Baala Shakya, Staff Photographer

For the first time in its 53-year history, Yale’s Graduate and Professional Student Senate, or  GPSS, has officially adopted a comprehensive policy platform — a move that Senate leaders say will accelerate student advocacy and clarify the Senate’s priorities in an increasingly turbulent political landscape.

The platform, passed at the GPSS’s annual corporation meeting on April 3 and sent in an email to all members of the graduate and professional student body the following day, codifies a set of core policy values intended to guide the External Affairs Committee, which leads the Senate’s legislative advocacy on local, state and federal issues.

“Instead of having to go back to the Senate for explicit approval every single time, this platform gives the committee the ability to act quickly if an initiative falls within our stated priorities,” said Chrishan Fernando GRD ’25, the External Affairs Chair of the Senate. 

According to Fernando, the idea was inspired by established platforms from graduate student governments at peer institutions like MIT, whose Graduate Student Council maintains a similar platform to streamline its policy work.

The policy platform, described by GPSS President Alex Rich GRD ’27 as a “regularly revised, non-exhaustive list of GPSS values,” serves as a roadmap for the Senate’s advocacy efforts. It outlines the body’s official stances on issues affecting Yale’s 8,750-plus graduate and professional students — from affordability and housing to mental health and academic freedom.

Rich emphasized that while the platform was not created solely in response to recent campus or national events, it better equips the GPSS to act decisively amid uncertainty.

Fernando emphasized how the policy platform is structured as “a list of sorts” of the GPSS’s priorities regarding “external policy.”

Before the platform was established, Saman Haddad LAW ’26, who serves as the Vice President of the GPSS, noted that the GPSS was required to wait to discuss particular initiatives at a meeting of the full Senate, which currently convenes biweekly and thus notably slows the advocacy process. 

Now, the Senate can reference the policy platform — ensure that a particular piece of legislation fits under a stated priority — and expedite efforts to work on the initiative without an explicit vote of approval from the Senate.

The platform lays out a series of positions the Senate “strongly supports,” ranging from concrete material needs — like access to affordable healthcare, childcare, housing and transportation — to broader commitments to student rights, workplace safety and civic engagement.

The Senate also staked out positions on national higher education policy, opposing any measures that would disrupt students’ work or studies and explicitly condemning the deportation or detention of enrolled students.

Rich also underscored that the platform is a living document — one that will be revisited, revised and reaffirmed every year through an open and participatory process designed to be transparent and inclusive and encourage active student participation.

According to the new bylaw language passed at the April meeting, revisions must be presented to the Senate by the External Affairs Chair within the first three sessions of each academic year. Senators — and students with help from their elected representatives — can propose additions or changes during this process.

While recent debates over higher education policy have amplified the need for coordinated advocacy, Fernando noted that the platform has been months in the making. Initial conversations began last fall, but procedural rules meant the Senate had to wait until its annual corporation meeting, the only time bylaws can be amended, to formally establish the platform.

In its inaugural iteration, Fernando said, the platform focuses on “core, active policy priorities” that the Senate is already working on, but future revisions may expand the scope or sharpen the Senate’s positions.

In addition to adopting its own platform, the GPSS also voted last week to sign onto the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students Joint Statement — a document affirming support for graduate and professional student success and well-being nationwide.

This joint statement outlines a shared commitment to supporting graduate and professional students in four key areas: equitable and sustainable funding, cultivating a campus culture of belonging, protecting the rights and well-being of international students and upholding academic freedom and research independence.

Raekwon Fuller DRA ’27, an at-large GPSS senator involved in shaping the policy platform, said that signing the statement was an important gesture of solidarity, though he emphasized the need for accountability.

“I voted for us to sign the statement, as having accountability and solidarity in these times are extremely important,” Fuller said. “However, I did ask to ensure that we aren’t signing something once and then just unquestioningly allowing NAGPS to change the statement and keep our signature, but that we resign and recommit at each new version of the statement.”

Still, Fuller said, both the NAGPS statement and the new GPSS platform send a clear message that the Senate remains committed to representing and advocating for all graduate and professional students at Yale.

The GPSS has recently collaborated with the Yale College Council on a letter to University President Maurie McInnis, encouraging Yale to adopt a university-wide anti-doxxing policy. According to the April 4 email, University leadership confirmed receipt of the letter on March 25.

The Senate has also allocated funds to address immigration crises and deportation threats on campus, distributed “Know Your Rights” resources regarding interactions with ICE and created a federal policy engagement guide to encourage students to contact elected officials.

The Graduate and Professional Student Senate was founded in 1972.