus extracurricular participation became central to student life and social advancement, an ethos that became a template for collegiate life across the United States. By 1870, Yale was the largest undergraduate institution in the country. The growth of
7366-518: The changes brought by Victorian culture . They concentrated on developing a person possessed of religious values strong enough to sufficiently resist temptations from within, yet flexible enough to adjust to the ' isms ' ( professionalism , materialism , individualism , and consumerism ) tempting them from without. William Graham Sumner , professor from 1872 to 1909, taught in the emerging disciplines of economics and sociology to overflowing classrooms. Sumner bested President Noah Porter , who disliked
7493-874: The city. For longer trips they used their Pullman car Pelham , named after Pelham, Massachusetts , where the Harkness family started in America. Harkness was an avid golfer and was a member of the Jekyll Island Club in Georgia, Cypress Point Club , The Creek Club in Locust Valley, the Valley Club of Monteceito in Santa Barbara and Yeamans Hall Club outside Charleston, South Carolina, another James Gamble Rogers golf and winter community. He
7620-416: The class of 1970. In 2006, Yale and Peking University (PKU) established a Joint Undergraduate Program in Beijing, an exchange program allowing Yale students to spend a semester living and studying with PKU honor students. In July 2012, the Yale University-PKU Program ended due to weak participation. In 2007 outgoing Yale President Rick Levin characterized Yale's institutional priorities: "First, among
7747-441: The college and became the first student from China to graduate from an American university, and in 1857, Richard Henry Green became the first African-American man to receive a degree from the college. Until the rediscovery of Green's ethnic descent in 2014, physicist Edward Bouchet , who stayed at Yale to become the first African-American PhD recipient, was believed to also be the first African-American graduate of Yale College. In
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#17327717422657874-434: The college began teaching humanities and natural sciences by the late 18th century. At the same time, students began organizing extracurricular organizations: first literary societies , and later publications, sports teams, and singing groups. By the middle of the 19th century, it was the largest college in the United States. In 1847, it was joined by another undergraduate school at Yale, the Sheffield Scientific School , which
8001-515: The college has focused on international recruitment, quadrupling the fraction of international students admitted between 1993 and 2013. Yale College is a constituent school of Yale University and contains a dependent system of residential colleges . Its executive officer is the Dean of Yale College, who is appointed to a five-year term by the Yale Corporation . The dean oversees undergraduate academic curriculum, extracurricular activities, and student discipline, but does not have direct control over
8128-516: The college worked to exclude non-Christian men, especially Jews, as well as non-white men. By the mid-1960s, these processes were becoming more meritocratic, allowing for the recruitment of a racially, economically, and geographically diverse student body. This meritocratic transition encouraged the university to establish the first need-blind admissions policy in the United States. After several decades of debate about coeducation , Yale College admitted its first class of women in 1969. In recent years,
8255-407: The colonies as missionaries for the Anglican faith. Thomas Clapp became president in 1745, and while he attempted to return the college to Calvinist orthodoxy, did not close the library. Other students found Deist books in the library. Yale College undergraduates follow a liberal arts curriculum with departmental majors and is organized into a social system of residential colleges . Yale
8382-439: The community in our admissions, and there is a very strong tradition of volunteerism at Yale." Yale historian Gaddis Smith notes "an ethos of organized activity" at Yale during the 20th century that led Kerry to lead the Yale Political Union 's Liberal Party, George Pataki the Conservative Party, and Lieberman to manage the Yale Daily News . Camille Paglia points to a history of networking and elitism: "It has to do with
8509-420: The complete Tomb of Perneb for nthe museum and helped purchase the Carnarvon Collection of Egyptian artifacts . He also donated the Met's unofficial mascot, a blue decorative hippo from the Egyptian Middle Kingdom's Twelfth Dynasty that is known as "William". He was actively involved with the discovery and excavation of King Tutankhamun's tomb. The Harknesses and Albert Lythgoe visited Howard Carter at
8636-428: The crisis was developing, the presidents of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton developed a project to reform the sport and forestall possible radical changes forced by government. Presidents Arthur Hadley of Yale, A. Lawrence Lowell of Harvard, and Woodrow Wilson of Princeton worked to develop moderate reforms to reduce injuries. Their attempts, however, were reduced by rebellion against the rules committee and formation of
