In their game against fourth-seeded Auburn, the 13th-seeded Bulldogs put together a nail-biting upset with a final score of 78-76. 

“A lot of the world was surprised,” Ben Kirsch ’27 told the News. “But many of us at Yale knew what this team was capable of.”

Kirsch, who attended every home game this semester, noted that the team has had an unprecedented season, and that many of the Bulldogs’ strengths on the court were highlighted in their first tournament match-up against Auburn.

The win, several students told the News, also shows that Ivy League basketball teams can compete on a national level. 

“The fact that we were able to knock off Auburn, who won the SEC, shows the depth and strength of the [Ivy] League.” Tyler McLemore ’26 told the News. “Hopefully in future years multiple Ivy League teams can secure a spot in the tournament, not just the conference champion.”

The winner of the Ivy League tournament is granted an automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament — as are winners of other Division I conferences. In addition, 36 teams are given at-large bids at the discretion of an NCAA selection committee. No Ivy League teams received at-large bids to the men’s tournament this year.

Princeton, last season’s Ivy League men’s basketball champs, made it all the way to the Sweet Sixteen.

Like McLemore, Kirsch also expressed his hope that the national attention Yale received following the upset could help secure more tournament spots for Ivy League teams in the future. 

Yale’s win over Auburn sparked many strong reactions on social media. An Instagram post on the official March Madness account highlighted an X post where online users confused the handles of the Yale Men’s Basketball Twitter account, @YaleMBasketball, with the Yale Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry department’s account, @YaleMBB. The post garnered 68,000 likes as of Monday night. 

Students who were at the March Madness games also touched on the atmosphere, namely how it felt very different than typical games at Yale.

“The stakes just feel a lot higher,” said Conrad Lee ’25, who attended the Auburn game. “Nevertheless, the amount of Yale support there was pretty significant”

Yale cheerleader Gaby Lord ’27 noted how large Spokane Arena was and how many people showed out to support the team. 

“I was super surprised by how much support Yale got from other big schools such as Gonzaga and Alabama,” Lord wrote to the News. “When the crowd was cheering for us, and it wasn’t only coming from the Yale section, it felt really nice to know so many people had faith in us!” 

While the basketball team itself received a significant amount of attention for its success, Lord noted that the cheer team, too, received increased recognition.

Despite Yale’s second-round loss against San Diego State University on Sunday night, students still remarked on the team’s historically successful season.

“Despite the loss, we had a great season,” Micah Warschawski ’27 told the News. “It was super fun watching them succeed.”  

This year marked just the second time that Yale’s men’s basketball team has made it to the tournament’s round of 32.

The post Students reflect on historic March Madness run for Yale Men’s Basketball appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Before Swae Lee takes the stage, twin sisters Coco & Breezy will open the April 27 festival with a joint DJ set, followed by indie pop band Dayglow.

The Spring Fling committee announced the lineup in a video shown on Wednesday night during Woads, the weekly Yale-only dance party at Toad’s Place. Although weather conditions pushed last year’s Spring Fling indoors to College Street Music Hall at the last minute, this year’s event is set to return to its traditional location on Old Campus. 

“It’s such a dynamic lineup bringing in a ton of high energy and nostalgia,” Spring Fling Hospitality Chair Olivia Telemaque ’26 told the News. “The headliner, Swae Lee, is such a force. He brings in so much hype, with easily recognizable songs in his huge discography.” 

The process of curating the lineup of musical acts for the annual festival begins over the summer, when Spring Fling leadership meets to decide their joint vision: genres to explore, goals to accomplish and elements to improve from the following year. The search for artists then begins as soon as members of the committee step foot on campus. 

This year’s committee — led by Telemaque alongside Talent Chair Luis Halvorssen ’25, Production Chair Nour Tantush ’26 and Marketing Chair Karela Palazio ’25 — crafted a student-facing survey intended to gauge interest in different musical genres and festival styles. 

Many college music festivals in the United States take place at similar times in the late spring, Halvorssen said, which can make it challenging to secure the artists before other colleges book them. 

“One surprise about this experience is how dynamic the music industry is,” Halvorssen told the News “One week we’ll be discussing a potential artist and by the next week, they’ll be booked by a different event. It makes for a thrilling process and results in so much celebration when an artist is finally booked.” 

This year’s three acts represent a wide variety of musical genres, performance styles and backgrounds. 

Identical twins and DJ duo Coco & Breezy, specializing in Afro-Latina-infused dance and house music, will open up this year’s festival. 

“They are a hugely talented duo, representing Afro-Latina influences as they challenge the bounds of electronic and dance music,” Telemaque told the News. “They infuse so many genres into their craft. As a Black woman myself, it’s so inspiring to see up-and-coming artists reclaiming genres, and breathing so much life, love, and healing into their music. They’re producers, musicians, style icons, and just such a vibe.” 

Tantush matched Telemaque’s excitement, citing that the pair “encompass[es] a lot of what we were looking for.” She noted that electronic dance music was one of the most requested genres in the survey sent out to students this year, which makes inviting this artist to campus especially exciting. 

