The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy signed off on YNHHS’s certificate of need, or CON, application to buy Waterbury Hospital, Rockville General Hospital and Manchester Memorial Hospital from Prospect Medical Holdings. Negotiations for YNHHS to acquire the financially troubled hospitals have been ongoing since October 2022. 

The state’s approval of the CON greenlights the way for YNHHS to finalize the terms of the acquisition deal with Prospect Medical Holdings, keeping the hospitals from shuttering their doors. The acquisition would see YNHHS expand its total bed count by 700 and add about 4,400 additional employees, for a total of approximately 33,400. The for-profit Prospect hospitals would also be reverted to non-profit status.

“I am glad that all the parties have been able to reach an agreement on this transaction in a way that ensures that the residents who live in each of the hospitals’ host communities will continue to have local access to essential medical care, and the jobs of the employees who provide this care will be preserved under this new ownership,” Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont wrote in a statement. 

For over a year, Yale New Haven Health has been in negotiations with Prospect Medical Holdings and the state to iron out an agreement to acquire the three, Prospect-owned hospitals.

Following a six-week-long cyberattack on the three hospitals last August, Yale New Haven Health proposed a “Recovery Plan” that lowered its originally proposed purchase price of $435 million and asked the state to provide financial assistance for the deal. In return, the system would provide the three hospitals with support in their efforts to recover from the cyberattack.

Shortly after, negotiations between Yale New Haven Health, Prospect and Connecticut’s Office of Health Strategy for the acquisition deal went confidential to ensure that they continued as efficiently as possible.

“We continue to meet with all parties, including the Connecticut Office of Health Strategy and Prospect, CT to bring the transaction to a successful conclusion,” said Dana Marnane, director for public relations at Yale New Haven Health, in an email to the News in October.

State conditions on YNHHS

The new CON contains 46 conditions that the state’s Office of Health Strategy, or OHS, will require Yale to adhere to, including the hiring of an independent monitor for five years that reports to the OHS at the sole expense of YNHHS. 

“The [Independent Monitor] shall be responsible for monitoring NewCo’s compliance with all of the conditions set forth in this Agreed Settlement and shall produce a schedule of required reports and data to be shared with the [OHS],” the CON stated. 

Many conditions work to ensure current employees at the three hospitals can maintain their jobs. Notably, the agreement requires YNHHS to rehire all non-management employees and use their “best efforts … to minimize the elimination of individuals’ jobs.” YNHHS must also recognize all established bargaining agreements between hospital employees and the previous management. 

Other conditions focus on community-building efforts. YNHHS and the Prospect hospitals must have community representatives on its board of directors. In addition, the hospitals must hold community meetings to engage the public with hospital activities that allow community members to ask questions. 

The hospitals will also work with local health organizations and stakeholders to conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment to systematically identify community needs. To increase accessibility, YNHHS will also make culturally and linguistically appropriate services available and integrated into the hospitals’ operations. 

All three hospitals will adopt the YNHHS financial assistance policies, and all hospitals will continue to offer Medicaid services. Further, YNHHS must increase its aggregate community benefit expenditures across each hospital. 

“For-profit ownership of community hospitals — especially when tied to hedge funds — should never again be tolerated in our state,” John Brady, vice president of the statewide labor federation AFT Connecticut, wrote in an email to the News. “We have been consistent on our priorities – the health and well-being of our communities and caregivers.”

For five years, Northeast Medical Group — the medical foundation associated with YNHHS — will offer semi-annual reports on Medicaid patients’ access to specialty treatments, including medication-assisted treatment for substance misuse, dermatology, ENT services, neurology, orthopedics, and pain management. 

YNHHS will also invest $6 million in behavioral health services that target increasing access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment. 

“With today’s approval by the Office of Health Strategy, I encourage Prospect to work with Yale to reach a deal that will allow them to finalize this purchase and bring a much-needed resolution to this transaction,” Lamont wrote.

Healthcare providers, legislators push to finalize deal

Throughout the negotiation process, many healthcare professionals, legislators and health policy experts around the state have urged the deal should move forward, and should do so as quickly as possible.

Of concern to these individuals is the volatile financial status of Prospect Medical, and the effects that its for-profit business model has had on its hospitals’ ability to provide care.

Following the cyberattacks, State Senator Saud Anwar, co-chair of the Connecticut General Assembly Public Health Committee, told the News in October that the hospitals could not bill their patients or pay medical supply vendors.

As a result, the CT Mirror also reported that the state was also forced to provide a $7 million bailout to the hospitals, which were struggling to stay afloat after being unable to receive Medicaid reimbursements during the attacks. 

“This was a perfect storm from the hospitals’ perspective,” Anwar wrote in an email to the News. “They were already struggling financially, and the fact that their medical records and ability to see as many patients as they usually see, as well as their ability to bill patients as normal, resulted in a financial issue that harmed cash flow, making their ability to manage their finances significantly more difficult.”

Prospect owes the state at least $67.39 million in health provider taxes that date back to March 2022, according to three state tax liens filed against the California-based company. 

The company’s financial struggles and alleged mismanagement have generated widespread frustration among several Connecticut healthcare providers, who told the News that they continue to support the YNHHS purchase of the Prospect hospitals.

