Tim Tai, Photo Editor

University President Peter Salovey has consolidated the University’s major announcements since 2016 onto the Office of the President’s website for faculty, staff, students and alumni to review.

The Monday announcement comes as Salovey approaches his 10-year mark as University president. Salovey, who took office in 2013, invited students to “read about the work we have done together over the years.” Salovey made note of the large number of announcements over his presidential tenure about “community inclusion and excellence,” and highlighted developments in academic programming.

“Over the years, this has resulted in quite a lot of emails and statements, which are spread across multiple websites, so I decided to put the information online in one place for the community to review,” Salovey told the News.

The website emphasizes Salovey’s vision statement, claiming that Yale’s initiatives build off the goals Salovey described in his 2013 inaugural address. In the address, Salovey listed greater investment in teaching and research, international partnerships and more inclusive access to a Yale College education as his main priorities.   

On the front page, Salovey also thanks “alumni, parents, and friends” of the University who contributed to Yale through the “For Humanity” Capital Campaign.

“The vision for Yale’s future is powered by the work of all members of the Yale community,” the website reads.

Under the Arts and Humanities initiative, Salovey highlighted new University facilities — including the refurbishment of the Humanities Quadrangle, the Digital Humanities Lab and the recently announced new facility for students at the School of Drama — as well as the theater and performance communities at Yale College.

Salovey pointed to new projects in the social sciences, including the founding of the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, the first professional school Yale has established since 1976. He also discussed the creation of the Tobin Center for Economic Policy, the Data Intensive Social Science Center, the Institute for Foundations of Data Science and 87 Trumbull St., a facility which will house faculty and research associated with the Department of Economics and the Tobin Center.

In the sciences, Salovey included information on the Yale Science Building, a renovated Wright Laboratory and the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale. Furthermore, he outlined the planned renovation of lower Hillhouse Avenue to house the School of Engineering and Applied Science and an expansion of the Yale Peabody Museum, which will reopen in 2024 with free public admission.

“Our success in attracting donor interest is coming directly from the compelling story we are able to tell,” University Provost Scott Strobel wrote in a 2019 email that was published on the new website.

The website includes dozens of other email communications by University administrators sent to students, faculty and staff since 2016.

Aside from academic priorities, the new website also mentioned updates on Yale’s commitment to accessibility and diversity, equity and inclusion. This commitment is “reflected in each of the initiatives and specifically through Belonging at Yale,” according to University Secretary Kimberly Goff-Crews.

“The new set of webpages demonstrate in an exciting way how interconnected our work is and the progress we have made together,” Goff-Crews told the News.

The website describes four main developments in its “Community Inclusion and Excellence” section — Belonging at Yale, which is the umbrella term for the University’s major DEI efforts; the Yale and Slavery working group, which was established in October 2020 to examine Yale’s historical ties to slavery; the Pennington Fellowship, which will provide financial support to New Haven high school students who choose to attend historically Black colleges and universities; and Yale’s partnership with New Haven, which includes an increased voluntary contribution of $135 million over six years.

The full list of announcements is available to view on the Yale President’s website.

WILLIAM PORAYOUW
William Porayouw covered Woodbridge Hall for the News and previously reported on international strategy at Yale. Originally from Redlands, California, he is an economics and global affairs major in Davenport College.