Besides DJing, Coco & Breezy are also known for their “cool-girl aesthetic” and “eponymous sunglass brand.” Palazio noted that she’s been incorporating the artist’s album covers into her color inspiration for the “entire festival identity.” 

Following Coco & Breezy, the “fun and vibrant” Dayglow, as Halvorssen described the indie pop band, will take the Spring Fling stage.

Led by lead singer Sloan Struble, audience members can expect to hopefully hear some of the group’s top hits like “Hot Rod” and “Can I Call You Tonight?” 

Telemaque said that she has had the songs on repeat for weeks. 

“Their music to me represents the epitome of band music and is very reminiscent of the spring,” Tantush added. “I spent a lot of time over this New Haven winter listening to Dayglow, and I think they have such a youthful and summery sound.” 

That sound aesthetic has influenced the design of the festival’s merchandise, Palazio said, which will be available for purchase prior to the festival. 

Finally, headliner Swae Lee will close out the night. Swae Lee, who acts as one half of the hip-hop duo Rae Sremmund with his brother Slim Jxmmi, has a long history of iconic performances at major festivals including Coachella, Governors Ball and Rolling Loud. 

“He’s everywhere,” Telemaque said. 

All four Spring Fling chairs described a continuous thread of “nostalgia” in this year’s artist lineup; Swae Lee’s headlining performance is perhaps the most emblematic of that theme. 

“We’ve been listening to his music for years and growing up with the challenges that he’s [experienced] too,” Telemaque told the News. 

In 2016, when the viral “Mannequin Challenge” hit its peak, Rae Sremmurd’s hit song “Black Beatles” became the unofficial anthem of the video trend. 

As part of the committee’s efforts to incorporate an air of nostalgia in all parts of the festival, Wednesday’s announcement video — produced by videographer Reese Weiden ’27 — brought the audience back in time. Just as the internet trend in 2016 had people across the country posing as frozen mannequins, the Spring Fling committee did the same, announcing to cheers from the crowd at Toad’s that Swae Lee would headline the festival.

Besides partnering with Slim Jxmmy, Swae Lee has collaborated with a variety of other artists in a plethora of different musical genres throughout his career, which allows him to appeal to a variety of students, Halvorssen said. In addition to working with world-famous rappers Travis Scott and Drake on 2018’s “Sicko Mode,” Swae Lee collaborated with Post Malone on hit song “Sunflower” from the film “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” also in 2018. He also co-wrote Beyonce’s hit single “Formation.” — just three of Swae Lee’s big-ticket collaborations.

“Swae’s collaboration with so many different artists is what makes him an excellent choice for

headlining Spring Fling,” Halvorssen told the News.  “If you put his complete collection on shuffle you’ll hear Rap/Hip-Hop, Pop, R&B, EDM, Reggaeton, and even Country. With Swae having such a wide reach, he’ll be a great fit for all music fans.” 

While the committee does not control the specific set lists of the artists they book to perform at the festival, per Tantush, they do extensive research on each artist’s past performances and how their sets will complement one another. 

For Swae Lee, audiences may expect to hear some of his biggest songs, including “Sunflower,” “No Type,” “Unforgettable” and even some songs from his previous work under Rae Sremmurd, like “Come Get Her” and “Black Beatles.”  

In addition to the booked professional artists, Yale students will also have the opportunity to be a part of this year’s festival lineup. The committee will hold both a “Battle of the Bands” and “The Dock” competition to select student bands and DJs to begin the day’s musical festivities. 

“I think the thing I am the most excited and proud of as Production Chair is facilitating a festival which will showcase both the artists we have chosen and also the student talent on campus,” Tantush told the News. “What makes Spring Fling so unique is our ability to combine mainstream acts with Yale’s very own talented musicians.”  

Last year, the committee hosted “Battle of the Bands” at the Yale Farm. The three winners  — DJ Leon Thotsky, PJ Frantz ’23 and Tired of Tuesdays — opened for Ravyn Lenae, Dombresky and Pusha T at College Street Music Hall. 

The Dock, however, is a new creation this year, which Halvorssen spearheaded to reflect the growing presence of student DJs on campus. 

Both student-artist events will take place after spring break.

The post Swae Lee to headline Spring Fling 2024 appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The Wednesday night Yale-students-only dance party at Toad’s, known as “Woads,” has been a staple of the Yale experience for decades. Recently, however, the event has taken on a new form, highlighting Yale DJs to headline the event for three of the past four weeks.

Performances by Yale students had not been a common occurrence for the weekly event prior to this string of special appearances.

On Wednesday, Feb. 7, Eli Simon ’24 took the stage under his DJ name “Dionysus.” On Feb. 21, “IfSoWhatFor” — a DJ duo co-led by Jamis DeKay ’23 — was behind the deck, ending the night with a page out of world-famous DJ Steve Aoki’s book by “caking” an audience member in the face.