Those financial difficulties “call attention to the dire need for responsible, committed new ownership of ECHN’s hospitals,” said Diane Carlson, president of the Manchester Federation of LPNs and Techs United, AFT Local 5144, who works as a licensed practical nurse at Manchester Memorial Hospital. 

The state’s approval of the CON greenlights the way for Yale to finalize the terms of the acquisition. 

“Our patients and our caregivers deserve better than a hedge fund that fails to pay its fair share to the communities from which it profits,” she added.

According to Rep. Jason Doucette, D-Manchester, the state representative for one of the towns containing a Prospect hospital, Prospect’s management style has “negatively affected” the availability of vendors and supplies. 

He believes that Prospect’s financial woes also harm the morale of doctors, nurses and other hospital employees.

“The private equity model of doing business in health care, together with [Prospect’s] inability to refinance certain company debts, then compounded by the cyber attack in mid-2023, created a dire situation where the bills simply weren’t getting paid,” he wrote in an email to the News. “Most of the people I speak to in the community are hopeful that the acquisition by Yale will bring a significant overall improvement to the ECHN system generally, and that frankly anything is likely to be better than the current situation.”

As the deal moves forward after the state’s approval, however, healthcare professionals continue to provide care to Connecticut residents, even as they face uncertainty over future management and job prospects.

Annie-Marie Cerra, president of AFT Local 5055 for Manchester Memorial Hospital Nurses and an emergency department nurse at Manchester Memorial, highlighted healthcare workers’ continued commitment in an email to the News.

“This acquisition process has created a lot of anxiety for all of us. Despite that, our member nurses and health professionals – as well as our physician colleagues – have shown up every day in our hospitals to provide the excellent care our patients and their families deserve.”

Yale New Haven Hospital was founded as the General Hospital Society of Connecticut in 1826.

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One of those students, D’Alessandro de Afvdial, is a sixth-grader at Augusta Lewis Troup School. He told the News he had never been to a museum before stepping into the Peabody with his classmates.

Discussing the visit, de Afvdial said that he loved “discovering new things” and was especially excited to explore the Peabody’s exhibits on electricity and other technological inventions. 

“Come this summer, I would love to come here with my family,” he said.

Mayor Justin Elicker, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, NHPS Superintendent Madeline Negrón and New Haven Arts, Culture and Tourism Director Adriane Jefferson welcomed first graders from the Family Academy of Multilingual Exploration and sixth graders from the Augusta Lewis Troup School as the first visitors on Tuesday. 

Accompanied by their teachers, students gawked at the Burke Hall of Dinosaurs and exhibits on the evolution of the human species and the history of science and technology. 

“It sends a real statement that the first kids into this building are New Haven Public School kids from the community,” Elicker told the News. “On top of that, the fact that you now no longer have to pay to get into the Peabody just opens up this world to so many kids that previously wouldn’t have been able to explore this space.”

Following a $160-million donation from Edward P. Bass ’68, the Peabody underwent a four-year renovation, and is now free for all visitors in perpetuity, joining the Yale University Art Gallery and the Yale Center for British Art. 

Elicker said that while New Haveners missed being able to visit the Peabody’s collections during the renovation period — especially during the COVID-19 pandemic — the reopening has reminded people of its value to the community. 

“Of course, we missed coming in here,” Elicker said. “On the other hand, having been closed for so long, it made a lot of people realize just how special this space is, building up anticipation for today.” 

Beyond expanding and reorganizing its exhibition spaces, the Peabody is also set to increase educational programming for K-12 students and develop a partnership with NHPS. 

In an interview with the News, Superintendent Negrón said that the specifics of this partnership are still unclear. Initial discussions between NHPS and the Peabody began three weeks ago, though both parties demonstrated interest in forging a stronger relationship, she said.  

Nevertheless, she expressed optimism about how the Peabody’s new K-12 education center could offer opportunities to local students and enrich their educational experience. 

“I think [the Peabody] is an opportunity just to continue to expand on learning,” Negrón said. “For example, many of our kids are interested in having leadership roles and having an opportunity to go into all kinds of different fields. This could be a way that kids could come in and learn from the people who work here, what it means to hold one of these professions and explore academically.”

The Peabody will also enhance the exhibits’ educational experience through a new app called “Amuse.” 

According to Dakota Stipp, the company’s CEO and co-founder, Amuse was founded in 2019 in collaboration with Yale’s Center for Engineering and Innovative Design. Once visitors download the app, depending on where they are standing in the Peabody, they will receive videos, tidbits of information and other types of short-form content related to different exhibits. While the Peabody is the first museum to use the app, Stipp said he hopes to expand its use to other public spaces, including museums, parks and historic landmarks. 

Stipp said that Amuse accrues data on how visitors interact with the app, informing what types of future content the Peabody will develop. The app also allows users to learn more about the city, he said. 

“When you’re looking at the map of the museum, you can actually zoom out, and then you’ll find historic information about New Haven,” Stipp said.

For the next 29 days, the Peabody will be using a ticketed reservation system. 