8763-416: The dean of the Divinity School, Rebecca Chopp , was appointed president of Colgate University and later went on to serve as the president of Swarthmore College in 2009, and then the first female chancellor of the University of Denver in 2014. In 2004, Provost Dr. Susan Hockfield became the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . In 2004, Dean of the Nursing school, Catherine Gilliss,
8890-419: The earliest still in print, the Yale Literary Magazine , was founded in 1836 and is believed to be the oldest surviving literary review in the United States. Undergraduate publications like the Yale Banner , a yearbook, and The Yale Record , a humor magazine, followed suit, often around the same time similar publications were established at Harvard and Princeton. The Yale Daily News , established in 1878,
9017-433: The early 20th century, the student body was predominantly "old-stock, high-status Protestants, especially Episcopalians, Congregationalists, and Presbyterians"—a group later called WASPs . By the 1970s, it was much more diverse. Enrollment at Yale only became competitive in the early 20th century, requiring the college to set up an admissions process. As late as the 1950s, tests and demographic questionnaires for admission to
9144-565: The employ of the East India Company (EIC), serving as the governor of the Presidency of Fort St. George in modern-day Chennai . The EIC, including Yale himself, was involved in the Indian Ocean slave trade , though the extent of Yale's involvement in slavery remains debated. His singularly large donation led critics to argue Yale University relied on money derived from slavery for its first scholarships and endowments. In 2020,
9271-486: The expansiveness of the undergraduate curriculum were waged throughout the early 19th century, with statements like the Yale Report of 1828 re-asserting Yale's conservative theological heritage and faculty. Later in the century, William Graham Sumner , the first professor of sociology in the United States, introduced studies in the social sciences. These expanding fields of study were integrated with graduate schools of
9398-532: The family fortune, and his brother's estate made Harkness the third-largest stakeholder in Standard Oil. Harkness made charitable gifts totaling more than $ 129 million, the equivalent of $ 2.35 billion in 2023. His philanthropic peers John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie gave respectively $ 550 million and $ 350 million. Harkness encouraged and orchestrated the merger of Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons , creating Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (CPMC),
9525-399: The field hockey team, Richard Kentwell. While unsuccessful in the courts, the legal reasoning changed the landscape of sex discrimination law and resulted in the establishment of Yale's Grievance Board and Women's Center. In 2011 a Title IX complaint was filed against Yale by students and graduates, including editors of Yale's feminist magazine Broad Recognition , alleging the university had
9652-406: The first secret society at the university, Skull and Bones . Skull and Bones "tapped" select juniors for membership as seniors, a ritual later adopted by all undergraduate senior societies. Since then, senior societies have proliferated at Yale, with recent estimates of 41 existing societies and senior class membership ranging from ten to fifty percent of each class. Although once carefully guarded,
9779-583: The first treasurer of Yale, Nathaniel Lynde, donated land and a building. In 1716, it moved to New Haven. Meanwhile, there was a rift forming at Harvard between its sixth president, Increase Mather, and the rest of the Harvard clergy, whom Mather viewed as increasingly liberal, ecclesiastically lax, and overly broad in Church polity . The feud caused the Mathers to champion the Collegiate School in
9906-443: The goal of the student body, the alumni, and the team itself. Along with Harvard and Princeton , Yale students rejected British concepts about ' amateurism ' and constructed athletic programs that were uniquely American. The Harvard–Yale football rivalry began in 1875. Between 1892, when Harvard and Yale met in one of the first intercollegiate debates , and in 1909 (year of the first Triangular Debate of Harvard/Yale/Princeton)
10033-609: The hope it would maintain the Puritan religious orthodoxy in a way Harvard had not. Rev. Jason Haven , minister at the First Church and Parish in Dedham , Massachusetts, had been considered for the presidency on account of his orthodox theology and "Neatness dignity and purity of Style [which] surpass those of all that have been mentioned", but was passed over due to his "very Valetudinary and infirm State of Health". In 1718, at
10160-1049: The impetus for the trailblazing lawsuit Alexander v. Yale . In the 1970s, a group of students and a faculty member sued Yale for its failure to curtail sexual harassment, especially by male faculty. The case was partly built from a 1977 report authored by plaintiff Ann Olivarius , "A report to the Yale Corporation from the Yale Undergraduate Women's Caucus." This case was the first to use Title IX to argue and establish that sexual harassment of female students can be considered illegal sex discrimination. The plaintiffs were Olivarius, Ronni Alexander, Margery Reifler, Pamela Price, and Lisa E. Stone. They were joined by Yale classics professor John "Jack" J. Winkler. The lawsuit, brought partly by Catharine MacKinnon , alleged rape, fondling, and offers of higher grades for sex by faculty, including Keith Brion , professor of flute and director of bands, political science professor Raymond Duvall, English professor Michael Cooke , and coach of
