by Alejandra Padín-Dujon This speech was given at the renaming ceremony for the college formerly known as Calhoun on April 29, 2016. This is the part of any Yale event where we would usually thank our donors. We’d thank the people whose sacrifice and generosity have given us the bittersweet privilege of studying at this university—of…
by Karen Marks Earlier this semester, Nick Aramayo ’17 (they/them/theirs), filmed a video explaining why it’s important to specify gender pronouns in classroom introductions. The video became so popular that Aramayo started a video series called “Just Ask the Question” (JAQ) to provide more opportunities for cisgender* students at Yale to become educated allies of…
by J. Ery Díaz “Listen, dear, I realize that you’ve been hurt deeply because I have been there,” drawls Aretha Franklin at the start of “A Rose Is Still a Rose.” The titular track in her 1998 album, released through Arista after a long hiatus, is a tremendously slick piece of R&B—Franklin’s showstopping vocal potency, enhanced…
by Erika Hairston with contributions from Yonas Takele Native land and bodies, Black bodies, Latinx bodies, and Asian bodies have built the foundations of Yale’s campus. The greatest donation our forefathers and foremothers have given this place is their blood, sweat, and tears. The toll of these sacrifices is simply too high to count. I consider…
by Micah Jones I call November 5th, 2015 “Dark Thursday.” I remember standing on Cross Campus with friends who have become family talking to Dean Holloway with tears and raindrops running in intermingling rivets down our faces. We told him that we needed more from him, from President Salovey, from this university, from our peers….