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After a brief opening speech, Formenton took her seat at a black Steinway piano and began to play. Feng, an opinion columnist for the News, then read aloud original poetry, layering her words over Formenton’s music. The piano program consisted of Frédéric Chopin’s Ballade No. 2 in F Major; Ondine, from Prélude Livre II by Claude Debussy; Chopin’s Scherzo No. 2 in B Flat Minor; and Romance No. 2 in F Sharp Minor, Op. 28 by Robert Schumann. The poetry Feng composed and recited was inspired by Formenton’s musical interpretations of each piano selection. 

“Music is a universal language, with its transcendent crescendos accessible to anyone from anywhere in the world, and poetry is a universal music, its rhythm and cadence recognizable even if the words are not,” Formenton and Feng wrote in an email to the News. “We wanted each of our stories to function as a connected crescendo, so we braided them into a connected narrative.”

Formenton and Feng were initially inspired to put on the concert during their first semester at Yale. In the fall, one day they were both sitting in the Trumbull common room waiting for a friend when Formenton began to play the piano and Feng began to write. As they each practiced their preferred artistic instrument, they described it being a “transcendental” experience. Later, in the winter, Formenton and Feng decided to recreate this moment of artistic inspiration. They agreed upon four classical piano pieces that would structure the concert program, and in subsequent weeks, Feng listened to Formenton practice and composed all of her poetry in response to Formenton’s interpretations. 

“As she played, it felt like I was brought into a new world — her own world, and I

felt as if I was walking into a world of trick mirrors, a narrative devoid of names and faces but

full of emotions of change, loss and reflection,” Feng said at the concert. “I was brought face-to-face with my own fears and desires, made to confront them in the notes that whirled and drifted, that bled from piece to piece as she played.”

Formenton began to play piano at age seven and became more involved after she entered a music conservatory in middle school. Hailing from Italy, she began an undergraduate degree in piano performance in high school and spent a gap year traveling around Europe performing and meeting with other musicians, including professor Wei-Yi Yang, her current instructor at the School of Music.

Feng began writing creatively when she was eight years old. After working on a novel manuscript in sixth grade, which eventually was published, Feng invested more time into writing in high school. She entered writing competitions and submitted her works to many literary publications. Having won gold for the National Scholastic Art & Writing Award and the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award, Feng spent a gap year writing another novel and participating in a novel-writing workshop at Stanford. 

Throughout the concert, Formenton’s playing and Feng’s words were in conversation with each other: Feng’s writing and performance matched the emotional crescendos and decrescendos of Formenton’s music. Feng’s voice grew in volume and speed as Formenton’s Ballade grew increasingly belligerent, for example. Additionally, Feng repeatedly used the word “iridescent” while Formenton’s fingers glided over the keys playing Debussy. 

“Our story weaves together multiple viewpoints throughout time that find themselves parallel reflections of one another,” Formenton and Feng wrote in the program. “As they struggle to survive emotional turmoil and a world collapsing around them, they find refuge in childhood and family, love and loss.”

Formenton and Feng were inspired to extend this artistic conversation to audience members, too. As spectators entered the concert venue, they were given the opportunity to select a sheet of blank paper of a certain size, markers and painting supplies. Audience members were encouraged to create their own art in response to the art being shared on stage. Some wrote poetry of their own, while others painted and sketched while Formenton and Feng performed. 

They entitled their concert “Trick Mirrors” to encourage audience members to both appreciate and produce art as a way to take pause and to think about how college both reflects and distorts past and present experiences. Reflection, literal and artistic, was an integral goal and theme of the concert. 

“I was just able to hear [Feng’s] words and [Formenton’s] beautiful piano playing and tap into my own vulnerabilities,” Nara Kim ’25 said when describing how this viewing experience was different from other concerts she had previously attended. “I think the theme of trick mirrors really made me reflect a lot. It was a fulfilling experience as I got to think deeply within myself.”

Formenton and Feng received a Trumbull College Creative Performing Arts Award to host this experimental concert. Following the concert, Head of Trumbull College Professor Margaret Clark, who was in attendance, held a post-performance reception at the Head of College house at 241 Elm St.

The post “Trick Mirrors”: Trumbull students host experimental joint piano and poetry concert appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Last Wednesday, the Connecticut State Senate and House of Representatives unanimously passed HB 5501, which suspends the state’s 25 cent excise tax on gasoline from April 1 to June 30. The bill also suspends the state’s 6.35 percent sales tax on clothes and foods under $100 during the week of April 10 to April 16 and makes all public buses in the state free for the same period as the gas tax suspension. The emergency bill bypassed the committee process and was introduced by the Democratic and Republican leaders of both houses. It was signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont on Thursday morning. 

Some Republicans in the state house questioned why the bill did not include a tax reduction for diesel gas alongside traditional unleaded gas. Additionally, some Democrats floated the idea of adding amendments to add incentives for electric car owners and a higher earned-income tax credit for poorer families. 

State legislative leaders have pointed to inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this month as a cause of the surge in gas prices across the nation and state. According to the Connecticut AAA, the average price of a gallon of unleaded gas was $4.308 on Tuesday. This time last year, the same gallon of gas cost $2.894. This time last month, a gallon of gas would have cost Connecticuters $3.723 last month.

“This bill is important to provide relief to working families, seniors, college students, and others who drive cars or trucks or utilize mass transit,” State Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) told the News. “The bill will provide needed relief from high gas prices and, and higher prices in general. And so I’m glad that we were able to get this done with bipartisan support.” 

