Christina Lee, Head Photography Editor

University President Maurie McInnis did not release a statement following Tuesday’s national election, a break from former President Peter Salovey’s practice during his tenure.

The election comes one week after McInnis adopted a report recommending Yale leaders refrain from making statements on matters of public significance. McInnis did not comment on whether the report factored into her decision not to comment on the election.

“It has been my practice as a leader to not issue statements on the results of elections,” McInnis wrote to the News when asked whether the decision not to release a statement was a personal one or a broader University strategy.

Salovey released statements about both presidential elections that occurred while he was president. In 2016, after President-elect Donald Trump was elected for the first time, Salovey wrote that the campaign cycle had been “historically divisive” and urged Yale students to “seek common ground.” The day before the 2020 election, he wrote a statement tying Yale’s mission to “improve the world” to the election.

Around two weeks after the 2016 election, Salovey also published an opinion piece in the News responding to immigration proposals of the Trump administration, reiterating Yale’s support for international students.

The University acknowledged the election of Vice President-elect JD Vance LAW ’13 Thursday morning in its newsletter Yale Today by linking to a USA Today article about Vance. The text linking the article states “JD Vance ’13 J.D. elected one of the youngest vice presidents in U.S. history.”

When former President George W. Bush ’68 was inaugurated, Yale placed a full-page advertisement congratulating him in The Washington Post and the International Herald Tribune, a newspaper in Paris for international English speakers. Two anonymous alumni bankrolled the ad, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Debra Kroszner, Yale Law School associate dean and chief of staff, wrote to the News that while the Law School had supported sharing news about Vance, its approach to issuing full statements has changed.

“We worked with [the University] to ensure the news was shared in Yale Today, which also reaches our community,” Kroszner wrote. “As with many institutions, Yale Law School has changed its practices regarding institutional statements.”

Kroszner added that the Law School plans to “include this news” in the next edition of its alumni magazine.

A Wednesday posting on the School of Management news website acknowledged SOM alumni who were reelected to Congress. The post stated that the two alumni — Seth Magaziner SOM ’10 of Rhode Island and Brett Guthrie SOM ’97 of Kentucky — had triumphed, but stopped short of congratulating them.

Ohio State University, where Vance earned his bachelor’s degree, struck a different tone. The university posted a congratulatory message on its X, formerly Twitter, account that reads, “Congratulations to Vice President-elect JD Vance, an alumnus of The Ohio State University and native Ohioan.”

Neither Fordham University nor the University of Pennsylvania commented in their news publications or on social media about the election of their alumnus Trump. 

McInnis adopted the report of the Committee on Institutional Voice on Oct. 30.