When I first visited Yale for Admitted Students’ Weekend in 2022, the contrast was striking. I arrived from Wilbur Cross High School, New Haven’s largest public school, where basic necessities like soap in bathrooms and adequate counseling staff were constant struggles. Our annual measure of success was simple: How many students graduated, not whether they found fulfilling paths to college or careers. Against this backdrop, Yale’s resources seemed almost unimaginable.

I saw the resources at Yale, a mere two miles from my high school, and I saw an opportunity to extend these resources to the communities and students I loved. This is a big part of why I’m running for Ward 1 alder. 

I want to build our ward into one that is engaged, informed and active. Local politics is truly the backbone of our democracy, and the place to begin broader movements. I’m inviting you to become a part of that. This is knowledge and understanding that I hope you will take with you even if you leave New Haven –– that the place in which you live is important and the space you occupy within it is important, and you have a choice in how you relate to and engage with your community. 

I would like to share a few stories that highlight the person I am and the way I operate in the world. You can read about my platform here, but I wanted to take this time to show you what it would mean for me to be your Alder. 

I’ll start here: I was born in New Haven, and grew up in Wooster Square, just a ten minute walk from campus. Wooster Square Park is where I spent many childhood hours learning to ride my bike, playing with my siblings and attending the Cherry Blossom Festival each year. 

The Christopher Columbus statue was a constant presence in the park. As I grew older, I began to consider what this statue’s presence meant, and what it communicated to the thousands who visited our neighborhood park every year.

In June of my sophomore year of high school, I wrote a petition calling for the removal of this statue. I spent hours researching and writing, finding the best way to communicate how the statue detracted from the purpose of this beautiful public gathering space.

The petition was met with widespread support, despite the divisiveness of the issue it addressed. Thousands of people signed it, from Italian American leaders to community activists, together advocating for the importance of welcoming public spaces. The statue was removed later that summer.

Collective community action is the reason the statue was removed; I was only the catalyst. I understand the power that we hold collectively.

After coming to Yale, I have found a variety of ways to stay connected to the larger community of New Haven. I continue to sing in the choir — located in Ward 1 — that I’ve sung in since I was 9 years old, and I started working with and earned the endorsement of Kiana Flores, the current Ward 1 alder.

Last spring, I had the opportunity to do something I’d been dreaming about for a while: to host a street market in New Haven which brought together New Haven small businesses and Yale student artists. To execute this event, I navigated various city departments and complex permitting processes in order to close down High Street, get authorization to sell wares and source tables and tents to host participants. 

Every day for weeks, from the moment I woke up to the minute my head hit the pillow, I planned, coordinated and executed each detail of this event. It took both immense dedication and persistence, but every second was worth seeing Yale students discover the vibrant art scene around them. This passion and unending love for my city is exactly what I would bring to the Board of Alders.  

While taking a break from writing this, I read a speech delivered in 1988 by A. Bartlett Giamatti, the 19th president of Yale University, assigned for one of my classes. He spoke about the strength of cities and the necessary duty that exists when we choose to live in one: “The defining character of cities over time is that they are political … and it is the constant activity of a city, as thousands of individual, private, personal decisions and choices all give way finally before one central choice: I choose not to live alon[e] but among others.”

It is the greatest joy to live in this incredible city, and you have before you the opportunity to fully realize your place within it. Your engagement at the local level matters so very much. Democracy is an active practice — engage in it with me as your alder.

RHEA MCTIERNAN HUGE is a junior in Davenport College studying philosophy. She can be reached at rhea.mctiernanhuge@yale.edu.