10287-469: The intellectual influence of Reverend William Sloane Coffin on future candidates. Yale President Levin attributes the run to Yale's focus on creating "a laboratory for future leaders", an institutional priority that began during the tenure of Yale Presidents Alfred Whitney Griswold and Kingman Brewster . Richard H. Brodhead , former dean of Yale College and now president of Duke University , stated: "We do give very significant attention to orientation to
10414-480: The interior. Near the library is a sunken courtyard with sculptures by Isamu Noguchi that are said to represent time (the pyramid), the sun (the circle), and chance (the cube). The library is located near the center of the university in Hewitt Quadrangle , which is now more commonly referred to as " Beinecke Plaza ". Edward Harkness Edward Stephen Harkness (January 22, 1874 – January 29, 1940)
10541-522: The invitation. Both schools introduced coeducation independently in 1969. Amy Solomon was the first woman to register as a Yale undergraduate; she was the first woman at Yale to join an undergraduate society, St. Anthony Hall . The undergraduate class of 1973 was the first to have women starting from freshman year; all undergraduate women were housed in Vanderbilt Hall. A decade into co-education, student assault and harassment by faculty became
10668-528: The land from which he drew his descent." The current priorities of the trust are preservation, places of worship, and social welfare. Edward and Mary Harkness had a number of homes in addition to Harkness House in New York. They spent summers at their Eolia mansion on Long Island Sound in Waterford, Connecticut , near where Mary had visited her grandparents in the summers. The home and 230 acres (93 ha) of ornamental gardens and grounds are now maintained by
10795-457: The last several decades. The semi-secrecy and influential membership of Yale's older senior societies has attracted wide interest and scrutiny, particularly when both 2004 U.S. presidential candidates were members of Skull and Bones. Yale University Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut , United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is
10922-620: The method spread to St. Paul's , The Lawrenceville School , and Kingswood-Oxford School . Harkness also made gifts to Taft School , The Hill School , and Phillips Academy . He established the Harkness Fellowships and founded the Pilgrim Trust in the UK in 1930 with an endowment of just over two million pounds, "prompted by his admiration for what Great Britain had done in the 1914–18 war and, by his ties of affection for
11049-413: The nation's finest research universities, Yale is distinctively committed to excellence in undergraduate education. Second, in our graduate and professional schools, as well as in Yale College, we are committed to the education of leaders." In 2009, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair picked Yale as one location – the others being Britain's Durham University and Universiti Teknologi Mara – for
11176-521: The normal departmental structure of the university, and the Heads of College host lectures and teas for the colleges that attract high-profile visitors. Harkness' gift built and endowed eight colleges, completed from 1932 to 1934. Additional colleges were opened in 1935 ( Timothy Dwight College ), 1940 ( Silliman College ), 1962 ( Morse College and Ezra Stiles College ), and 2017 ( Pauli Murray College and Benjamin Franklin College ), bringing
11303-455: The original undergraduate college , the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Yale Law School . While the university is governed by the Yale Corporation , each school's faculty oversees its curriculum and degree programs. In addition to a central campus in downtown New Haven , the university owns athletic facilities in western New Haven, a campus in West Haven , and forests and nature preserves throughout New England . As of 2023 ,
11430-399: The other three (Yale) candidates of 2004. Yale changed so much between the class of '68 and the class of '71. My class was the first class to have women in it; it was the first class to have a significant effort to recruit African Americans. It was an extraordinary time, and in that span of time is the change of an entire generation". The President and Fellows of Yale College , also known as
11557-461: The oversight of university's departments. Two additional colleges were built by 1940, two more ( Ezra Stiles College and Morse College ) opened in 1962, and two more ( Pauli Murray College and Benjamin Franklin College ) in 2017. For most of its history, study at Yale was almost exclusively restricted to white Protestant men, often the children of alumni. Documented exceptions to this paradigm include Hawaiian native Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia , who became
11684-734: The present-day number to fourteen. The first ten colleges were designed in Collegiate Gothic and Georgian Revival styles; the two colleges built in the 1960s are Modernist reinventions of the college plan. In 2007, Yale announced the construction of two additional Collegiate Gothic residential colleges near Science Hill , which opened in 2017. Residential colleges are named for important figures or places in university history or notable alumni; they are deliberately not named for benefactors. Yale College has been called "the epicenter of college singing," both for its long history of singing groups and its centrality in establishing collegiate
