As Yale’s center for public service and social justice, Dwight Hall serves as an independent, nonprofit, student-run network of organizations with a strong history of student leadership and social justice work in New Haven and beyond.
In its 115th year, Dwight Hall is home to more than 50 student groups with over 3,000 volunteers each year. Member groups partake in a variety of service and social justice activities. With more than half of Yale students participating in some branch of Dwight Hall, students should have an easy time finding a group that suits their interests.
Dwight Hall member groups are divided into branches depending on the nature of the issues they address.
The Social Justice Network represents all Yale activist organizations, including Amnesty International, the Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Project, the Student Legal Action Movement and Salt of the Earth.
The Education Network consists of Dwight Hall groups that work primarily with kids and teenagers, including groups like Youth Together, Women and Youth Supporting Each Other, and the Latino Youth Enrichment Team.
Dwight Hall provides various resources to support its student-run member programs, including funding, transportation, computer and copying equipment, and physical space, as well as staff advisers.
Affiliate groups include many local New Haven organizations that use the building as a meeting space and a resource for volunteers. Interaction in Dwight Hall and within the community enables students and New Haven residents to work together on a wide array of social justice projects.
Dwight Hall also offers internship and work-study opportunities, which provide students with exciting work opportunities in the New Haven community.
The Urban Fellows Program allows students to work with New Haven community organizations to address challenges through economic development, neighborhood strengthening, family empowerment and community health. The program provides a unique experience, training the fellow through exposure to contemporary urban issues.
In another Dwight Hall program, public school interns serve as liaisons between Yale volunteers and organizations and New Haven public schools to ensure that the needs of each school are being met and that volunteers are being used effectively.
Dwight Hall also has summer interns who receive a stipend to spend their summers in New Haven working full time on a project they have designed in direct response to a community need. The new Dwight Hall Management Fellows program engages students with an advisor from Yale’s School of Management to examine the inner workings of Dwight Hall as a nonprofit organization.
To get involved, come check us out this fall. Keep your eyes out for Dwight Hall’s newest program, “Intersections — Theories and Practice of Civic Engagement,” which will offer seminars and lectures with professors, students and community members about a variety of social justice issues. On Tuesday, Sept. 10, Dwight Hall will hold its annual Open House from 7 to 9 p.m. Come to learn more about the organization and to find the part of Dwight Hall that is perfect for you!
Louise Davis is a senior in Saybrook College. She is a co-coordinator for Dwight Hall.