Unlike most other states, there are two taxes levied on gasoline in Connecticut. There is an 8.1 percent petroleum products gross earnings tax alongside the state’s traditional “gas tax,” the 25-cent-per-gallon motor vehicle fuels tax, the latter of which was suspended by the passage of HB 5501. 

Gas stations bear the imposition of both taxes. They subsequently raise prices on consumers so that they do not lose profit. Under the provisions of HB 5501, gas stations that do not reduce their prices once the tax suspension commences on April 1 will be committing unfair and deceptive trade practices and subject to punishment. 

According to Duff, the bill will save state residents roughly $90 million from the suspension of the gas tax, and the state plans to pick up the tab for this through reallocating funds from the state’s transportation fund, which currently has a $500 million surplus. 

Initially, Lamont and several lawmakers hesitated to suspend the gas tax, expressing concerns about the suspension’s impact on the budget surplus, which they hoped to use to fund infrastructure projects.

Politicians continue to disagree as to what additional steps are necessary to provide economic relief to Connecticut families. Many Republicans, including Senate minority leader Kevin C. Kelly (R-Shelton), believe that the legislature ought to exempt farmers from the highway use tax. They think that the tax, which targets large commercial trucks, is an additional, trivial cost that unnecessarily burdens farmers. 

According to Speaker of the State House Matthew Ritter (D-Hartford), The highway use tax, which will go into effect from January 2023, is a levy between 2.5 to 17.5 cents per mile depending on the weight of the truck and is part of the long term fiscal strategic plan of the state to reduce its budget deficit. The Democratic caucus has ruled out any consideration of suspension of the tax at this time

“We should exempt farmers and food because that’s a necessity,” Kelly said to the News. “The state’s finances are as solid as I’ve seen in the past decade. Given the fact that this tax wasn’t identified for any purpose, other than just to tax because the majority could, I think it needs to be evaluated and removed.” 

For the week of April 10 through April 16, consumers in Connecticut will not have to pay sales tax on clothing and footwear that costs less than $100. Typically, Connecticut has one weeklong tax vacation per year in August around the time of back-to-school shopping. According to State House Majority Leader Jason Rojas (D-East Hartford), this sales tax suspension has been timed with the majority of spring breaks for public schools across the state to ensure maximum savings for families and consumers in the state. 

According to Duff, the sales tax holiday is estimated to save Connecticut residents about $10 million and will be paid for by money left over from the American Rescue plan. 

The legislation also allocates funds for free public bus services from April 1 to June 30, the same time window for when the gas tax is suspended. This section of the bill is designed to help ease financial difficulties for working families who use public transport to commute. 

Connecticut joins several other states, including Georgia, Maryland and Minnesota, in its temporary suspension of the statewide gas tax. A few weeks ago, Connecticut’s senior Senator Richard Blumenthal called for a national suspension of the $0.18 federal gas tax. However, federal efforts have less political momentum than piecemeal statewide efforts. Notably, not all states are in accord about cutting the tax. In Massachusetts, for example, a recent bill to suspend the gas tax failed to pass the senate.

Governor Lamont signed the bill into law on Thursday. 

The post Connecticut lawmakers unanimously pass bill to cut 25 cent gas tax appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Three authors, all representing different Indigenous nations, participated in one of the organization’s Lit Talks: Natasha Gambrell, a member of and Tribal Councilor of the Eastern Pequot Tribal nation; Marcie Rendon, a member of the White Earth Ojibwe nation; and Deborah Taffa, a member of the Quechan and Laguna Pueblo nations. During the hour-long discussion, the three authors touched on the struggles of being an Indigenous author and how they imbue their personal experiences into their stories. 

“One of the things that I like is that the literary festival organizers picked people from three different genres,” Taffa said. “So we have poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and the demands that those things place on us, for me, is interesting — how we shape our stories and why we choose the stories that we choose.” 

Each author shared a brief reading from one of their own works. Gambrell, a teacher and a graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University, read a poem entitled “They Were Celebrating.” Rendon, a renowned crime novelist, read selections from her award-winning novel “Girl Gone Missing.” Taffa, a director of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, read “My Cousin’s Backyard,” a nonfiction short story. The discussion was moderated by Sandy Grande, a professor of political science and Native American and Indigenous Studies at the University of Connecticut. 

All authors agreed that writing is an important form of personal and tribal expression that allows their voices to be heard. Nevertheless, they also identified that it is difficult to publish literary works concerning Indigenous characters and themes. Often, they said, publishers are not as interested in their stories as they are in texts written by white authors.

Now, though, the authors concurred with Taffa, who said that they are trying to push back against typical narratives of Indigenous people. Not only are they writing stories about their Indigenous cultures — which, Rendon said, has not always been the case — they are also writing about new topics and sharing the stories of those who have not been characterized before. 

“I feel like we deserve to have narratives and counter-narratives,” Taffa said. “So nothing I’m saying is prescriptive in terms of what I tell other people I think they should do. What I have to grapple with is my own family and my own stories.”  

