Today is Election Day. And year after year, Yale College refuses to bring truth to its rhetoric by making it a university holiday.
In my four years as an undergraduate, I worked to push Deans Chun and Lewis to introduce Election Day into the mainstream collective of holidays at Yale. With my classmates, I strategized how this additional day off would fit into the requirements for Yale to retain its accreditation — including ending the unpopular “Monday classes on Friday” that prevent students from shopping Friday-only courses, including a course one of the Deans’ spouses taught. This fight was to no avail. Both Deans were unwilling to, and not interested in, spearheading charges of democracy.
Deans Chun and Lewis, when tasked with an initiative that students sought, would lay blame on faculty for inaction, showing a disregard for their capacity, ability to, and the simple fact that it is within their job description to positively influence student life on campus. Faculty are not to blame, as the lack of leadership comes from the dean. And when it comes to fighting for students to volunteer at polling places, staffing precincts, helping voters get to the polls and ensuring students, Yale College staff and faculty can get out and vote, the Yale College Dean’s Office lets out a whimper.
Yale College has made many decisions that reek of moral weakness, but this one is quite simple. While the university mission presents a desire to “develop [students’] intellectual, moral, civic, and creative capacities to the fullest. The aim of this education is the cultivation of citizens with a rich awareness of our heritage to lead and serve in every sphere of human activity,” Yale College refuses to provide the time for students the experience of engaging in democracy without missing a midterm, a project deadline or a must-attend seminar that could hurt their grades. American democracy is central to “our heritage.” If it is only experienced within a classroom, rather than actively at the polls, how can Yale cultivate future leaders who “serve in every sphere of human activity?”
Yale Law School, unlike Yale College, has a day off on Election Day. Dozens of universities, including Columbia, Tufts, American and Rice have taken this path of leadership and civic engagement. Yale College remains embarrassingly stagnant.
Dean Lewis, it’s time for Yale College to step up. Your decision impacts more than just students. Your faculty and staff are limited in their ability to vote, as they must treat Election Day as a regular day, rather than one where democracy can and often is on the line. Yale can and must lead the charge to make Election Day a national holiday, but to do that, a more serious approach must be taken at the college level. On Election Day 2025, I hope to see Yale College students volunteering at precincts, calling voters to come to the polls, and Yale College staff driving voters to participate in American democracy.
VIKTOR KAGAN graduated from Yale College in 2024. He can be reached at viktor.shamis-kagan@yale.edu.