11811-473: The presidency include Amy Klobuchar (2020), Tom Steyer (2020), Ben Carson (2016), Howard Dean (2004), Gary Hart (1984 and 1988), Paul Tsongas (1992), Pat Robertson (1988) and Jerry Brown (1976, 1980, 1992). Several explanations have been offered for Yale's representation since the end of the Vietnam War. Sources note the spirit of campus activism that has existed at Yale since the 1960s, and
11938-653: The purview of academic departments , divisions of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences which offer undergraduate and graduate curricula. In addition, the faculties of three Yale professional schools , the School of Art , School of Architecture and School of Forestry & Environmental Studies , also offer undergraduate programs. Residential colleges, which are funded and controlled by the university, have separate administration and limited self-governance. The Heads of College (before 2016 called Masters ), usually tenured faculty members, are appointed to renewable, five-year terms by
12065-668: The residential colleges. The position is currently held by Pericles Lewis , professor of comparative literature . All of the college's faculty are members of the Yale Faculty of Arts and Sciences and are thereby jointly affiliated with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences . Tenured members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences constitute the Board of Permanent Officers, who govern the school's curriculum and programs. Most undergraduate courses and majors are offered under
12192-415: The rhetoric, symbolism, and metaphors used in athletics were used to frame these debates. Debates were covered on front pages of college newspapers and emphasized in yearbooks , and team members received the equivalent of athletic letters for their jackets. There were rallies to send off teams to matches, but they never attained the broad appeal athletics enjoyed. One reason may be that debates do not have
12319-471: The school's system of residential colleges , established in 1932, and modeled after the constituent colleges of English universities . Undergraduates live in these colleges after their freshman year, when most live on the school's Old Campus . The Collegiate School was founded in 1701 by a charter drawn by ten Congregationalist ministers led by James Pierpont and approved by the General Court of
12446-608: The site multiple times and Carter invited Harkness to witness the opening of King Tutankhamun's sarcophagus on February 12, 1924. In 1917, a year after Charles' death, Anna Harkness donated $ 3 million to Yale University to build the Memorial Quadrangle student dormitory in Charles' memory. In 1918, Anna Harkness established the Commonwealth Fund with an initial gift of $ 10 million, and Ned Harkness
12573-487: The social sciences and wanted Yale to lock into its traditions of classical education. Porter objected to Sumner's use of a textbook by Herbert Spencer that espoused agnostic materialism because it might harm students. Until 1887, the legal name of the university was "The President and Fellows of Yale College, in New Haven." In 1887, under an act passed by the Connecticut General Assembly , Yale
12700-411: The student body prompted major growth in the college's physical campus, the greatest expansion of which occurred in 1933, when a gift of Edward S. Harkness created and endowed eight residential colleges . Modeled after the college system of Oxford and Cambridge Universities , the colleges were intended to be the social and residential centers of undergraduate life while leaving academic programs under
12827-472: The study of Reverend Samuel Russell , in Branford , to donate books to form the school's library. The group, led by James Pierpont , is now known as "The Founders". Known from its origin as the "Collegiate School", the institution opened in the home of its first rector , Abraham Pierson, who is considered Yale's first president. Pierson lived in Killingworth . The school moved to Saybrook in 1703, when
12954-435: The study of humans in their environment. He established the "Yale System" of teaching, with few lectures and fewer exams, and strengthened the full-time faculty system; he created the graduate-level Yale School of Nursing and the psychiatry department and built new buildings. Progress toward his plans for an Institute of Human Relations, envisioned as a refuge where social scientists would collaborate with biological scientists in
13081-488: The time of the American Revolution subsequent rectors, especially Ezra Stiles , relaxed the curriculum to include humanities and limited natural science education. Scientific courses introduced by chemist Benjamin Silliman in 1801, made the college an early hub of scientific education, a curriculum which was grafted into Yale's Sheffield Scientific School in 1847. As in many of Yale's sister institutions, debates about
13208-428: The time of the American Revolution . In the 19th century, the college expanded into graduate and professional instruction, awarding the first PhD in the United States in 1861 and organizing as a university in 1887. Yale's faculty and student populations grew rapidly after 1890 due to the expansion of the physical campus and its scientific research programs. Yale is organized into fourteen constituent schools, including