“Toad’s wants to bring back the energy that made them so iconic,” DeKay told the News. “Their thought was [to] invite artists from Yale in hopes they’d bring their audience and friends with them. It was a blast, we had a ton of fun.” 

Since COVID-19, students have noted that attendance at the weekly dance party has decreased. The DJ performances come from a larger push by Toad’s Place leadership to increase Yale student engagement with the iconic venue, Yale’s Toad’s Place Ambassador Lily Siegel ’23 told the News.

This week, a “Boiler Room” EDM dance party organized by Joshua Gluckman ’24, Matthew Ross ’25 and Michael Connor ’24 appeared at Toad’s. The event included a lineup of nine different Yale student acts who DJ’d from the middle of the Toad’s Place dance floor: Edu, gunnr, HESTERIA, just Josh, Keebo, Kelli + Kiernan, Leo + Dals, Philly and Red & Imo. 

“We pitched the idea to Toad’s, and they were immediately receptive to it,” Gluckman told the  News. “They worked with us to make the event an authentic ‘boiler room’ experience in their legendary venue, and fortunately people had a great time.” 

Boiler Room is an iconic music broadcaster and nightclub promoter. Its events, which take place across the globe, are characterized as “underground raves” featuring electronic dance music, hip-hop, techno and house music. Gluckman’s idea was to model the event after Boiler Room, and his company Lyricity helped bring the vision to life.

The startup, Gluckman explained, curates musical pop-up events for Yale students. All of their events feature Yale student artists. On Feb. 16, the group hosted “Koffee After Dark:” a “pop-up rave” at Koffee on Audubon Street. Now, the startup is looking to expand beyond DJ events and is actively recruiting new musical artists.

The DJs who performed at the Toad’s Place event had a variety of different experiences with performing. While artists like gunnr have DJ’d at events throughout Yale’s campus, this was Leo + Dals’s first time taking the stage. 

“[What] we’re trying to do is give more students opportunities to do live shows, even if it’s their first,” Gluckman said. 

The events have all been well-received by students and have drawn high attendance from Yalies across grades. According to Gluckman, approximately 650 tickets were bought for the Boiler Room event on Feb. 28. 

Toad’s Place is located at 300 York St.

The post Student DJs take over Toad’s Place appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Although there are now more than 55 of these exclusive groups, the process to join them remains elusive.

“Going through the tap process is inevitably stressful as there is a decent lack of clarity to how the process works,” Harry Pew ’24 told the News, reflecting on his society tap experience last year. “You hear about friends and classmates receiving letters and interviews for weeks while many choose to not talk about it at all.”

This year’s tap process officially began on Thursday, Feb. 15, when societies were permitted to begin contacting prospective members, according to an email from the Yale College Council to the junior class. Some — but not all — societies offer interviews, which were permitted to begin on Thursday, Feb. 22, per the message.

Yalies will begin to officially receive membership offers in April, with “Pre-Tap” on April 11 to kick off  “Tap Week.” Over tap week, societies extend bids to rising seniors, and on “Tap Night” — on April 18 — those students may formally accept an offer. 

“As they have every year now for over a decade, nearly all of Yale’s senior societies have agreed to follow the same dates, procedures, and code of conduct during the Tap process, and to communicate this information to the junior class,” YCC President and Vice President Julian Suh-Toma ’25 and Maya Fonkeu ’25 wrote in their Feb. 14 email, which included a letter signed by the Society Assembly. “They do so in an effort to be as transparent as possible with juniors who may wish to join a society and to ensure that the Tap process is a safe and rewarding experience for all who participate in it.” 

While the oldest societies were founded as all-white and all-male groups, they have become more diverse since their inception. Skull and Bones — Yale’s oldest society, formed in 1832 — tapped its first Black member in 1965 and did not admit its first woman until 1991.

Skull and Bones is part of a select group of “landed” societies, Rhea Cong ’24 said. This means that the society owns a “tomb,” or a private building, on or close to Yale’s campus. All of the so-called “Ancient Eight” societies — Skull and Bones, Scroll and Key, Wolf’s Head, Elihu, Book and Snake, Berzelius, St. Elmo and Mace and Chain — are landed.

Cong explained that for her society, each member is allowed to ‘tap’ four juniors for consideration in the group’s longer selection process. Each society’s tap process is unique: for Samantha Prince ’24, each member of her society is permitted to select three juniors for consideration. Membership offers are not extended until April’s “Tap Week.” 

“We try to go for a mix of people,” Cong told the News. “Some people you know really well and some people who you think would fit the group well, but maybe you’re not best friends with. There’s definitely a lot of diversity in who gets tapped because we want people who can each contribute something different to this space.” 

Alumni have varying levels of engagement with their societies. Prince’s society has an Alumni Coordinator who communicates with the larger alumni base. Other societies have active Boards of Directors that help facilitate the tap process. Some societies do not allow their alumni to contribute to the tap process at all. 

Following the first round of initial taps, many societies conduct one to two rounds of interviews. Invitations for these interviews are delivered in secret. Some invitations, Prince said, do not even disclose which society they are from and usually just include a time and meeting place. Some include a mysterious message, like “We’ve been watching you.”