One theme, in particular, that is often associated with the writing of Indigenous people is trauma. Some of the authors were conflicted about the relationship between trauma and their writing. Taffa said that, when she was writing her novel, many publishers and literary agents expected her to focus on the trauma of her experience growing up as an Indigenous person in the United States. Taffa, however, wanted to write about the growth and healing she has since experienced as an adult. Grande also noted that sometimes it is hard to distinguish or separate trauma from joy, as they are so intertwined in the Native American experience.

For Gambrell, trauma was initially the source of many of her works. For example, on Oct. 12, 2005, the United States Department of the Interior refused to acknowledge the existence of her tribe, the Eastern Pequot in Connecticut. Gambell explained that this event inspired her, specifically, to write the poem she read aloud. Feeling powerless, Gambell said that poetry gave her an outlet to share her perspective. Now, she said that she is moving away from using trauma as the primary emotional source for her poetry. 

“As much as I write about trauma, I have had to step away from that at times because I am more than trauma,” Gambrell said. “When I write poems now, I look to the stories of my elders. I love to talk about those strong warriors that were here and are no longer here but allow for me to be here.”

While they all agreed that Indigenous writers, in general, are not as well known as they ought to be, some expressed optimism about the future of Native American literature. 

“I think that with the internet and Zoom and all the new technology, it’s much easier for Native people across the continent to connect and to find each other’s work,” Rendon said.  

In Connecticut, schools will be required to teach Native American studies by the 2023-24 academic year. With legislative change and growing audiences, the authors were hopeful that Indigenous voices would continue to proliferate and establish themselves as a critical part of studied literature. For Taffa, people should read and care about Indigenous voices all the time rather than as a “trend.”

“[Indigenous authors’ writing] is not always in the public eye or being of interest, from the white gaze, but absolutely it’s always there and always growing,” Grande said. 

The Connecticut Literary Festival’s Lit Talks are produced by students and staff of Central Connecticut State University. 

The post Indigenous writers share readings and conversation appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The Board of Education unanimously voted to continue the mandate at its Monday evening meeting. Gov. Ned Lamont announced on Feb. 7 that the state would scrap its mask mandate for schools and childcare facilities effective Feb. 28. At the time, Lamont said that decisions about enforcing masks would be made by local leaders and boards of education. On Friday, Mayor Justin Elicker announced that he intends to keep a citywide mask mandate for municipal buildings and schools. Notably, if the Board of Education had voted against mask requirements in schools, Elicker’s ruling would have superseded their motion. 

Before deliberations surrounding the vote, Health Director Maritza Bond presented a pandemic update to the members and shared the health department’s recommendation. 

“Our recommendation is that we continue the mask mandate until the unforeseeable future due to the low vaccination rates within our adolescents compared to surrounding towns, significant percent of high risk students in the district at 40 percent and masks have been shown to be an effective way to prevent another surge,” Bond said.

Currently, 46 percent of students ages five to 17 have received their first dose of the vaccine, and 38 percent have received their second dose. New Haven’s vaccination rates are similar to West Haven’s, but slightly lower than Hamden’s and North Haven’s. 

Dori Pagé Antonetti, an attorney for Shipman & Goodwin LLP who helps school districts through the legal aspects of COVID-19 decisions, briefed board members on the different sources of authority for dictating mask mandates. Antonetti noted that while the Connecticut Department of Education and Department of Public Health have shifted authority toward local and municipal leaders, the departments can still reinstate a statewide mask mandate until June 30. At least until April 15, municipalities, such as New Haven, can impose mask requirements in indoor settings. 

During the discussion, Iline Tracey, superintendent of NHPS, asked whether board members wished to establish a definite date, such as April 15, for when the school district’s mask mandate would end. 

“My suggestion is that we don’t try to restrict ourselves with any particular time limit,” Elicker said. “I think that it’s important for us to follow the guidance of our health department and local health professionals as we make this decision, and that is what I plan on doing regarding my mask mandate in schools and municipal buildings.”

Anthony Fiore and Ma’Shai Roman, student representatives on the Board of Education, both agreed with the adult members to keep the school mask mandate. They cited the vaccination data that Bond shared, the fact that students are returning to schools after a one-week break and overall student opinion. 

“When there were rumors that we weren’t going to have mask mandates in schools, it was my experience that students were almost afraid not to have [the mask mandate],” Fiore said. “They almost didn’t feel safe, especially at this time.”

Fiore did, however, hope to see an adjustment in mask policy as the temperatures begin to rise as students would be able to spend more time outside. 

Nevertheless, some community members said they wished that the board would begin to lift some of NHPS’s COVID-19 restrictions. 

Kathy Gonzalez, a parent with a five-year-old student who attends Nathan Hale School, pointed toward social and developmental concerns with the mask mandate. She also wished that NHPS would allow more visitors to enter its schools, she said. 

Later, board member Matt Wilcox acknowledged her concerns, stating that he did not want to diminish the impact that the mask mandate has on socialization for young kids and the toll it takes on teachers who are required to enforce mask-wearing.  

The New Haven Board of Education was not isolated in its decision. On Monday, the Hamden school board voted five to one to extend its mask mandate as well. Other notable school districts in Hartford and Waterbury intend to continue mask requirements for the time being. Governor Lamont estimates that 85 to 90 percent of Connecticut school districts plan on getting rid of the mask mandate. 