13335-468: The twelve professional schools. Yale's former president Richard C. Levin was, at the time, one of the highest paid university presidents in the United States with a 2008 salary of $ 1.5 million. Yale's succeeding president Peter Salovey ranks 40th with a 2020 salary of $ 1.16 million. The Yale Provost's Office and similar executive positions have launched several women into prominent university executive positions. In 1977, Provost Hanna Holborn Gray
13462-754: The union's elections were undemocratic and how graduate students are not employees; the move to not recognize the union has been criticized by the American Federation of Teachers . In addition, officers of the Yale University Police Department are represented by the Yale Police Benevolent Association, which affiliated in 2005 with the Connecticut Organization for Public Safety Employees. Yale security officers joined
13589-436: The university and amalgamated into a course of liberal arts education , which presaged the advent of divisional majors in the twentieth century. The relaxation of curriculum came with expansion of the extracurriculum. Student literary societies emerged as early as 1750, singing groups and student publications in the early 1800s, fraternities and secret societies in the mid-nineteenth century, and intercollegiate athletics by
13716-1208: The university's endowment was valued at $ 40.7 billion, the third largest of any educational institution . The Yale University Library , serving all constituent schools, holds more than 15 million volumes and is the third-largest academic library in the United States. Student athletes compete in intercollegiate sports as the Yale Bulldogs in the NCAA Division I Ivy League conference. As of October 2020 , 65 Nobel laureates, 5 Fields medalists , 4 Abel Prize laureates, and 3 Turing Award winners have been affiliated with Yale University. In addition, Yale has graduated many notable alumni , including 5 U.S. presidents , 10 Founding Fathers , 19 U.S. Supreme Court Justices , 31 living billionaires , 54 college founders and presidents , many heads of state , cabinet members and governors . Hundreds of members of Congress and many U.S. diplomats , 96 MacArthur Fellows , 263 Rhodes Scholars , 123 Marshall Scholars , 81 Gates Cambridge Scholars , 102 Guggenheim Fellows and 9 Mitchell Scholars have been affiliated with
13843-546: The university. Yale's current faculty include 67 members of the National Academy of Sciences , 55 members of the National Academy of Medicine , 8 members of the National Academy of Engineering , and 193 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . Yale traces its beginnings to "An Act for Liberty to Erect a Collegiate School", a would-be charter passed in New Haven by the General Court of
13970-546: The walls of the buildings portray contemporary college personalities, such as a writer, an athlete, a tea-drinking socialite, and a student who has fallen asleep while reading. Similarly, the decorative friezes on the buildings depict contemporary scenes, like a policemen chasing a robber and arresting a prostitute (on the wall of the Law School), or a student relaxing with a mug of beer and a cigarette. The architect, James Gamble Rogers , faux-aged these buildings by splashing
14097-482: The walls with acid, deliberately breaking their leaded glass windows and repairing them in the style of the Middle Ages , and creating niches for decorative statuary but leaving them empty to simulate loss or theft over the ages. In fact, the buildings merely simulate Middle Ages architecture, for though they appear to be constructed of solid stone blocks in the authentic manner, most actually have steel framing as
14224-612: The world's first academic medical center . CPMC was built in the 1920s on the site of Hilltop Park , the one-time home stadium of the New York Yankees , which Harkness purchased and donated. Despite his aversion to have anything named for himself, The Edward Harkness Eye Institute was named by relatives. In 1997, Columbia-Presbyterian merged with the New York Hospital . New York Hospital had affiliated with Cornell University 's Weill Cornell Medical College in
14351-569: Was a dogmatic defense of the Latin and Greek curriculum against critics who wanted more courses in modern languages, math and science. Unlike higher education in Europe , there was no national curriculum for US colleges and universities. In the competition for students and financial support, college leaders strove to keep current with demands for innovation. At the same time, they realized a significant portion of students and prospective students demanded
14478-424: Was a relative latecomer but became the flagship campus daily, and continues to publish during every weekday of the undergraduate academic term. These publications have been joined by many 20th-century debuts, including The Yale Herald and The New Journal . In 1832, a rift over Phi Beta Kappa inductions between the college's two debating societies, Linonia and Brothers in Unity , caused seniors to establish
14605-400: Was absorbed into the college in 1956. These merged curricula became the basis of the modern-day liberal arts curriculum, which requires students to take courses in a broad range of subjects, including foreign language, composition, sciences, and quantitative reasoning, in addition to electing a departmental major in their sophomore year. The most distinctive feature of undergraduate life is
