Christina Lee, Photography Editor

Early Saturday morning, the Yale Corporation — the University’s highest governing body, which includes 16 trustees as well as University President Peter Salovey — convened at the Greenberg Conference Center for their last meeting before the summer recess. 

The Yale Corporation meeting comes the morning after pro-divestment protesters stayed overnight on Beinecke Plaza with an encampment of more than 25 tents. The encampment followed a mass protest during Salovey’s farewell dinner in the Schwarzman Center last night, and a week-long effort by various students and groups to occupy the plaza. The Corporation — which is in charge of the search for Yale’s 24th president — is also in the eighth month of its search but has not shared a timeline for when the decision will be made. Salovey is set to step down on June 30.

The Corporation meeting ended just after noon. By 12:31 p.m., the first trustees — Maryana Iskander LAW ’03 and Neal Wolin  ’83 LAW ’88 — left the building through the front exit. As trustees were heading to the cars and limousines taking them to airports, reporters from the News asked Corporation members questions about the content of their meeting, the presidential search and the secrecy surrounding the process, Yale’s divestment policy and pro-divestment protesters on Beinecke Plaza. None of the thirteen trustees who exited from the front door responded to these questions.

Four trustees, including Ann Miura-Ko ’98, Joshua Steiner ’87, David Thomas ’78 GRD ’86 and Michael Warren ’90, told the News that they had a “great meeting.” Marta Tellado GRD ’02 told the News that a Corporation meeting “is always meaningful.”

Three of the trustees and Salovey chose to leave the conference center through other exits, which a Yale police officer prevented the News from accessing.

Less than 10 minutes after the trustees finished exiting, approximately 65 protesters who had marched from Beinecke Plaza arrived at the conference center to confront the trustees. After around 20 minutes chanting in front of the center, the protesters returned to Beinecke Plaza, where they remain as of 4 p.m.

The News will continue to provide live updates on the Yale Corporation and the encampment on Beinecke Plaza.

— Yolanda Wang, Yurii Stasiuk and Tristan Hernandez Staff Reporter

Live updates

5:45 p.m.:

On Beinecke Plaza, the mood has been relatively lighter throughout the afternoon. Musical acts, including the Yale Marimba Band, have been playing on the Plaza steps. Organizers are passing out food, and some protesters have taped a flag to the flagpole.

The flag is a black and white Puerto Rican flag, meant to symbolize mourning, with ‘SOLIDARIDAD CON PALESTINA” written on it. Last night, protesters took down the American flag from the flagpole in a move not sanctioned by the student coalition that is organizing the encampment.

In further contrast to last night, there are only two Yale police cars near the encampment. One is parked off the plaza on Alexander Walk, and the other is parked on Grove Street, on the other side of the Schwarzman Center.

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor, and Emily Khym, Staff Reporter

1:46 p.m.: 

An organizer on Beinecke Plaza announced that some members of Tangled Up in Blue, which was set to perform at Salovey’s farewell event last night but pulled out in solidarity with protesters, will be performing in an hour. 

A man wearing a shirt which says “Fuck Hamas” came to the protest and was approached by numerous protestors, but has now left. 

Rabbi Shmully Hecht, the Rabbinical Advisor for Shabtai, also stopped by the protest. He told the News that he wanted to find out what the protesters were doing but said he would not comment further until the end of Shabbat. 

— Sarah Cook, University Editor, and Nora Moses, Staff Reporter

1:31 p.m.: 

The protesters who went to the Greenberg Conference Center have now returned to Beinecke Plaza. The group is chanting, “free free Palestine” and “get up, get down, we’re anti-war in this town.” 

Patrick Hayes ’24, who led the march to the Divinity School, told the News that the fact that the trustees left the building before the protesters “only proves that the trustees are chicken.” 

“Is it a university or a hedge fund? I think the answer to that is pretty clear,” he said. “Students of any background that have opinions that differ from the way the university operates in its corporate setting, yeah, it’s obvious that this is not a place for us.” 

— Adam Walker and Nora Moses, Staff Reporters

1:08 p.m.:

Aly Moosa ’25 announced over megaphone that protesters will walk back to Beinecke Plaza, where they intend to “meet with [their] comrades” while “keeping the energy high.”

Protesters then began marching back down Prospect Street toward the Plaza, chanting “hey hey, ho ho, the occupation has got to go,” and “Israel bombs, Yale pays, how many kids have you killed today?”

— Yolanda Wang, Nora Moses and Tristan Hernandez, Staff Reporters

1:05 p.m.:

Patrick Hayes ’24 , an organizer leading the march, asked protesters via megaphone, “Have you ever had a substantive conversation with a trustee?”

Another protester answered, “I’m not seeing a lot of hands.”

“What does that tell you about the University?” Hayes asked. “They don’t give a fuck!”

Hayes has started knocking on the doors of the conference center. He also tried opening the doors, which were locked. 

Hayes also announced that he had “one of their numbers,” referring to the trustees. Hayes then called the phone number for the Greenberg Conference Center, which he said was one of the trustees. After the call was not picked up, Hayes left a voicemail asking if his call was left unanswered out of “fear of facing the music.” 

— Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter, and Khuan-Yu Hall, City Editor

1:02 p.m.

Protesters are now chanting the names of each trustee before asking, “How many kids have you killed today?” They began by calling on Bekenstein, the Corporation’s senior trustee, and went through every member of the Corporation, also including Ned Lamont, who — as Connecticut Governor — serves as an ex officio member of the board of trustees.

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

12:54 p.m.:

Approximately 65 protestors have arrived at the conference center from Beinecke Plaza, missing the trustees’ exit by less than 10 minutes. 

As they marched up the hill to the conference center, protesters sang, “We’re gonna confront the trustees, down by the riverside.”

— Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor, and Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter

12:51 p.m.: 

A University official with the Office of Public Affairs and Communication told the News that all 17 Corporation members, including University President Peter Salovey, have left the building. In keeping with the opaque nature of the process, none commented on the status of the presidential search. They also did not comment on whether the meeting included discussion of divesting from military weapons manufacturers or any other details about the agenda. 

Four trustees — Joshua Steiner ’87, Ann Miura-Ko ’98, David Thomas ’78 GRD ’86 and Michael Warren ’90 —  told the News that they had a “great meeting.” 

Marta L. Tellado GRD ’02 told the News that a Corporation meeting “is always meaningful.”

— Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

12:33 p.m.: 

Around 50 protesters have begun to march from Beinecke Plaza toward the Yale Divinity School, which is next to where the Corporation meeting is taking place. Other protesters remain on the Plaza. 

— Nora Moses, Yolanda Wang and Adam Walker, Staff Reporters

12:30 p.m.: 

Yale Police Lieutenant Jay Jones told reporters that they can no longer speak with drivers and initially told the News not to speak with trustees. The News did not agree to these terms.

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

12:27 p.m.: 

A driver told the News that Carlos Moreno ’70 will soon depart from the conference center and then travel to John F. Kennedy International Airport.

– Benjamin Hernandez and Ben Raab, Staff Reporters

12:08 p.m.:

One of the limousine drivers told the News that there were five or six cars from Hy’s Livery Service and that he had a pickup time for 12 p.m. to take Gina Boswell SOM ’89 to Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks. The driver added that these meetings often run long.

Another driver with Hy’s did not provide a pickup time but said he would be taking Michael Warren ’90 to Bradley as well. A third driver with Hy’s said he would be taking Ann Miura-Ko ’98 but did not specify where.

Both Miura-Ko and Warren are on the 12-member Presidential Search Committee, which includes eight trustees and four professors. If the trustees did discuss who will succeed University President Peter Salovey, it seems likely that those conversations are close to wrapping up for the day. 

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor, and Benjamin Hernandez, Staff Reporter

11:52 a.m.:

At least six cars have pulled up to the conference center in the last 10 minutes, including two limousines, two other cars driven by men in suits that appear to be chauffeurs and a white van that was used to transport Corporation members to the meeting today.

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

11:22 a.m.: 

A car from WSFB, a local television station, briefly pulled up in front of the conference center before driving down to the parking lot. After a conversation with a university official, the car left the premises. The News could not confirm whether the car was asked to leave.

— Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor 

11:20 a.m.: 

In the morning, one police car with one officer inside was stationed in front of the Greenberg Conference Center, where trustees are currently meeting. A second police car just pulled up to the scene and now stays at the entrance to the Conference Center as well. — Yurii Stasiuk, Staff Reporter

11:19 a.m.: 

On Beinecke Plaza, protesters have tied began to tie a Palestinian flag to the flagpole. Protesters removed a U.S. flag from the flagpole last night, and about 100 pro-divestment protesters camped out overnight in the Plaza in over 25 tents. 

— Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter

10:59 a.m.: 

A car pulled up to the Greenberg Conference Center, where the driver briefly convened with three University officials who came out of the building. Shortly after that, an Office of Public Affairs and Communication official who previously approached the News again asked reporters to move away from the building entrance and one of the driveways used to access the building from Prospect Street.

— Yurii Stasiuk and Benjamin Hernandez, Staff Reporters

10:20 a.m.: 

A University official from the Office of Public Affairs and Communication approached the News reporters and asked them to move away from the entrance of the Greenberg Conference Center, where trustees are meeting. The official asked that reporters relocate to the conference center’s parking lot. 

– Yurii Stasiuk, Staff Reporter

9:56 a.m.: 

Alexander Dreier, Yale’s general counsel, left the building. He told the News he could not comment on what was being discussed at the meeting.  

Approximately ten minutes earlier, Joan O’Neil, head of fundraising and the For Humanity Campaign, left the building. She also did not respond to the News’s request for comment. 

The For Humanity Campaign is Yale’s $7-billion capital campaign, the most ambitious fundraising effort in the University’s history.

— Benjamin Hernandez and Yurii Stasiuk, Staff Reporters

9:47 a.m.: 

The Yale Corporation — the University’s highest governing body, which includes Yale’s 16 trustees as well as President Peter Salovey — is currently meeting at the Greenberg Conference Center, next to the Divinity School. The News is outside the building but was told it was closed for the meeting.

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

Correction, April 20: The spelling of trustee Neal Wolin’s name has been corrected.