Maria Arozamena, Illustrations Editor

Members of the class of 2028 have stepped into a Yale unlike any before it — one marked by political turbulence, shifting legal landscapes and a campus still redefining itself. 

As the first class admitted under a new era of college admissions, following a wave of conflicting Supreme Court rulings, the Black students of Yale’s newest first-year class are navigating a college experience that feels more politically charged than ever. But beyond the weight of history and policy, they are also just students — crafting their identities in classrooms and common rooms alike. 

They are English majors and Model UN delegates, Spanish certificate seekers and Afro-American Cultural Center regulars. They get tapped for a cappella groups, party at Zeta Psi on weekends and navigate the challenges of ‘adulting’ — if not ‘the right way,’ then in their own way.

On any given day, they can be found sashaying across Cross Campus, weaving through the labyrinth of the Stacks, grabbing a French Roast from Willoughby’s or racing to Marsh Hall for an economics midterm review.

The News spoke with six Black first-year students to learn about their experiences, challenges and triumphs in their first months at Yale. 

Carim Jalloh

Carim Jalloh ’28 enjoys working behind the curtain.

During the common week, he aspires to be pre-med, a neuroscience and history of science, medicine, and public health major. During his spare time, though, he is a career coordinator at the admissions office. He is also a representative for the First Year Council, currently recovering from tedious first-year formal preparations.

“It’s really fun to work and be a part of things that let me be behind the scenes,” Jalloh said. “It’s been cool branching out, planning different events and meeting other people from all the other colleges.”

Despite his love for working out of the spotlight, Jalloh is hardly a stranger to working on stage.

Jalloh has spent many evenings this year donned in formal attire, serenading crowds of up to 200 students as a member of Shades of Yale. 

He says that his first year could be described as unpredictable and a touch arduous, yet undeniably fulfilling.

“Being at Yale, especially coming from an underrepresented background, can be a bit of an uphill battle because it’s really weird being at an institution that was made to exclude you,” Jalloh said. “But for every bad experience I have had here, there’s been at least one other where I’ve had a really good time and that feeling of like, ‘Wow, this is why I came to Yale.’”

Coming from a small high school in Long Island, Jalloh says that he often doubted himself and the social spaces he could inhabit. 

He believes that what has made the significantly larger Yale College feel like home are the networks he has built through cultural communities. 

He credits the residential arts groups at the Afro-American Cultural Center as places where he feels deeply connected and supported.

“My cultural community at Yale has been such a backbone for me,” Jalloh said. “It’s surprised me just how much of a presence it’s had in my life. Seeing and meeting people in groups like Shades, Sabro, Dzana, and other groups has raised my self-confidence in a lot of ways.”

When he’s not singing with Shades or taking classes for his neuroscience and HSHM double major, Yalies can find Carim studying in the Kline Tower Poorvu Center or indulging on the dining hall’s turkey rachel sandwich, which he dubs his favorite dining hall meal.

Additionally, he hopes, by the end of his first year, to leave little on the table.

“I just want to be able to have done everything that I desire and look back on my first year and say that I wholeheartedly put myself out there and did the best I could to accomplish all that I wanted to do,” Jalloh said.

Kayla Bethea

Kayla Bethea ’28 has spent her first year being introspective.

Coming from a predominantly Black high school in the DC metropolitan area, the transition to Yale’s predominantly white environment has been “a big adjustment.”

Yet, this transition has also reinforced her sense of self and belonging — especially in light of national debates surrounding affirmative action and Black students’ place in elite institutions.

“Especially since initiatives for DEI have been banned, I think [me being at Yale] really shows that I got here due to my own volition and not because of a quota that this school is trying to push,” Bethea said. “I’m very proud of that and the opportunity to be a voice for people who may not be here.”

During her college application process, Bethea contemplated attending secondary establishments such as Spelman and Georgetown that mirrored the regional and racial demographics of her high school.

A year later, though, she believes that college choices, and the inevitable grand decision, have minute effects on finding one’s community and internal contentment in college.

Soft-spoken and a self-described introvert, Bethea had some uncertainty about how to get involved socially at Yale. Be it participating in party culture or spending quality time indoors with her friends, Bethea found herself weighed down by a foreign social pressure.

“First semester me [at Yale] would say I made the wrong decision,” Beathea said. “But second semester me has found my community. In high school, academics and extracurriculars took up so much of my time that I didn’t really have time to explore myself. I feel like at Yale, you have more leeway to explore your interests, so I’m very grateful for that.” 

The new interests in question are hobbies such as learning to play the electric guitar and learning how to make clothes with a sewing machine she was recently gifted.

Bethea believes that she has picked up fun, positive habits that will guide her on a future path of wellness and understanding. 

Professionally, Bethea wants to be a consultant, studying economics and electrical engineering. She is a member of the TAMID group and Yale Undergraduate Diversified Investments.

Paloma Dubois

It’s often cliché to dub anyone a jack-of-all-trades; however, Paloma Dubois’ ’28 multiple talents, versatility, and commanding confidence cannot be overlooked.