14732-640: Was also a member of the Racquet and Tennis Club in New York City. Edward and Mary Harkness are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx , New York City, which is today a National Historic Landmark. The Harkness family mausoleum is stately, designed to resemble a small medieval church, and includes a walled and locked private garden. It is not marked with the family name. In addition to
14859-487: Was an American philanthropist . Given privately and through his family's Commonwealth Fund , Harkness' gifts to private hospitals, art museums, and educational institutions in the Northeastern United States were among the largest of the early twentieth century. He was a major benefactor to Columbia University , Yale University , Harvard University , Phillips Exeter Academy , St. Paul's School ,
14986-489: Was appointed interim president of Yale and later went on to become president of the University of Chicago, being the first woman to hold either position at each respective school. In 1994, Provost Judith Rodin became the first permanent female president of an Ivy League institution at the University of Pennsylvania . In 2002, Provost Alison Richard became the vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge . In 2003,
15113-421: Was appointed the dean of Duke University's School of Nursing and vice chancellor for nursing affairs. In 2007, Deputy Provost H. Kim Bottomly was named president of Wellesley College . Similar examples for men who have served in Yale leadership positions can also be found. In 2004, Dean of Yale College Richard H. Brodhead was appointed as the president of Duke University . In 2008, Provost Andrew Hamilton
15240-700: Was born in Cleveland, Ohio , one of four sons of Anna M. Harkness and Stephen V. Harkness , a harness-maker who invested in and was one of the five founding partners in the forerunner of Standard Oil , John D. Rockefeller 's oil company. Stephen Harkness died when Edward was fourteen, leaving his wife and his oldest son, Charles , to manage the estate. Harkness attended St. Paul's School and Yale College , Class of 1897 and Columbia Law School . Harkness, his brother Charles, and cousin William were members of Wolf's Head Society at Yale. While at Yale, Ned enlisted
15367-590: Was commonly used in 1930. One exception is Harkness Tower , 216 feet (66 m) tall, which was originally a free-standing stone structure. It was reinforced in 1964 to allow the installation of the Yale Memorial Carillon . Other examples of the Gothic style are on the Old Campus by architects like Henry Austin , Charles C. Haight and Russell Sturgis . Several are associated with members of
15494-474: Was confirmed to be the vice chancellor of the University of Oxford. Yale University staff are represented by several different unions. Clerical and technical workers are represented by Local 34, and service and maintenance workers are represented by Local 35, both of the same union affiliate UNITE HERE . Unlike similar institutions, Yale has consistently refused to recognize its graduate student union, Local 33 (another affiliate of UNITE HERE), citing claims that
15621-508: Was considered the most beautiful street in America by Charles Dickens when he visited the United States in the 1840s. In 2011, Travel + Leisure listed the Yale campus as one of the most beautiful in the United States. Many of Yale's buildings were constructed in the Collegiate Gothic architecture style from 1917 to 1931, financed largely by Edward S. Harkness , including the Yale Drama School . Stone sculpture built into
15748-405: Was formed among Yale, University College London , and both schools' affiliated hospital complexes to conduct research focused on the direct improvement of patient care—a field known as translational medicine . President Richard Levin noted that Yale has hundreds of other partnerships across the world, but "no existing collaboration matches the scale of the new partnership with UCL". In August 2013,
15875-769: Was made its president. Ned Harkness and his wife made many contributions to educational buildings, including St Salvator's Hall at the University of St. Andrews ; Harkness Chapel and Harkness Dormitory at Connecticut College ; Butler Library at Columbia University as well as the original portions of the Columbia University Medical Center and the undergraduate dormitories at Brown University and Connecticut College —all of these were built through his philanthropy or that of his wife, Mary. Between 1926 and 1930, Harkness made major donations to his alma mater, Yale, and Harvard to establish residential college systems at each school. Harkness admired
16002-433: Was renamed "Yale University". The Revolutionary War soldier Nathan Hale (Yale 1773) was the archetype of the Yale ideal in the early 19th century: a manly yet aristocratic scholar, well-versed in knowledge and sports, and a patriot who "regretted" that he "had but one life to lose" for his country. Western painter Frederic Remington (Yale 1900) was an artist whose heroes gloried in the combat and tests of strength in
16129-713: Was swept up by the great intellectual movements of the period—the Great Awakening and Enlightenment —due to the religious and scientific interests of presidents Thomas Clap and Ezra Stiles . They were instrumental in developing the scientific curriculum while dealing with wars, student tumults, graffiti, "irrelevance" of curricula, desperate need for endowment and disagreements with the Connecticut legislature . Serious American students of theology and divinity, particularly in New England, regarded Hebrew as
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