Dwight Hall unveils expanded resources, programs
From a new funding source for organizations unaffiliated with Dwight Hall to an uptick in membership applications to the launch of weekly service programming, Dwight Hall is expanding.
Surbhi Bharadwaj, Staff Photographer
Dwight Hall has launched a series of new programs geared at boosting first-year engagement with New Haven — with tasks ranging from sorting clothing to helping serve free breakfast at Sunrise Cafe.
The weekly Service Series will be one of Dwight Hall’s key initiatives this year, according to Mark Fopeano, director of programming and evaluation at Dwight Hall.
“What we want is to have a wide spread of opportunities that are easy to understand, easy to say yes to and that lots of people can take part in,” Fopeano said. “Particularly for first-year students, you really want to get them sort of engaged with Dwight Hall right as we start the year.”
Another change this year has been an uptick in new Dwight Hall member groups, Fopeano said. Nine new groups have applied for membership, most of which have already been accepted. Among these are Habitat for Humanity at Yale; UHOPE Haven, which has collaborated with the New Haven Pride Center and the Neighborhood Health Project; and Bright Spaces, a mural project inspired by a student’s experience in a first-year orientation program.
The surge in new member groups has been accompanied by the expansion of Dwight Hall resources. Emily Zhang ’25 and Rena Liu ’26, co-coordinators of the Dwight Hall Student Executive Committee, have been working with the Board to grow the funding and rideshare systems currently available, according to Fopeano.
Sevi Burget-Foster ’23, a Dwight Hall Programming Fellow, added that — for the first time — these resources have also been made available to organizations that are not affiliated with Dwight Hall. If a Yale-affiliated organization submits a service proposal, it can potentially access Dwight Hall’s fleet of cars, as well as funding, print systems and more.
Dwight Hall also expanded its support to students over the summer. Yusuf Rasheed ’24, also a Dwight Hall Programming Fellow, spearheaded improvements to fellowship programming, including this summer.
Over the spring semester, the Dwight Hall team noticed that many students were receiving funding to do summer projects, but not quite enough to cover all their expenses. A new supplemental funding program helped fill that gap. The first cohort, consisting of 17 students, received grants of up to $1,500 this summer.
Rasheed also manages the Service Series.
“We’re here to really make students’ dreams come true, and we have a whole staff here dedicated toward it,” Rasheed said. “So we’re here to make that happen.”
Each new initiative represents the culmination of a long decision-making process, involving substantial investments of time, thought and money. A change in programming takes at least a semester’s worth of planning and talking with Yalies and New Haven community partners alike, Fopeano said.
Before officially rolling out an initiative, Dwight Hall typically runs pilot versions. Burget-Foster was one of the Service Series pilot’s leaders last year, regularly taking a group of students to volunteer — at 6 a.m. — at Sunrise Cafe, a local free breakfast cafe. She noted that the positive reception helped move the program forward this year.
“The people who have done it find it a super rewarding experience,” Burget-Foster said.
This fall, the Dwight Hall team will double down on spreading the word about initiatives new and old, especially to new Yalies, through residential colleges and cultural centers.
Dwight Hall was founded by undergraduate students in 1886.