The Yale Board of Trustees met on Feb. 11. That is all the information about the meeting that is available to the public. Anything more: agenda, discussions, minutes will be kept secret until 2073. We still are left blind to the highest levels of deliberation at Yale.
Student interest in the Yale Corporation is at the highest in decades, as many organized and advocated for increased student participation. We are asked to be curious and contribute to society, and it naturally follows that we examine the one that has the most direct influence upon us.
I wrote two months ago about the importance of the Board in anticipation of the YCC referendum and the renewed discussion about the Board of Trustees. The results of the election had nearly a third of the student body vote in favor of democratization. Beyond the specific goal of democratization, Yalies have expressed interest in overall reform and involvement in the operations of the Board. This yearning for cooperation is not new, rather it is for restoration of the relationship that existed once before.
Yet half a semester later, there is no new information from the Board. No letter, no discussion, and no comment given to the student body. The Yale Corporation stresses the importance of ‘intergenerational equity’ for this separation from current students. That is, the resources the University allocates today must be sustainable in the years to come. But this is not a justification to be removed from the student body. It aids the Board’s mission to be aware of current conditions to anticipate the changes and reforms that will be needed to improve Yale’s position in the long term.
Additionally, some of the most important issues that students advocate concern institutional equity. Yale’s connection with the fossil fuel industry, particularly in its past investments, did not meet this standard of providing equal resources for future generations. But the pressure for these changes did not arise from thin air. Student advocacy groups, such as the Yale Endowment Justice Coalition pushed for these reforms. The Board did respond to recommendations but there is an ever present need to expand protections both in the scope and in intensity in Yale’s portfolio. The important projects that students are advocating for, such as a cultural center for MENA students, will require Board approval. Even the softest of reforms, such as student input or disclosing the Board’s agenda would help ensure that Yale is meeting its own obligation to intergenerational equity.
The current practice of confidentiality is also a recent one in Yale’s history. During the presidency of Brewster, 1963-77, trustees would lodge in residential colleges and eat in its dining halls, gathering a glimpse of student life before heading to Corporation meetings. After the meetings took place, the President of Yale would report what occurred to the editor-in-chief of the YDN, and the leader of the Yale College Council. None of this has continued to the current day, and this is to the detriment of everyone. This is just not an issue of students and administration, but also includes faculty who depend on the Board for approval of tenure, staff who are subject to the budget the Board approves and New Haven who is subject to the ‘voluntary contribution’ that the Board also approves. Understanding the Board is a prerequisite to making university wide policy that affects all of us.
At minimum, the Board ought to disclose the subject matter of its meetings. Beyond the agenda, the Corporation should include input from members of the community, not simply as meet-and-greets but as collaborators in its various committees. These are all reforms that can be done without having to amend the by-laws of the charter. We will continue to advocate for these changes in the Yale College Council, meetings with administrators and other available platforms and we hope that other students will also be persistent in their attention to Yale’s highest body.
EZANA TEDLA is a sophomore in Jonathan Edwards College, who can be reached at ezana.tedla@yale.edu
KYLE HOVANNESIAN s a sophomore at Berkeley College who can be reached at kyle.hovannesian@yale.edu They are both senators in the Yale College Council.