“The style of the interviews can vary a lot between societies,” Pew told the News. “The society will then deliberate and come to a consensus for which juniors to push forward to the next interview round and so on until they have around 20 remaining.” 

Pew, Cong and Prince are all in different societies. 

Following interview rounds for the societies that conduct them, Pew said, there is a “pre-tap” night when selected juniors are told they have spots in societies. According to Pew, selected juniors are often invited to parties or gatherings to meet with current society members and other selected juniors offered spots in the group. From there, they can decide whether or not to accept. 

For juniors who receive multiple “pre-taps,” these events are crucial in determining which society to join. For juniors who do not receive any pre-taps, the spots that end up opening up are their final chance to secure membership in one of the groups. Prince described this as the “scramble week,” which this year will begin on April 11. 

“The scramble is basically what happens when people who don’t have taps for society try to find them and societies with open spots, maybe from people who had multiple taps and turned them down, try to find people,” Prince told the News. “That process is very stressful.” 

Prince speculated that there is a spreadsheet among the society tap chairs — the seniors in charge of the process for each group — containing lists of those who have not received taps and who have or have not confirmed their tap. She noted, however, that she was not sure about its existence this year. 

Cong, Prince and Pew all touched on the fact that the societies try to fill specific demographics and “niches” for their group every year. Some of the niches that they pointed to were a cappella singers, fraternity members and varsity athletes. This is in an effort to make the group as diverse in perspective, interest and background as possible. 

Prince also touched on the concept of “tap lines.” The examples she gave included a gymnastics team tap line and a Rhythmic Blue dance group tap line. This would mean that every year, a member of these groups would tap a rising senior on their team or in their club for their society in order to keep the line going. 

“I think there’s at least some value to the tap lines,” Cong said. “Because you know that these people will have had very different Yale experiences. You’re going to hear these people’s life stories, and you’re going to hear more about different corners of campus.” 

All three, while they have greatly enjoyed their time in society this year, described the tap process as “stressful” — especially since students and their friends may fill the same niche and thus may be competing for the same singular spot in many of these societies. 

“I would tell rising seniors to realize that it is out of your control,” Prince said. “Try not to judge yourself. Let the purpose be to just meet a new group of people that you wouldn’t have met otherwise.”

In their joint letter, the societies pledged “to avoid any hazing” in the tap process, “from interviews through Tap Night.”

The post Behind tomb doors: Yale’s society tap process appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Much of the recent controversy surrounding university presidents and the Israel-Hamas war stems from a Congressional hearing during which the presidents of Harvard, Penn and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology would not provide direct answers when asked whether calls for “the genocide of Jews” violated their respective campus codes of conduct. All three presidents, without responding yes or no, ultimately testified that answers must be “context-dependent” as required by their universities’ speech policies.

Yossi Moff ’27 told the News that because universities have received so much media attention recently, campus speech has become increasingly politicized — an issue that he said Yale’s next president must be prepared to understand and address. 

“Our next president should be prepared to critically deal with the realities of campus conversations today, and not hide behind the comfort of university regulations or ‘free speech,’ but intentionally evaluate what it looks like to balance the values of free speech and individual safety of students on campus,” Moff wrote.   

Yale’s speech policies are currently governed by the Woodward report, a 1974 report on freedom of expression commissioned by then-University President Kingman Brewster ’41. It has guided the University’s policies on freedom of expression since Yale’s adoption of the report in 1975. 

In reference to the congressional testimonies, Ben Schneider SOM ’24 wrote to the News that the new president should be “​​able to clearly define what acceptable free speech is at Yale and what is punishable.” 

He elaborated that being prepared for difficult scenarios, such as the student protests and tensions surrounding Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, should be “essential” for the new leader.

Given these recent protests and campus social tensions surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, Schneider and Moff both said that Yale’s next president will have to tactfully foster a culture of open discourse while also protecting students from hate speech.

The Student Advisory Committee, involved in the ongoing search, collected a survey of the entire undergraduate student body, as well as graduate students, about the search and current campus climate. In the report, “ensuring free speech on university campuses” was classified as one of the top six “greatest challenges facing Yale.” 

Recently, Yale’s approach to handling speech issues came under fire after a message declaring “Death to Palestine” was written on a suite whiteboard in Grace Hopper College. Julia Adams, Grace Hopper’s head of college, wrote in an email to students at the time that “academic freedom and the expression of views and dissent are rightly protected” with no further action.

Based on recent turmoil at Harvard — where Claudine Gay resigned from the presidency amid allegations of plagiarism and weeks of controversy after her Dec. 5 Congressional hearing — Trevor MacKay ’25 discussed the essential nature of top-quality scholarship for the next University president.

Mackay suggested that the search committee should conduct an independent review of candidates’ academic credentials.

“The Committee should be extremely careful and vet any candidate’s prior academic output,” Mackay wrote to the News. “If they truly wish to preserve the integrity of Yale and avoid Harvard’s situation, they will have no qualms about doing this. I hope that they will consider choosing a candidate for Yale and Yale alone, not for any external influences.” 