She’s French but fascinated by the African diaspora and is interested, professionally, in consulting sustainable partnerships between African actors and Chinese investors.

She’s an artist, a photographer, a documentary filmmaker, a conference organizer — YAIS, Caribbean Affairs Conference — and an activist with the returning Yale NAACP chapter.

She’s also an international student.

“As a student coming from a very different culture and speaking a language that’s different, I’ve had to reflect on who I want to be in this environment,” Dubois said. “Because language comes with expression, I had to really find out who I want to be in this space.”

Raised in Paris, she says that Yale’s large, tight-knit Black community surprised her. Furthermore, she says that her encounters with other Black first years have garnered her a trove of brothers and sisters who constantly inspire her creativity and extracurricular pursuits.

“It’s really been wonderful,” Dubois said. “The intellectual richness that we have here is something that feels very much like home to me. I feel like I belong here. I would say also being a Yalie is like realizing what you got and what you want to get at.”

Paloma says that by the end of her first year, she hopes to complete a short documentary she is working on about the effects of conservative American politics on Black Americans.

Chase Jones

When Chase Jones ’28 spoke to the News, he was studying in the dark crannies of Bass library. He seemed relatively unfazed by the midterms in front of him..

This easygoing attitude was carried throughout the length of his interview, even when discussing weighty topics.

When asked his thoughts on the pressures of being a member of the first admitted class at Yale post-affirmative action, he remained stoic.

“I felt the impact of the end of affirmative action on campus, but at the same time, I think that the Black community on campus has still been able to strive despite it,” Jones said. “We have become stronger, and at Yale, simply, we’re fostering a community here.”

After college he aims to pursue a career in neurology research or investment banking.

Despite his level-head, he admits that when he first came to Yale he dealt with a good bout of imposter syndrome.

“I was constantly doubting the person I was and my potential,” Jones said. “But after being here and surrounded by all of these expressive, intelligent, passionate people, I learned to take a step back and that it’s okay to relax.” 

Chase is a member of YBPLA and a First-Year Class Council Representative for Ezra Stiles College.

Cayla Waddington

It’s difficult to determine whether or not Cayla Waddington ’28 is familiar with doing anything haphazardly.

She grew up attending the same West Philadelphia school with the same friends for the majority of her life and often felt like a big fish in a small pond. 

At Yale, as big as it may seem, her involvement is unmistakable. She is a first-year liaison for YBPLA, on the mock trial team, and is sure she wants to be a criminal prosecutor. She has also more than halfway completed the rigorous Directed Studies track. Her largest and seemingly only point of confusion at the moment is whether to major in political science or sociology.

“Coming from a lower-class, inner-city high school, it was a little scary coming to Yale,” Waddington said. “I knew it was going to be a lot of work, but then I realized, ‘Oh, I do measure up’ and ‘I can hang.’”

She often frequents the philosophy reading room on the sixth floor of Sterling. For fun, which she admits she’s had quite a bit of this semester, though, she enjoys being active with Chi Alpha, a Christian group on campus, and immersing herself in Yale’s diversity.

She says that she often forgets that she is ‘Black at Yale’ because of the various forms of representation she encounters on campus.

“I’m in Pierson, so when I first got here and saw the two Black female Heads of College and Deans, I was shocked,” Waddington said. “Even with the staff on campus, like the dining hall and janitorial workers, a lot of them are Black, and we all smile at each other, and there’s a sense of pride.”

By the end of her first year, Cayla hopes to be able to say that the girl who arrived on Aug. 18 is not the same one who will leave on May 7.

Marah Rigaud 

Marah Rigaud ’28 never planned to join the Polo Club upon receiving admission to Yale.

A first-time rider, she sought to leverage Yale’s resources to the fullest extent when arriving on campus.

“I’ve never worked with horses before, but [coming here] I wanted to immerse myself in new things and really try things that I never did before,” Rigaud said.

This mentality led her to other unique pastimes, including being a member of MUNTY and an assistant secretary for YMUN.

Rigaud is also the first Ivy League admit in her family, and much of her time at Yale she has characterized as “exhilarating.”

“Sometimes it’s kind of frustrating when you set these high standards for yourself, but I would say my experience is unique, and being here is just a unique experience in its own because I continuously learn more things about myself and other people and just become a better person because of it,” Rigaud said.

She says that many of the people who have made her a better person since move-in have been the community of Black women she has found here.

“Being surrounded by Black women who have done what I’ve done and are doing what I’m doing and on a higher level at that has been so inspiring and pushes me to continue,” Rigaud said. “Especially events like the Black Women’s Induction have taught me that our presence here, in and of itself, is revolutionary. This institution wasn’t built for us to be here, but we’re here regardless.”

After college, Marah Rigaud wants to become a corporate attorney, specializing in human rights. 

Her favorite dining hall meal is grilled cheese and tomato soup, specifically and only, from Silliman College.