                                      |
|
AYA
Home --> AYA
Assemblies --> Archive
--> Spring 2002
--> Executive Summary |
||||
|
 |
AYA
Assemblies |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
Assembly
LX: Free Speech, Free Expression and Free Inquiry at Yale The AYA Spring 2002 Assembly held April 26 & 27, 2002 was devoted to free speech, free expression and free inquiry at Yale. It kicked off with an introduction of 12 distinguished alumni who have been nominated for the AYA Board of Governors. We could vote for 7 of these. Unfortunately for the AYA, Clevelander Dr. John Gardner didn't make the cut. Next time John! A "Town Meeting" was inserted at the last minute in place of the scheduled Yale Clubs meeting to discuss the processes and AYA Board decisions with respect to their recommendations for the forthcoming election to a 6 year term on the Yale Corporation. Normally, the AYA nominating committee selects from two to five candidates for consideration for these positions and sends a ballot/booklet to qualified alumni voters so that they may choose a candidate. This year however, a petition drive was held to get Rev. David Lee '93 MDiv and pastor of the Varick Memorial AME Zion Church in New Haven, on the ballot. Breaking with tradition, Lee actively campaigned for election, sending several mailings and e-mails to alumni voters and soliciting political endorsements. No candidate has done this in the past. It was later disclosed that Lee received financial help from the union representing Yale food service employees, whose contract is up for negotiation. It was clear that this tactic, along with his union support, annoyed the AYA nominating committee and probably the Yale administration, who has been working hard to foster better town-gown and union relations. The opposing candidate, nominated by AYA, is Ms. Maya Lin '81, MFA '86 and '87 Hon. Doc. in Fine Arts. Ms. Lin designed the famous Vietnam Memorial. Ms. Lin has followed the customary practice of not conducting a campaign. What are the AYA's principal concerns about this issue, causing them to insert it into our meeting? Quoting the AYA: "Yale Corp. trustees are elected to consider the common good of the University and its many constituencies. Accordingly, the AYA's Board of Governors is concerned about the strong and unexplained disparity between Rev. Lee's past public statements about Yale and those now being made in campaign mailings to alumni. We are also concerned about Rev. Lee's expressions of deep commitment to the Yale-New Haven relationship despite his lack of past involvement at any level with Yale's many initiatives and engagements with the city. Finally, we are concerned about the way in which union financing has led to the politicizing of trustee selection, both for this election and for the future." FYI: There are about 110,000 living Yale alumni today. About 20-25% vote in these elections. That's about the same percentage who participate in their local Yale club activities. A brown-bag luncheon in Branford College "Pit" dealt with the new Yale financial aid policies. We are still using a "needs blind" application process and then determining amount of scholarship aid for those who have been accepted. Total cost for an undergraduate Yale education today is around $40,000 per year or a staggering $160,000 for 4 years! [This includes tuition, room, board, travel, books, & miscellaneous living expenses.] Aid is made up of 3 components: gift, loan & self-help (formerly called bursary work and typically paid at minimum salary levels $9.35-11.35/hr. and work about 15 hours a week). The past method of repaying loans based on (a) income and (b) group performance has proven usurious and resulted in many complaints. A new system wherein conventional loan terms are used is being tried. Princeton, by contrast, has eliminated the loan component with much public ballyhoo. Examining this closer reveals that the self-help portion has been increased to partially offset this. Still, they have a perceived advantage over other Ivies when competing for the scholarship students. ------------------ Prof. Smith reviewed the history of free speech at Yale and the formation of the Woodward Committee and its 1975 report, which is still the foundation document for free speech policy at Yale. In the beginning years Yale was anything but a bastion of free speech; in fact it was a Congregational seminary where speaking too far out of line could get one expelled as it did early President Timothy Cutler, who was fired for "leaning toward the Anglican church." The first serious consideration of free speech came about during President A. Whitney Griswold's tenure and progressed as the anti-Vietnam war movement became an influence on campus in the 60's. His talk was both humorous and highly informative. Concerns by faculty & administration during this troubled period lead to the formation of above mentioned Woodward Committee. Dean Brodhead, an outstanding yet understated speaker, discussed the practical limits of free speech and Yale from the point of view of the administration with current illustrations, both thought provoking and highly entertaining. For those who are interestd in the details, the complete presentations are available online in streaming audio at http://www.aya.yale.edu/assembly/s02/gbpres.htm. ------------------ -------------------------- Saturday, April 27: On Saturday an early morning breakfast presented a great opportunity to informally meet alumni reps from around the country. Several had good friends and classmates in Cleveland. ------------------------- President Rick Levin '74 Ph.D., speaking at the Law School, gave a general update on Yale affairs. Among the most interesting of his comments were: a half-billion dollar Science Hill renovation aimed at restoring Yale to a national leadership role in basic science, another half-billion dollar investment in the Medical School and the building of a new basic sciences laboratory building, second in size at Yale only to the Payne-Whitney Gym, a strong program aimed at attracting foreign undergraduate students and a parallel leadership training program for emerging foreign political and social leaders. A reevaluation of the undergraduate curriculum -- first in decades -- aimed at opening opportunities for undergrads to avail themselves more fully of the tremendous talents and facilities of the whole university, i.e., taking courses along side graduate students in medicine, science, arts, etc. I felt this was one of the most exciting of all Yale's undertakings and think it will greatly enhance the undergraduate educational experience at Yale. ------------------ Following President Levin's talk we were offered a choice of breakout groups featuring student organizations on campus for discussions of free speech in action. They included: student publications, advocacy & activism, social & cultural pressures @ Yale. I chose the student publications where a predictable discussion of what they feel they should write vs. what they think the administration would like to hear, etc. It included the Yale Daily News, Yale Herald (weekly), and Type Magazine (a quarterly). ------------------------ A "Community Service Summer Fellowship" luncheon in Commons followed wherein We got a chance to meet with 32 juniors who were about to embark on a wide variety of summer volunteer duties around the nation. Most were aimed at helping youth or elderly programs in the community they were assigned. Each Fellow is sponsored by a local Yale club or class and receives $2,500 stipend for their work. Since most were scholarship students, this will be applied to their self-help contribution. ------------------- The assembly certainly verified that free speech was alive and well at Yale today. I was only disappointed that the Yale Clubs meeting Friday morning was canceled as I had> hoped to raise a number of issues of special interest to our Clevelanders, including: concerns our Schools Committee has with the lack of feedback and the effect on both our volunteer interviewers and upon referring school counselors of a low acceptance rate of well qualified Cleveland area students; use of young and inexperienced Undergrad Admissions reps to cover prime areas such as Ohio; and lack of communication regarding visiting Yale notables, e.g. singing groups and speakers, with the local Club. Thank you for letting me represent you in
New Haven. Please give me any questions you
wish investigated and comments you wish fed back to Yale.
|
|
Assembly LX
Archive Contents |
| 1.
Archive Home 2. Program 3. Exec. Summary 4. Plenary Speeches 5. Sample Reports 6. Photos |
|
Executive
Summary
|
| 1.
Exec. Summary 2. AYA Town Mtg. 3. Info. Sessions 4. Plenary Speeches 5. Gaddis Smith 6. Dean Brodhead 7. Yale Medal 8. University Update 9. Student Sessions 10. Free Speech Day 11. CSSF Luncheon 12. Faculty Sessions |
|
Free Speech Links
|
| 1. Woodward
Rept. 2. Adair Report |