Board members acknowledged on multiple occasions that they could reassess whether they thought that the mask mandate should continue at future meetings.

The New Haven Board of Education typically meets biweekly on Mondays. 

The post New Haven Public Schools board votes to continue mask mandate appeared first on Yale Daily News.

YARD prepared to serve 700 meals, open and without cost to anyone, as part of its second annual Black History Month dinner distribution. Each community member received a blue bag that contained a prepackaged meal of pulled chicken, baked beans, macaroni and cheese and cornbread. Along with their food, people received a rapid, at-home antigen COVID-19 test, two N-95 masks, pamphlets with vaccine information and information about Youth@Work, a program designed to give 14- to 21-year-olds workplace experience. Additionally, participants had the opportunity to receive free nasal swab or saliva PCR tests. There was also a vaccine station where community members could receive COVID-19 vaccinations.

“Being a person of color, we always came together, and it was mostly love when it came to our food,” said Gwendolyn B. Williams, the director of YARD. “That was where we showed our love. So, the reason we chose to have a dinner distribution is because we wanted to share and teach that love, that kind of Black culture.”

William Dixon, deputy director of YARD, said that this year, YARD aimed to place a greater emphasis on distributing COVID-19 supplies and to reach out to community members who are still hesitant about receiving the vaccine. 

Some community members stressed that access to N-95s and rapid tests were the most important part of the event. They pointed out that these are particularly helpful for homeless people who are otherwise unable to easily access such tests or PCR tests. 

While the event initially was organized for the youth, both Williams and Dixon emphasized that the distribution was for anyone who needed it. People of all ages attended the distribution. 

Last year, the first annual Black History Month dinner distribution was organized differently. YARD prepared 1200 meals and stationed itself in six separate locations throughout New Haven, even driving around the city to give out food. This year, Williams said that they wanted to use the New Haven Green because it is more central and logical for members of the community. A more localized place also helps the community physically come together.

Additionally, YARD partnered with several organizations to stage the distribution. Along with assistance from Crosspoint Federal Credit Union, which provided bags for the meals and medical supplies, many organizations were directly involved in the distribution. Mission BBQ, a restaurant located in Orange, Connecticut, cooked all the meals and was part of the team that serviced the food. Workers from Griffin Hospital were present to administer vaccine shots and workers from the New Haven Emergency Services helped hand out tests and masks.

Many people believe this collaboration is crucial in bolstering community engagement, and that larger events with many partners are more successful than smaller, more individual events. 

“Every month we try to do something depending on what is going on during that month,” said Sgt. Martha Rosswell, community engagement officer at the University. “Anything we can do to help the New Haven community, that is what we are trying to do. It is so important that we all have such good relationships, because we all work together, and we all bring a different piece of that puzzle together to help bring out more of the community.”

Some in the community expressed their desire to see similar events take place in the future. 

“I think that has been very impactful, especially this time of year because more people are out,” said Mikaela, a local high school student. “To see more of these events would actually be really helpful, not only for the meals because certain people can’t get meals all the time but also because of the free COVID tests.”

The New Haven Green is located at 250 Temple St.

The post Food, vaccines and medical supplies distributed at second annual Black History Month dinner distribution appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The students spoke virtually at a Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library event entitled “Yale & Slavery Research — Student Perspectives.” Taught by Professors Edward Rugemer and Crystal Feimster with teaching fellow Teanu Reid, the “Slavery, Race and Yale” seminar developed from the Yale and Slavery Research Project and its mission to explore and detail Yale’s history with racial slavery from its inception in 1701 through the late-19th century. Miguel Ceballo-Countryman ’23, Patrick Hayes ’24 and Mackenzie Hawkins ’22 each discussed different aspects of Yale’s history and connection with slavery.

“I was interested in sharing my research because I want anyone who is willing to listen, as well as those who aren’t, to learn about the university’s history with slavery, how that history continues to this day, and how we might create a university that is truly abolitionist, supporting of those it has oppressed, and changing its entrenched, racist practices,” Hayes said in an email to the News. 

Ceballo-Countryman discussed the 1831 proposal to build a Black college in New Haven. He noted that many Black leaders spent years working to conceive of this future college. 

The proposal, however, was voted down by property-owning white voters 700 to four, many of whom had connections with the University. No Yale professors voted to endorse the college. Following the vote, many members of the white community went through Black neighborhoods and threatened violence, which Ceballo-Countryman said was an intimidation tactic.

“It is important that we view this failed proposal for a Black college not as a missed opportunity but rather as a historical moment in which the racial barriers to an exclusivity of higher education was cemented — a historical moment that would have lasting implications throughout the country,” Ceballo-Countryman said at the event. 

Hayes conducted a biography of James Philemon Holcombe, a student who attended Yale from 1838-40 yet did not graduate. Holcombe grew up in Virginia, and while his family previously owned enslaved people, they freed them during Holcombe’s childhood and paid for some of them to move to Liberia. However, once Holcombe left Yale, he became an ardent secessionist and supporter of slavery. Beyond teaching law at the University of Virginia, Holcombe was a passionate debater and made a series of speeches supporting his racist views. 