Gay’s resignation also raised questions nationally about how racism influenced her treatment by the Harvard Corporation, given that she was the University’s first Black president. 

“I hope that the Yale Corporation does a better job of vetting candidates for the top job than the Harvard Corporation did,” Milan Singh ’26, a staff columnist who recently published an opinion column in the News about Gay’s resignation, wrote. “If the next president is nonwhite or a woman, they will — fairly or not — be hit with accusations of being a diversity hire, who received the job because of identity rather than merit. That is all the more reason to ensure that they do not have skeletons in their closet.”

Maya Fonkeu ’25, the vice president of Yale College Council, noted that Gay’s presidency was historic and that the lack of support she received from trustees was “incredibly saddening.”

Yale’s 23 presidents, to date, have all been white, and — with the exception of Hanna Holborn Gray, who served as an interim president from 1977 to 1978 — have all been men. 

Amid these concerns about the influence of Gay and Magill’s resignations, SAC members Julian Suh-Toma ’25 and Leo Greenberg ’26 — both speaking as individuals and not on behalf of the committee as a whole — do not see the search being influenced by the controversies at Penn or Harvard.

“I think the trustees are doing their job finding the right president for Yale, and that job continues regardless of what happens at other universities,” Greenberg said. 

The SAC includes 12 students total, with four undergraduates, four graduate students and four professional school students.

The post How will backlash against Harvard and Penn influence Yale’s presidential search? appeared first on Yale Daily News.

However, many of these events have associated costs attached to them, making them inaccessible to students who are unable to pay. 

“For someone to not be able to financially participate in these events which are so uniquely ‘Yale,’ well, that’s really sad and disheartening,” Fonkeu told the News. “So we’re really happy that the University administration is working with us to make these Yale traditions more accessible to all Yale students.” 

This year, the Yale College Council — led by Fonkeu alongside Yale College Council, or YCC, President Julian Suh-Toma ’25 — partnered with the Yale College Dean’s office to begin making some of these special Yale events more accessible to all students, regardless of their ability to pay. 

Suh-Toma told the News that the Dean’s Office authorized grants of approximately $20,000 to each grade’s college council to subsidize the cost of tickets for students. This money came from Dean Lewis’ yearly budget, according to Suh-Toma.

“Students shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not they can afford to enjoy a night out with their friends,” Suh-Toma said. 

Suh-Toma said that in the past, tickets for these events — including first-year formal, sophomore formal and a junior formal this year — have ranged in cost from $15 to $20. 

Ticket costs in the past have been associated with paying for the event venue, security, DJ’s and decorations. Suh-Toma added that even if the event is held in a Yale space, such as the Schwarzman Center, the YCC still must pay.

Both Suh-Toma and Fonkeu added that the previous prices of formal tickets were set for the YCC to break even and that the YCC was not making a profit from sales. 

This year, besides the traditional first-year formal, there are also formal events for the sophomore and junior class. The sophomore formal, themed “Rhapsody in Blue,” was held at the Omni Hotel on Jan. 26. This has historically not been done, according to the Sophomore Class Council. The junior “Bridgerton Ball” will be held later in the semester, also at the Omni Hotel. 

“YCC Events has always tried to make our events as accessible as possible,” last year’s First-Year College Council President and this year’s Sophomore Class Council President Mimi Papathanasopoulos ’26 wrote to the News. “Being able to sell tickets at such a subsidized cost this year was a huge win.”

At least year’s first-fear formal — the “Regency Ball” — tickets cost $20 to attend. This year, both first-year and sophomore class formal tickets only cost $5. 

The same will be true for this year’s first-year formal, held in the Schwarzman Center on Feb. 23. 

“My friends and I wanted an excuse to dress up and with just a five dollar ticket, we figured we’d totally stop by,” Sophomore Samantha Mayol ’26 told the News. Mayol did not attend last year’s first-year formal due to cost. 

The Yale College Council was founded in 1972. 

The post Yale College Council subsidizes student formal ticket costs appeared first on Yale Daily News.

“I am honored to be named the 8th chaplain of Yale University,” Saltiel wrote to the News. “I have been here for times of sorrow and pain, and times of joy and celebration, through it Yale has been a place where people care deeply for one another and the world.” 

Saltiel began her career at Yale as the assistant chaplain for special programs in 2013 before becoming associate chaplain in 2017, and then interim head chaplain last year. 

In her time at Yale, Saltiel said, she has worked heavily with the Buddhist, Sikh, Baha’i, Indigenous and Pagan communities. Under her interim leadership, the Chaplain’s Office has seen considerable growth in student engagement numbers.

Religious leaders on campus support Saltiel’s appointment because of her “compassion, care, advocacy, and concern for all,” Director of Muslim Life Imam Omer Bajwa told the News. Buddhist Chaplain Reverend Sumi Loundon Kim agreed, citing how supportive Saltiel has already been of the growing Buddhist community on campus.

