Tag Archive: Department of Defense

  1. Dept. of Defense center will not be established, Yale confirms

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    The University confirmed in a Friday afternoon statement that the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) will not fund the training center School of Medicine Psychiatry Professor Charles Morgan told the News he planned to open with a $1.8 million grant from the Department of Defense.

    “No center of this type would be established at Yale without a careful review of the scope of its planned activities and any related ethical issues, but in this case, the review should have occurred at an earlier stage of discussion,” the University’s statement said.

    Earlier this afternoon, over 30 students and New Haven residents cheered the Department of Defense’s announcement during a scheduled protest in front of Sterling Memorial Library.

    The University’s statement released today also clarified that a prior research publication co-authored by Morgan involving Arabic-speaking participants that had gained attention in the press was not conducted at Yale, as well as monitored by a government and independent Institutional Review Board.

    Administrators have a released a series of statements about the center, which Morgan had not yet formally proposed, following a flurry of media attention surrounding concerns from the Yale and New Haven communities about the potential initiative.

    See the text of the University’s statement below:

    The U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has corrected information released on Thursday, February 21, 2013. The following statement was issued today (Friday, February 22) by USSOCOM:

    “After a review of the facts, we have determined the information concerning a center for excellence in operational neuroscience initially provided to and released by this office was incorrect. U.S. Special Operations Command has not and will not provide Yale funds to establish a USSOCOM Center for Excellence in Operational Neuroscience. We sincerely apologize for any problems, concerns, or confusion releasing the erroneous information has caused Yale, its student body and the citizens of New Haven.”

    No center of this type would be established at Yale without a careful review of the scope of its planned activities and any related ethical issues, but in this case, the review should have occurred at an earlier stage of discussion. A Center for Excellence in Operational Neuroscience will not be established at Yale University.

    Additionally, there have been media reports that a prior research publication co-authored by Charles Morgan involved Arabic-speaking participants. The research leading to this publication was conducted under the auspices of the Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts — not Yale — and the ethical aspects of the research were monitored by both an independent Institutional Review Board (IRB) and a government IRB. Yale’s IRB had no role in this research. Members of the Yale faculty analyzed the data collected by the Draper study and published their findings.

    All human research at Yale is subjected to robust review and must meet Yale’s strict ethical standards, and include procedures to protect the rights and well-being of all participants.

     

  2. Dept. of Defense decision draws cheers

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    More than 30 undergraduates, graduate students and New Haven residents gathered in front of Sterling Memorial Library this afternoon in what was supposed to be a protest against a proposed Department of Defense training center but turned into a victory rally, after reports earlier this afternoon indicated that the Department of Defense would not fund the project.

    A group of graduate students and Yale affiliates organized the protest against the center for its lack of transparency and alleged plans of using New Haven minority residents while training soldiers in interview techniques.

    “Don’t for a minute believe that the proponents of the interrogation center changed their course out of the sheer goodness of their hearts,” said Daniel Spaulding GRD ’16, one of the protest’s organizers. “We showed them our power, and they gave way.”

    After Spaulding read a statement to the group, Lara Weibgen, who studied art history at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, addressed the crowd for a few minutes as well.

    “It’s great that [the center will not be funded], but I don’t think Yale as an institution is by any means innocent of perpetuating systemic means of violence against immigrants,” Weibgen told the News.

    The University released two statements this week amidst reports of concern from within the Yale community and the city about the center’s academic integrity and morality in the use of local New Haven residents during training. Most recently, School of Medicine Dean Robert Alpern said Thursday night that the University would not go forward with the proposed center until it has addressed all concerns raised by the Yale and New Haven communities.

  3. Dept. of Defense will not fund training center

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    The Department of Defense will no longer award a $1.8 million grant to the School of Medicine to open a training center for Army soldiers, according to a statement from Deputy Public Affairs Officer for U.S. Special Operations Command Kenneth McGraw to the New Haven Register this morning.

    The Department of Defense retracted its original statement to the Register, in which it confirmed awarding the grant to School of Medicine psychiatry professor Charles Morgan, who would propose to use the center for teaching interview techniques to soldiers.

    “U.S. Special Operations Command has not and will not provide Yale funds to establish a USSOCOM Center for Excellence for Operational Neuroscience,” McGraw told the Register in an email.

    “We sincerely apologize for any problems, concerns or confusion releasing the erroneous information has caused Yale, its student body and the citizens of New Haven.”

    The statement follows a release last night from School of Medicine Dean Robert Alpern, indicating the School of Medicine would not move forward with the proposal for the center until the University fully investigated concerns over the project’s academic integrity and morality from members of the Yale and New Haven communities.

  4. Proposed DOD center on hold

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    The University will not move forward with development of the proposed Center for Operational Neuroscience until concerns raised by members of the Yale and New Haven communities are fully investigated, School of Medicine Dean Robert Alpern said in a Thursday night statement.

    “Members of the Yale and New Haven communities have raised concerns about a possible Center for Operational Neuroscience that was reported in the press,” Stern said in the statement. “In light of the issues raised, we are not moving forward on any such center until we have fully investigated all these issues. It is a very important value of both the Yale School of Medicine and the broader University that all research participants, including all members of the New Haven community, are given the highest respect and protected from any unethical treatment.”

    The statement is the second release about the proposed center from the University this week, following press coverage and opposition to the partnership with the Department of Defense. School of Medicine psychiatry professor Charles Morgan told the News he hoped to propose the center formally, which would teach soldiers interviewing techniques, once the Yale Office of Grant and Contract Administration secured a $1.8 million dollar grant from the Department of Defense.

    The previous statement maintained that the potential program would meet appropriate academic standards, and denied that the center had been formally proposed.