In the presentation, Hayes explored how Holcombe’s education at Yale altered his perception of the morality of slavery. Hayes suggests that Yale’s cultural and academic environment allowed Holcombe to change his views on slavery without much pushback from the University. 

“The argument that I am making in my paper is that it is really the institutions that shape us,” Hayes said at the event. 

Hawkins gave an analysis of Yale’s Civil War Memorial, which today is a part of the Schwarzman Center. While other institutions erected memorials just a few years after the Civil War, Yale did not build its own until 1915. 

Hawkins offered an account of the internal politics and debates within the committee that voted on the physical structure and design of the memorial. Composed of white men — some of whom supported the Union and some the Confederacy — the committee eventually agreed to the phrase “Each for the cause he deemed the right” to describe the different sides Yale students fought on. The words “Union” and “Confederate” were cut from initial designs, and slavery was never mentioned in the inscription. According to Hawkins, the University actively chose not to reference slavery and its own history with slavery. 

“The University had an opportunity to at least hint at the causes, at least hint that there were divisions,” Hawkins said in her presentation. “But the explicit purpose of this memorial, both nationally and at Yale, was to emphasize that everybody was in this together, which is a blatant historical inaccuracy.”

Following discussions of their work, the three students answered questions posed by audience members and the moderator Michael Morand, communications director for the Beinecke. 

“Complicity is a choice,” Hayes said. “Taking the middle ground is a choice. It is also a choice every year since these events occurred that the University has decided not to change.”

During the conversation, the students also applied the history they learned in the seminar to tackle social issues pertaining to the University, particularly its relationship with the New Haven and Black communities. In closing, students were asked how the University ought to remember and grapple with its past. 

Ceballo-Countryman urged the University to incorporate and listen to the voices of New Haven residents who are affected by its actions and political stances. Similarly, Hawkins and Hayes said that the University needs to increase its funding towards New Haven and fight against the inequalities that it perpetuates through its actions. 

“I think that there’s a lot to be said of the inequalities that the University perpetuates today,” Hawkins, who formerly served as editor in chief of the News, said at the event. “Its lack of contribution to New Haven, even though that is increasing; its lack of support for New Haven public schools relative to the University’s endowment and the list could go on and on — our legacies of the exact same historical through-line that started at the University’s founding in 1701 and that appeared at these touch points that we each focus on in our presentations.” 

Hawkins also emphasized the importance of the seminar and the Yale and Slavery Working Group in continuing to unconver Yale’s relationships with slavery. 

“I don’t think that it will be nearly enough to produce a manuscript or a book or a conference or something at the end of this [seminar] and then wash our hands of that and say, ‘Okay, we did it, we remembered,’” Hawkins said. “If we’re still doing the exact same things then what did we learn by remembering?”

This was the first of two Beinecke events detailing students’ research in the “Slavery, Race and Yale” seminar. The second event will occur on March 7. 

Correction, Feb. 4: This article previously stated that Ezra Stiles was the only Yale professor who voted in favor of the Black college. This is an historical inaccuracy. Ezra Stiles Ely was a Yale alumnus and Philadelphia pastor who wrote in favor of the Black college yet did not participate in the voting process.

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Founded in 2016 by Horowitz and based in Crownpoint, New Mexico, the Heartbeat Music Project, or HMP, offers tuition-free music education to students from nearby Navajo communities. Accomplished musicians teach students aged five to 19 how to play instruments of their choosing. The instructors educate students in music theory and encourage them to play traditional Diné, or Navajo, melodies and songs. To enroll your child to an affordable musical course, learn this here now.

“The gift that we just got from the Lewis Prize is so amazing,” Horowitz said. “There are so many barriers of access to getting a musical education in a very rural Indigenous community that has been historically oppressed, marginalized and defunded.” 

The HMP provides a two-week summer camp and a one-week winter camp. Students are given free transportation to and from their homes, two meals and snack breaks. 

The music instructors come from a variety of backgrounds. Some hail from classical or jazz music departments from schools and conservatories across the country. Other instructors are local and Indigenous musicians of the Navajo community.

While students only participate in the program during the summer and winter, they can keep an instrument in their home all year to practice, thanks to a private donation in early 2021 which allowed the HMP to offer students almost any instrument typically found within a classical orchestra or jazz band. 

“We would love to build our instrument library even more if we can,” Horowitz said. “Specifically we would love to source more non-classical and non-jazz instruments — Indigenous instruments too.”

Additionally, the HMP coordinates free virtual lessons when the camps are not in session. However, many aspiring Navajo musicians do not have access to a stable Internet connection. Some students drive hours to get free, stable WiFi for virtual music lessons. With the new award money, Horowitz and the rest of the HMP want to change that and overcome some of the obstacles preventing students from pursuing music. If you have a passion for music and aspire to become a musician, visit https://monroviamusic.com/.

Also, the HMP hopes to expand the program’s overall reach. Currently, the HMP is only able to serve the Eastern portion of the Navajo reservation, located in New Mexico. They would like to provide students who live further away in Arizona with access to musical education too. 

“We want a lot of the money to be focused on student learning,” said Sharon Nelson, the executive director of the HMP and an assistant professor of Diné Culture, Language and Leadership at Navajo Technical University. “We hope to be able to reach out to other areas of the reservation, including other tribes.” 

