Ellie Park, Multimedia Managing Editor

In response to the Los Angeles wildfires, Yale College administration is offering additional support to students and community members affected by the disaster. Meanwhile, the L.A.’s Yale Alumni Association is organizing relief efforts for community members in the area.

The ongoing wildfires have brought devastation to Los Angeles. As of Monday night, the fires have killed at least 29 people and destroyed at least 16,000 structures, including homes, businesses and schools. 

Yale administration expanded resources such as Safety Net funding, typically reserved for low-income students, to include those impacted by the fires. Grocery stipends, mental health resources through YC3 and Yale Mental Health & Counseling and access to Personal Financial Aid Counselors have also been made readily available and largely advertised. 

“Given that natural disasters appear to be happening at an increasing rate due to changes in global climate, we are looking to standardize our policies and practices, so that they can be understood by staff and students whether we are dealing with wildfires, floods, hurricanes or other natural disruptions,” wrote Burgwell Howard, dean of student engagement.

Howard wrote to the News that as the emergency began to unfold, the Dean’s Office began assembling lists of students who may have been impacted and shared them with respective residential college deans and Heads of Colleges so that they could support them as well. 

According to Howard and Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis, impacted students, regardless of whether they would normally qualify, should still apply for the Safety Net support if they were directly impacted by the wildfires. Howard wrote that the administration was concerned that students who were forced to evacuate may have had to abandon items they needed for Yale. 

“We wanted to have a quick turnaround process to help get those items restored, so that they could begin the semester as seamlessly as possible,” Howard wrote.

Similarly, Uber Eats grocery stipends provided to low-income students who would be on campus during the breaks when dining halls are closed may be expanded to specific students who were most directly impacted by the fires as well.

Howard also explained that on the first weekend of the fires, he worked closely with the Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid to help students who currently receive some level of financial aid connect with the Personal Financial Aid Counselors to discuss any immediate and individual concerns regarding their financial aid situation.

Howard wrote that the staff of YC3 and Yale Mental Health & Counseling have been available and announced via the Dean of Yale College’s Instagram account and through the residential college staff to any students impacted directly or indirectly to help them deal with loss.

However, the administration is still working to standardize the process as natural disasters happen at higher rates so that Yale’s community and staff can be more ready to fully support students as soon as possible. 

“Obviously, our approach has always been to assist those with the highest levels of need first, but we recognize that in a situation where there is ‘no precedent for this mass destruction,’ we will do what we can to assist all students in need,” Howard wrote.

Marcos Luis ’07, vice president of the Yale Club of Los Angeles told the News that on Jan. 9 the Yale L.A. Alumni Association was originally planning for an acapella Baker’s Dozen and Red Hot & Blue concert at Warner Music. However, when the fire started on Jan. 7, they decided to scrap the concert on Jan. 8 after Warner Music deemed it unsafe which “set off an immediate scramble” and “all hands on deck” response to the severity of the fires.

He said that on Jan. 9, Alison Cole ’99, the executive director of the Yale Alumni Association, was in town and offered her and the Association’s full support. He also said that the immediate response was focused on providing aid kits to those in need in the area, even outside the Yale community. 

“That was literally the first couple days of what we were doing, just dropping off aid kits. If you need an N95 mask, if you cannot breathe, if your kids cannot breathe. It didn’t matter — friends, alumni, Angelinos, anybody that reached out to us [would get a kit], ” Luis said.

Luis added that Lewis has shared some of their resources, the YAA has created a news release page, and they’ve received offers for legal aid, lawyer consultations, and assistance from the School of Architecture and Divinity School, all of which they are actively utilizing. He added that Cole has been acting as a connection point between individuals and the broader alumni network offering support. 

Luis said they will continue partnering with local nonprofits and Yale Alumni chapters across California and surrounding states, while embracing their new role as not just a chapter for celebrations and student events, but also a “pseudo aid organization.”

The Yale Los Angeles Alumni Chapter can be reached at yalelaresources@gmail.com for post-wildfire resources.

KARLA CORTES
Karla Cortes covers Student Policy and Affairs at Yale under the University Desk. From Woodstock, Georgia, she is a sophomore in Silliman College majoring in political science.