Bajwa also shared that Saltiel’s commitment to hospitality and excellence will make her a fantastic leader, “especially in these heartbreaking times.” 

“I think Maytal will help Yale and the Chaplain’s Office respond to the rapidly changing character of young adult religious identity in America and around the world,” Senior Associate Chaplain for Protestant Life and Pastor of the University Church in Yale Reverend Ian Oliver wrote to the News.

Uri Cohen, the Executive Director of the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life, called Saltiel an “outstanding campus leader and supporter of students of all faiths.” 

“I could not be happier that she has been appointed as Yale’s very first Jewish University Chaplain,” Cohen told the News. “This groundbreaking appointment – especially now – is an affirmation that Jewish identity can flourish in its own right and serve others at the same time. We are excited to work with Maytal and her whole team in the years to come to build a strong, vibrant, and supportive Yale community.”

Odessa Goldberg ’25, a student leader at the Slifka Center, echoed Cohen, voicing excitement at the Jewish representation in broader religious leadership on campus. 

Looking toward the future, Saltiel said that she is excited to continue innovating new ways for  students to connect with their religion and religious life on campus. 

Regardless of religiosity and a student’s connection with faith, Saltiel noted that all were welcome at the office for “free ice cream or a cup of tea.” 

“The Chaplain’s Office is a place where everyone is welcome exactly as they are,.” she said.

The Chaplain’s Office is located at 300 College St.

Ada Perlman contributed reporting.

The post Maytal Saltiel becomes first Jewish Chaplain of Yale appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The funds in question, which last year’s YCC president originally claimed constituted an operational surplus, were actually used in emergency spending near the end of the 2022-23 school year. The YCC’s 2023-24 budget has thus decreased by over $100,000.

The YCC receives almost a million dollars in funding each year from the University, most of which comes from student tuition. Over the summer, the incoming YCC leaders set their proposed budget at $1,001,000. By the end of September, after conversations with the University’s Office of Business Operations, the council had to amend its earlier proposed and voted-on budget to $898,431 due to the fictional surplus, which current YCC President Julian Suh-Toma ’25 told the News resulted from “significant accounting discrepancies.”

“This was really, really hard for us,” Suh-Toma said. “We had a lot of excitement from executive board members who had great ideas for projects, but now they were told, ‘you have to cut your budget by a lot,’ which is really disheartening.”

The accounting error will directly reduce the amount of money the YCC can spend this year on student events and senator projects relative to what it originally planned to spend.

Budget breakdown

This primary source of the YCC budget consists of funds from student tuition; before financial aid is calculated, there is a $125 Student Activities Fee included in each student’s tuition. The rest of the budget comes from the YCC’s endowment and any rollover funds from previous years. Last year’s budget under YCC President Leleda Beraki ’24 and Vice President Iris Li ’24 was $910,219.

This year’s anticipated expenses — which were set based on the expected money from both the student tuition, the endowment and the “surplus” from last year’s leadership — were originally set at $1,001,000 by the YCC Senate over the summer, according to records from Senate meeting minutes.

However, this year’s budget fell $102,569 shorter than anticipated and was finalized at $898,431, which will decrease how much YCC can spend this year relative to what it originally planned. This difference became evident after YCC conversations with the Business Operations Office and Yale College Dean’s Office earlier in the semester. The Business Operations Office — which has two employees who manage undergraduate finances, according to its website — told the News that it never received any surplus budget funds from last year’s YCC administration.

Last year’s YCC President Leleda Beraki ’24 and Vice President Iris Li ’24 originally claimed that there was, in fact, a surplus of approximately $100,000 that should have rolled over for this year’s leadership. However, their Business Director Jad Bataha ’24 confirmed with the News that the money was not surplus and was instead used as “emergency spending” at the end of the 2022-2023 school year.

The Yale College Council’s 2023-24 budget breakdown. The spreadsheet is continuously updated to reflect expenditures.

The current budget of $898,431 is divided into both internal and external spending, Vice President Maya Fonkeu ’25 told the News. The external spending, which includes 78.7 percent of the budget, has already distributed $325,000 to the Spring Fling Committee, the group of students responsible for planning the day-long music festival that occurs after classes end each spring.

Another $370,000 has also already been allocated to the Undergraduate Organizations Funding Committee, or UOFC, which funds Yale’s over 500 student clubs and organizations. All of the subsequent allocation of funds to specific clubs is monitored by UOFC Director Ursula Hardianto ’25 and occurs via a UOFC application process sent to all clubs, Fonkeu told the News.

The remaining 21.3 percent of the budget is used on internal expenditures and is overseen by the Yale College Council’s business directors, Rosanna Gao ’26 and Ethan Chiu ’26, per Fonkeu.

Accounting discrepancies 

Suh-Toma told the News that the YCC’s overall budget comes from three main sources: student tuition from the student activities fee, the YCC endowment and any surplus from the previous year’s administration.