Alongside the musical lessons, rehearsals and workshops, Nelson, who is Diné herself, teaches students about Diné culture as part of the program. She noticed that many students were disconnected from their grandparents due to linguistic and cultural barriers and wanted to bridge the intergenerational gap and help students connect with their community and culture. Nelson hopes that students can combine skills they learn in music classes with lessons about Diné culture and traditions to crystallize their identities. 

“One of the things that we want our kids to be is to become holistic,” Nelson said. “We want them to be centered with themselves and to be at peace with themselves, so we give them the tools to do that using the Navajo cultural teaching.”

The program operates in a delicate intersection. According to HMP assistant director Gregory Lewis MUS ’27, western music has been reserved for wealthy white people for most of its history. Horowitz additionally noted that Western music was widely disseminated through imperialism — the same structures which have continuously oppressed the Navajo people along with other Indigenous communities in the United States and around the world.

“From the beginning, Sharon told us that it was really critical that we are teaching the children how to play Diné songs on the instruments and not just Western music,” Lewis said. “She didn’t want them to learn music if it didn’t include learning their own music and preserving their own culture.” 

The HMP hopes to recontextualize classical music and help students approach music with new techniques and new perspectives. Music, they believe, ought not to have a hierarchical power structure. Instead, the program tries to give students resources and let them express themselves however they would like.

The Lewis Prize for Music seeks to make positive social change by funding non-profits to provide high quality music education to students. The Accelerator Award given to the HMP is the highest monetary award of the Lewis Prize for Music. 

Adam McPhail | adam.mcphail@yale.edu

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The students — Jasper Boers ’22, Sharmaine Koh Mingli ’22, Liam Arnade-Colwill ’19 and William Ge ’17 — will earn a master’s degree in global affairs from Tsinghua University through the program, which was initially launched in 2016. This cohort of Schwarzman scholars hails from 33 different countries. The program pushes for collaboration and using one’s unique perspective to solve practical problems. 

“The program is very explicit in presenting itself as an opportunity for people around the world who want to make a change and who aspire to be leaders in whatever fields they are to understand China,” Koh Mingli, a senior majoring in history, said. “It’s very difficult to make an impact on the world without understanding the role that China is going to play in future. I think it really aims to be that bridge between China and the rest of the world.”

The degree’s academic curriculum is designed around three multidisciplinary pillars: leadership, China and global affairs. Students are expected to take a Mandarin course and a course that details the past 40 years of China’s political, economic and social history. 

Additionally, Schwarzman scholars take numerous electives oriented towards China’s internal politics, foreign policy and history. The academic year culminates in a capstone project where students work individually or together in teams of 3-5 and complete a global interest project. 

“I thought the capstone project was just really interesting,” Koh Mingli said. “You are thinking collaboratively with other leaders from other parts of the world about a specific issue and then you have different perspectives that you are bringing to the same problem.” 

Outside of the classroom, students are encouraged to pursue internships with businesses, schools, nongovernmental organizations and international organizations in the Beijing area. 

Each scholar is also assigned a personal mentor from their preferred occupational sector. Primarily based in Beijing, mentors offer students professional insight into working in China and into their futures beyond academia.

“Oftentimes policymakers and people who work in think tanks write very abstractly about the countries they study and the issues that they study,” Boers said. “A lot of the time they read fact pieces and news from the country, but they never actually visit.” 

For Boers, physically attending school in China is crucial for his potential future in crafting foreign policy for the United States government. 

“Knowing that I want to do something related to national security, going to China and studying there is kind of the first step towards learning more about China in a sincere way and in a way that will have a lot of impact,” Boers said.

While not all scholars are eyeing governmental work post-graduation, many still recognize the importance of learning about Chinese history and culture from Chinese professors. 

“You can’t really beat the experience of being in the country itself — learning from leaders in China as to how exactly they are thinking about the future of their country and how it will impact the rest of the region,” Koh Mingli said. 

Nevertheless, the program has been criticized in the past, both externally and internally. The program is named after CEO of The Blackstone Group Stephen Schwarzman ’69, the program’s primary benefactor and a major Yale donor.

Last February, 161 current and former Schwarzman scholars signed a letter to Schwarzman demanding that he cease donating money to politicians who opposed the certification of President Joseph Biden’s electoral college victory in the 2020 presidential election. The letter’s signatories argued that Schwarzman was betraying the values of his namesake program.

Furthermore, the program was criticized in 2019 after Tang Xiao’ou, the founder of SenseTime, was invited to speak at the program’s fall commencement ceremony. SenseTime is a company that offers facial recognition artificial intelligence technology that has been used by the Chinese government to identify and target ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region. Even after student complaints and protests, Xiao’ou still spoke at the ceremony.

Still, the Schwarzman Scholars program is one of the most competitive graduate fellowships in the world and is considered to be the “Rhodes scholarship of the East.” 

“The application process is fairly rigorous,” Director of the Office of Fellowship Programs Rebekah Westphal said. “There are a few pieces of writing on leadership and a statement of purpose, a short video introduction, recommendations and an interview if selected as a finalist.” 

For the interview, applicants were asked questions by a panel of leaders from a multitude of sectors and industries. 

This class of Schwarzman scholars will begin their academic term this coming August. 

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