Yale News

Two trustees of the Yale Corporation, Fred Krupp ’75 GRD ’22 and Neal Wolin ’83 LAW ’88, held events with students Thursday afternoon ahead of the corporation’s first meeting of the academic year, which is set for Saturday. 

The corporation, Yale’s primary governing body, has long valued secrecy, citing the necessity of “candor” for its meetings. Its meeting agendas are kept secret, and the minutes are sealed for 50 years. The board is made up of 10 successor trustees, who are appointed by Corporation members to serve up to two six-year terms, and six alumni trustees, who are elected by Yale alumni to serve one six-year term each. 

In April, the Yale Corporation adopted a Yale College Council initiative demanding more transparency from the body. The YCC, along with the Graduate Student Assembly and the Graduate and Professional Student Senate, said in a letter that they would hold college teas and other events to encourage connection between students and trustees. 

It is unclear whether Thursday’s events with trustees were the result of the corporation’s adoption of the YCC proposal. Neither event was hosted by the YCC, the Graduate Student Assembly or the Graduate and Professional Student Senate.

Krupp, who was elected to be an alumni fellow in 2022, spoke at a Pierson College tea to about 20 attendees. An environmental advocacy nonprofit executive, Krupp was the first alumni trustee elected after the Corporation controversially eliminated the petition process to appear on its election ballots. Now, prospective alumni trustees must receive nominations from a University nominating body to become candidates. 

The same afternoon, Wolin, a successor trustee and former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, spoke at a small seminar-style event hosted by Yale’s political science honor society, Pi Sigma Alpha. Approximately 12 people attended the conversation, which occurred under Chatham House rules, under which participants cannot attribute quotes or information to speakers or participants. 

“We invited Mr. Wolin to speak because of his distinguished career in public service and the private sector, as well as his record of service to Yale University,” Pi Sigma Alpha treasurer Matthew Quintos ’26 wrote to the News after the event.

Wolin declined to answer the News’ questions about matters related to the Yale Corporation. He has been on the corporation since 2023 and serves on six of its 12 committees. 

During the Pierson tea, Krupp talked about his work as the leader of the Environmental Defense Fund, or EDF. Krupp has led the EDF since 1984.

Many attendees told the News that Krupp’s talk was the first college tea they’d ever attended. Roxanne Shaviro ’26, a senior, said she was surprised by the accessibility of the trustee.

“I saw the flyer and I was sure there’s going to be people coming here to torment him. That was not my plan, but I thought there would be more people,” Shaviro said in an interview. “I think having the connection of Yale alum status breaks the ice a little bit, and I felt like I kind of want to go to more college teas now.”

When asked during the event about future plans for campus sustainability as the Yale Sustainability Plan nears its end this year, Krupp said that he has not yet gotten the final report on the plan but expressed enthusiasm for Yale to continue pursuing sustainability.

“Every university, including Yale, should be planning for the future and be ambitious,” Krupp said in an interview after the event. “I came directly from climate week this afternoon, where I was at the Yale Club, and was proud to see Julie Zimmerman, our vice provost in charge of planetary solutions, leading the way.”

Krupp also declined to answer the News’ questions about the upcoming corporation meeting. 

Crystal Feimster, head of Pierson College, said she has been wanting to invite Krupp since she became the head of college two years ago, but “just couldn’t work it out” before the Thursday tea. 

“Oftentimes, when people are in these positions, they’re the expert in the building, even though they’ve learned from lots of people,” Feimster said. “So I love that he was able to point to other experts.”

Pierce Nguyen ’29, a first-year student, asked Krupp during the event whether majoring in engineering would be useful for solving environmental issues. In an interview with the News, Nguyen spoke positively about Krupp, who said that people from multiple disciplines are needed in environmental work.

The Corporation has previously been criticized by student activists for Yale’s investments in the fossil fuel industry. In 2023, the Yale Endowment Justice Coalition, or EJC, organized a teach-in calling for the Yale Corporation to divest from fossil fuels and advocated for stricter rules and greater transparency regarding fossil-fuel related investment.

A Yale spokesperson wrote to the News at the time that the University already has binding rules against companies that act in ways that are “antithetical to a transition to a carbon-free economy.”

University President Maurie McInnis sits on the Yale Corporation.