Disregarding a surplus of funds left over from last year’s budget, this year’s budget should have been approximately $897,750 if calculated from the approximate 6,590 undergraduates’ student activities fees and the YCC’s endowment dividend — which was $74,000, per Gao. This total resembles the actual budget for this year’s administration: $898,431.00.

However, according to last year’s inaccurate budget tracker, which was obtained by the News, the YCC only used $809,407.47 of its $910,219.00 in anticipated expenses. These residual funds should have left $100,811.53 for this year’s group to tack onto its budget, which is why the anticipated budget number hovered just above a million dollars.

The 2022-23 inaccurate YCC Budget Tracker, courtesy of Leleda Beraki. According to the above spreadsheet, there should have been a $100,811.53 rollover.

However, on Sept. 14, after conversations with the Business Operations Office, Suh-Toma said that there was no surplus from last year’s expenses. Suh-Toma added that this year’s YCC administration was told that the spreadsheet they used to determine their initial anticipated expenses was out of date and incorrectly indicated a surplus. Bataha confirmed this with the News.

“To no fault of anybody in the previous administration, but there was a little bit of mis-accounting in the last couple of months [of the 2022-2023 school year],” Suh-Toma said. “We didn’t actually know how much was being spent, and that number is then used to calculate how much surplus we’re getting from prior years. So they used pretty much all of their budget, but we had thought that they had not spent all of it, because spending hadn’t been put in the spreadsheet.”

Paul McKinley, senior associate dean of strategic initiatives and communications, confirmed that the official budget was not set until late September and that while the budget may have increased due to a larger first-year class, and thus more student activities fees, the “carryover funding” was overall lower.

“If you don’t spend money in one year, it stays in the account,” McKinley explained. “And you can then use it for the next year. During COVID, of course, a lot of that [money] built up so the numbers were pretty high, and then last year it went back down, so there was less rollover.”

Hannah Peck, associate dean of student affairs, added that, given the “confusion” surrounding last year’s and this year’s YCC budgets, she invited the group’s leadership to come back and discuss the matter with her and the Business Operations Office. Peck reaffirmed to the News that the Business Operations Office is not withholding any surplus from prior years.

Reimbursements no longer public

The YCC’s expenditures take a variety of different forms. So far, events this year have included the YCC’s Yale-Harvard Pre-Game at Barcelona Wine Bar the Thursday before The Game, while pilot projects — individual projects conducted by senators — have included the Extracurricular Grant, Healthcare Transportation Reimbursement Program and covering expenses for students, such as printing, laundry, bus services and mental health first-aid training, per Gao.

Additionally, senators and the executive board — including the YCC chief of staff, communications director and business directors — can get reimbursed for their individual projects and day-to-day YCC operations. Check-ins for YCC members at local New Haven shops and coffee chats are reimbursed under the chief of staff’s $1,500 budget and the business directors’ $9,000 budget.

According to the reimbursement spreadsheet, reimbursements take place for meetings — both internally with members of the YCC and externally with other members of the Yale community and those looking to get involved with the YCC — at locations around New Haven, including at Donut Crazy, located on York Street, and Loose Leaf Bubble Tea, located on High Street.

When asked about the criteria for YCC reimbursements, Gao pointed to the YCC 2023-2024 Financial Best Practices document, which is intended to “clarify all spending related matters so that the Yale College Council is responsible, accountable, and clear about where its money is being spent.” 

“The YCC maintains a meticulous approach to managing and tracking expenditures to ensure responsible and accountable use of its funds,” Gao wrote to the News. “Every receipt related to a purchase is thoroughly checked and logged into a tracker, which is then reviewed by the business team and Maya and Julian.”

Gao additionally noted that all YCC members must follow “meticulous” steps when using YCC funds. These include filling in a budget sheet and determining the necessity of specific items, per Gao.

All reimbursements used to be publicly available on a Google spreadsheet; as of Dec. 3, that sheet is no longer publicly viewable. When asked about the change, Gao noted that it was made private given that there are “personal financial handles” on the document.

The Yale College Council was established in 1972.

Correction, Dec. 12: The list of reimbursements being publicly available is not necessarily a matter of historic practice for the YCC, as a previous version of this article erroneously reported. The piece has been amended accordingly.

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The protest was part of a larger series of demonstrations organized by Muslim Student Associations across Connecticut. The demonstration took place outside of Sterling Memorial Library, where protestors sat on the stone steps with Palestinian flags laid out.   

“The silence was intentional – we wanted to have a visual impact and honor the lives of our Gazan brothers and sisters,” Yale MSA members wrote in a statement. The students spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of doxxing and harassment.

Protestors called on the University to divest from weapons manufacturers and U.S. and Israeli companies “complicit in the destruction of Gaza,” according to the statement. They also aimed to acknowledge the “more than 14,000 people that have been martyred in Gaza,” the MSA members wrote. 

Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing at least 1,200 people and taking 240 as hostages, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry as reported by the Washington Post. Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion of Gaza, killing more than 13,300 Palestinians as of figures from the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, the Associated Press reported. More than three-quarters of Gaza’s 2.3 million-person population have been uprooted, leading to a humanitarian crisis. 

