Benjamin Hernandez
Staff Reporter
benjamin.hernandez@yale.edu
Benjamin Hernandez covers Woodbridge Hall, the President's Office. He previously reported on international affairs at Yale. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, he is a sophomore in Trumbull College majoring in Global Affairs.
Author Archive
BENJAMIN HERNANDEZ
Yale under investigation for ‘response to complaints of alleged discrimination,’ details unclear 

The United States Department of Education opened a Title VI Shared Ancestry investigation into Yale and four other schools, per the most recent listing of cases by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. Yale officials did not clarify the details surrounding what they called the “one specific event” prompting the investigation.

January 24, 2024

BENJAMIN HERNANDEZ
ANALYSIS: What’s next for Yale’s presidential search?

Yale isn’t the only university looking for a new leader — and recent presidential turmoil across the country may be changing Yale’s search calculus.

January 22, 2024

BENJAMIN HERNANDEZ
Harvard president resigns amid plagiarism, antisemitism controversies 

In a Tuesday statement to the Harvard community, Claudine Gay announced her immediate resignation as Harvard’s president. Her departure comes as she continues to face criticism for her responses during a Dec. 5 Congressional hearing on campus antisemitism as well as allegations of plagiarism.

January 2, 2024

YURII STASIUK, BENJAMIN HERNANDEZ & TRISTAN HERNANDEZ
City leaders, protest organizers condemn desecration of menorah during Saturday rally

After an individual lodged a Palestinian flag in a menorah on the New Haven Green during a protest on Saturday, city officials and faith leaders condemned the act as hateful — as did protest organizers and Yale in a University statement.

December 12, 2023

BENJAMIN HERNANDEZ
Will Yale divest from weapons manufacturers?

Amid student demands that Yale divest from weapons manufacturers, University President Peter Salovey told the News that he would not intervene in the current process by suggesting that the Yale Corporation divest. He called the current process by the Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility to revisit the University’s 2018 policy “robust” and said that he does not want to “prejudge the process.”

December 8, 2023

BENJAMIN HERNANDEZ
Salovey breaks with peer University presidents’ indirect answers, updates response to hypothetical question from House antisemitism hearing

In a Thursday statement to the News, Yale President Peter Salovey updated his response to a question asked to three peer presidents during the Tuesday Congressional hearing on campus antisemitism; he suggested in his full answer that calls for genocide of the Jewish people would violate Yale’s policies. Salovey’s response is more forceful than those of the three other presidents, whose institutions are now facing a Congressional investigation into campus antisemitism.

December 7, 2023

BENJAMIN HERNANDEZ
Salovey promises MENA space and announces permanent security at Slifka, notes one campus report of ‘physical confrontations and violence’ related to Israel-Hamas war

A Thursday morning email to the Yale community by University President Peter Salovey outlined a series of actions that Yale will take to address antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus. Among the actions is also the hiring of a second Muslim chaplain and the announcement of increased funding for kosher dining at Slifka.

December 7, 2023

BENJAMIN HERNANDEZ
Salovey’s answers to questions asked of university presidents in recent House antisemitism hearing

University President Peter Salovey was not called to represent Yale in the hearing held by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, at which the presidents of Harvard, Penn and MIT testified. He told the News that he does not know why he was not asked to testify.

December 7, 2023

The façade of Woodbridge Hall in the daylight.
BENJAMIN HERNANDEZ & ESMA OKUTAN
Palestinian and Muslim students express safety concerns after man shoots Palestinian students in Vermont

Three Palestinian college students were shot in Vermont last week, amplifying fear and concerns among students on campus.

December 1, 2023

BENJAMIN HERNANDEZ & ARIELA LOPEZ
Yale Press ends decades-long partnership

Publishing house W.W. Norton will take over fulfillment and sales from TriLiteral LLC for the Yale University Press for titles published starting January 2025.

December 1, 2023

BEN RAAB & BENJAMIN HERNANDEZ
Over 1,400 alumni, faculty and parents sign letter calling on Yale to combat antisemitism

University alumni, faculty and parents urged administrators in a Nov. 20 letter to take action against what they called a “tidal wave of antisemitism” moving through campus.

November 28, 2023