From the time the Yale Corporation was chartered by the Connecticut legislature in 1701 until the revocation of ex officio membership status allocated to six state senators 170 years later, there was no requirement that any trustees of the Yale Corporation be Yale alumni. The subsequent allocation of six of the 16 volunteer trustee seats to the alumni in 1871 ensured that graduates of Yale would have a voice in the governance of the University from that day forward. 

Since then and by tradition, many of the appointed trustees, referred to as Successor Trustees, have been Yale grads. However, only the elected alumni trustees, known as Alumni Fellows, are directly chosen by the alumni themselves. Additionally, each step leading to formation of the ballot for the annual election of a new alumni fellow is centered on Yale alumni:

Nominations can be made year-round by all members of the Yale community, including the more than 175,000 living Yale alumni. Additionally, the candidates selected to stand for election are chosen by the Alumni Fellow Nominating Committee, a standing committee composed overwhelmingly of volunteer members of the all-alumni Yale Alumni Association Board of Governors.

As required by the University’s Charter, the slate of candidates must feature at least two, but no more than five, individuals. Out of respect to all of those nominated, the process of reviewing and considering your submissions is confidential. We can say, however, that we were thrilled by both the quantity and quality of your nominations and have selected three exceptional candidates for this year’s ballot:

• Jessica R. Herrera-Flanigan ’92, a vice president of public policy and philanthropy at Twitter, with a diverse and lauded background in media
• Fred Krupp ’75, president of the Environmental Defense Fund and a decades-long key leader in environmental policy advocacy
• Daniel H. Weiss SOM ’85 MPPM, a former university professor, dean and president, as well as an accomplished arts scholar and author

To learn more about the remarkable careers, achievements and qualifications of these fellow alumni, we encourage you to read their full candidate bios and to watch their video statements on the Yale Alumni Fellow Election website.

These three candidates, in our view, would each bring a wealth of experience and perspectives to the role of Alumni Fellow. As significant, they share a desire to help govern how Yale fulfills its mission and a recognition of the important fiduciary responsibility that comes with being a trustee of the Yale Corporation. Together, they represent the penultimate step in the annual election process that for more than 150 years has been of, by and for Yale alumni.

To all Yale alumni eligible to vote in this election, the next step is yours: casting your vote for the next alumni fellow to serve on Yale’s Board of Trustees. With your vote, you make our voices heard and ensure that our role in Yale’s governance is made manifest. The voting period for this year’s Yale Alumni Fellow election ends just before midnight, May 22. We hope you will join us by casting your vote for one of our peers to reaffirm the role of Yale’s alumni in governing how our alma mater fulfills its mission, for today and for the future.

MARK A. BADGER  ’91 is a volunteer member of the Yale Alumni Association Board of Governors. This piece was written by Mark Badger on behalf of the current Yale Alumni Association Board of Governors and the Alumni Fellow Nominating Committee.