The Gazan death toll is probably much higher, the Associated Press reported, as officials have infrequently updated the count since Nov. 11, and the ministry says thousands more may be dead.

The protest on Wednesday came on the heels of a temporary ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which began on Nov. 24 and lasted for seven days. The pause in fighting was initiated to allow for the release of some of hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack and to deliver necessary humanitarian aid to residents of Gaza, according to AP News. That ceasefire ended in the early hours of Dec. 1, when the war resumed full force with Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, the Washington Post reported, after Israel said Hamas was responsible for launching a rocket into Israel from Gaza and had thus violated the terms of the ceasefire in its final minutes.

The protest on Nov. 29 was part of a joint effort with other Connecticut schools in order to have a “bigger impact” when calling for a ceasefire, Yale MSA wrote. Those schools included Southern Connecticut State University, the University of New Haven, Fairfield University and Western Connecticut State University. 

“The Yale administration needs to hear us, and through silence, we will make them listen,” a Yale student organizer told the CT Mirror during the silent protest. “We are not alone today. MSA’s across the state are in silence with us. Solidarity is what keeps us going. Solidarity is the reason why we are here today.”

Yale’s MSA chapter is also calling on Yale to take a stand against rising Islamophobia members have perceived on campus, including actions to denounce the anti-Palestine messages written on a Grace Hopper whiteboard last month. 

In a post on the chapter’s Instagram, they also called for additional hiring of staff for Muslim life at Yale, such as a female assistant Muslim chaplain and more Muslim mental health counselors, and for the creation of resources to protect pro-Palestine speech and activism.  

The group cited recent anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic events as the basis for their demands, such as the whiteboard incident and the alleged vandalization of an MSA bulletin board.

“We have been profoundly alarmed by the Islamophobic incidents on campus,” the same MSA member wrote to the News. “They have created an environment on campus at which we don’t feel safe or heard.”

They further wrote that some members, especially those who are “most visibly Muslim” — specifically those who wear a hijab — are fearful on campus, with some students leaving to go home out of safety concerns. Others, they noted, were fearful of speaking publicly about Palestine for fear of doxxing or retaliation. Before Thanksgiving break, a “doxxing truck” came to New Haven, displaying the names and photos of a number of Yalies it deemed the University’s “leading antisemites. The victims were mainly graduate students of color. 

Dean of Yale College Pericles Lewis told the News that since Oct. 7, the Yale College Dean’s Office has met with Muslim, Jewish and Middle Eastern North African groups and students about rising Islamophobia and antisemitism on campus. In response to MSA’s demands, he said that the YCDO would have more information next semester.

“It’s very important to us that our students of all backgrounds feel safe to study on campus,” Lewis said.  

The protest was held at Sterling Memorial Library, which is located at 120 High St.

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Wong said that at the center she was told the package was not there and that it was most likely stolen. After looking around, she discovered that the package had been mislabeled and sorted into the “problem packages” area. 

Wong is one of several students who told the News they have had issues with the Barnes & Noble Student Package Center. 

As the central hub for incoming deliveries, the package center takes in over 100,000 packages each year, according to Yale’s website. 

Students spoke to the News about long wait times at the package center, slow processing of parcels and notifications that their packages were finally ready for pickup weeks after the companies they ordered from reported that they have been delivered.

Willa Jackson ’27 said that especially at the beginning of the year, the package center’s delay in processing made the transition to college more difficult. 

“The package center would be really behind on processing,” Jackson told the News. “As I was getting settled into college, [it] made the moving process a bit more stressful.”

Jackson recalled one incident when she was notified that her package was delivered and ready for pickup from the package center; however, when she arrived at the facility, the box she was notified about was for a different student. 

She described the center as “confusing” and “inconsistent.” After dealing with the center a few initial times, she said she decided to rent a P.O. Box to avoid the stress. 

“Because there are just so many delays and so many instances where packages are expected to arrive but don’t actually arrive until three to four days later than expected, I thought the P.O. Box would be more practical,” Jackson said. 

At the USPS office, Jackson said, there are never “crazy lines” like she saw at the package center. 

Jackson said she initially tried to use the package center when she first arrived at Yale because of the cost of P.O. boxes. The USPS office, located right below Lanman Wright Hall on Elm Street, has P.O. boxes for rent that begin at $4.67 a month, according to the USPS website. 

Sharif Hassen ’26 also noted a lack of communication as an issue with the center. After being notified that his package was overweight and could not be delivered, he said he wrote three emails to the package center. None of these emails were answered, according to Hassen.

Hassan speculated that the issues he said he encountered at the package center could be due to poor training for package center employees.

“It seems like all the employees are new this year,” Hassen told the News. “I’ve heard that they only hire graduate students so maybe that’s why. All this being said I appreciate what they do heavily and I’ve never had a bad experience with any of them personally; I think it’s more the way the hiring process and maybe training process are set up.”

The package center’s management did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The Yale Student Package Center is located at 77 Broadway.

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