Tag Archive: Town-gown

  1. University, city announce annual Elm-Ivy Awards

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    President Richard Levin and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano presented the Yale University Seton Elm-Ivy Awards to seven individuals and two groups at a Tuesday ceremony.

    Elm-Ivy honorees are recognized for promoting collaboration between Yale and the city of New Haven. The award’s two designations — Elm and Ivy — honor different types of candidates: Elm Awards are granted to community members beyond Yale while Ivy Awards are given to Yale faculty, staff and students.

    This year, Elm Awards were given to Bruno Baggetta, marketing manager for Market New Haven, Nan Bartow, a retired board member of the Urban Resources Initiative, and Robert Smuts ‘01, chief administrative officer of the City of New Haven.

    Ivy Awards for the year went to James Boyle ’94, director of the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute; associate professors of physics Sarah Demers and Bonnie Fleming, for their work together in Girls Science Investigations; Gordon Geballe ’81, associate dean of alumni and external affairs, and lecturer in the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies; Kurt Zilm, a professor of chemistry and chemical engineering; the Neighborhood Health Project Yale’s Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health; and LaTisha Campbell ‘12, co-coordinator and treasurer of Dwight Hall’s Social Justice Network.

  2. Rap showcase cancelled due to safety concerns

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    A rap showcase scheduled for Saturday night at the Afro-American Cultural Center was canceled after the Yale Police Department and University administrators expressed concerns about the safety of the event.

    YPD Assistant Chief Michael Patten said that when his department learned the event was advertised, free and open to the public, it was concerned about the capacity of the venue to accommodate the showcase.

    “We had no idea how many people might come and were concerned about overcrowding and people loitering outside in this predominately residential area,” he said in a Sunday morning email. “Coupled with tensions we’ve seen between various groups in the City and recent incidents occurring outside events, we recommended to Dean Cohen that the event be canceled.”

    Toney B — one of the New Haven rappers scheduled to perform at the showcase — said he thinks administrators can “stigmatize” New Haven locals and “assume” that something violent will happen. He added that the point of the showcase was to “integrate the city with the students” and was intended to be a peaceful event for students to enjoy.

  3. Occupy New Haven preps for showdown

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    New Haven’s Occupiers stuck out the snow, but pressure from City Hall may spell the end of Occupy New Haven.

    The city released a proposal earlier this week asking Occupy New Haven members to remove their structures and leave the New Haven Green by mid-March, the New Haven Register reported. The Green is intended for public use and is not meant for permanent use by any group, City Hall spokeswoman Elizabeth Benton said. But members of Occupy New Haven say they won’t budge.

    “We, the activists of Occupy New Haven, refuse to vacate the Upper Green or dismantle the camp,” reads a press release posted to Occupy New Haven’s website on Saturday. “Our presence is not a camping trip. Being in solidarity with the global Occupy movement, our presence is a visual testament to the growing class inequality present in our city, nation and world.”

    This week marks five months on the Green for Occupy New Haven, which first set up camp in October. Under City Hall’s proposal, the Occupiers could still reassemble on the Green in the future, but they would have to apply for permits and stay for periods shorter than a week.

    A resolution might not come anytime soon — Occupy New Haven attorney Irving Pinsky says the protestors’ eviction could drag on for years due to court processes. In the meantime, Occupy will formally respond to City Hall’s proposal in a Monday press conference.

  4. O’Reilly Factor takes critical look at Sex Week

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    Fox News offered a fair and balanced report on Sex Week 2012 in a Thursday segment on the O’Reilly Factor.

    Jesse Watters, a producer for Bill O’Reilly’s show, spun a few interviews of Yalies into an insightful look at Sex Week. His short segment features students — representing a broad cross section of the campus community — forced to justify the place of a controversial sex education program in an ever-changing world.

    In the segment, Watters struggles to understand college life at Yale. In an attempt to relate to one female student, an interview ends abruptly after the Fox producer and Trinity graduate claims, “When I was in college, every week was Sex Week.” The student appears visibly miffed and walks away.

    Unfortunately, most Yalies missed the Tuesday descent of O’Reilly’s gang to Yale’s campus. Next time, we’ll have to be sure we take a break from Yeats and do more to flatter the number one network in cable news.

  5. Yalies stole from Occupy New Haven, Occupiers say

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    A number of Yale students disrupted the Occupy New Haven campground Saturday night, stealing signs and creating a “night of terror,” according to several Occupiers. Martina Crouch ’14, who has been affiliated with Occupy New Haven since it started last October, said she heard about the event from another Occupier and a Yale graduate.

    Meanwhile, early Sunday morning, a photograph appeared on Yale College Republicans Chairman Michael Knowles’ ’12 Facebook wall showing his suitemate in Davenport College flanked by two of the signs, which read “Fox News Lies” and “Occupy Wall Street.” The photo was captioned “End of Tory Banquet.” It has since been removed, along with comments in which Knowles says that “in a functional city, the job would have been done by sanitation workers and policemen, as has been the case in New York, L.A., Oakland, D.C., Boston, and elsewhere.”

    In a Monday interview, Knowles said he neither saw nor participated in any “raid” on Occupy New Haven’s encampment, and that the signs found their way to campus by unknown means.

    “As I’m sure you know, by rumor, sight, or participation, signs regularly go missing at the Occupy site—taken by Yalies, students of other universities, and New Haven residents who are simply irked that a group of ne’er-do-wells have stolen a once-beautiful public space and destroyed it—and this seems to have happened on Saturday night,” Knowles wrote in an email.

    Knowles added that he was uncertain if anything had even occurred Saturday night, as he said he passed the Green that night and didn’t hear or see anything unusual, and neither the NHPD nor Yale Security reported anything amiss.

    The Freshman Class Council’s Freshman Screw was held on Saturday night.

  6. Byrne steps down as director of Promise

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    After Emily Byrne, the founding executive director of New Haven Promise, stepped down last week, the scholarship program has begun looking for a new leader, the New Haven Independent reported.

    Byrne is leaving Promise to work as director of strategic initiatives for the state’s new education commissioner, Stefan Pryor ’93 LAW ’98. Garth Harries ’95, deputy superintendent of New Haven Public Schools, will head the search committee charged with finding a replacement for Byrne.

    “We think Emily has done a great job of setting up Promise,” Harries told the Independent. “Our priority is making sure we get the right person in the role. Promise is running perfectly effectively now. The most important thing is who ends up on the bus.”

    Before Promise, Byrne worked as deputy chief of staff for Mayor John DeStefano Jr. Harries said his committee will search across the nation for someone who understands education reform, communications, community organization and “change management.” Until the committee finishes its search, Adriana Arreola, parent organizer and benchmark manager for Promise, will be the program’s director.

  7. Homebuyer program tops 1,000 participants

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    Yale’s New Haven Homebuyer Program, which offers university employees an income benefit if they purchase a home in the Elm City, notched its 1,000th participant this December.

    University President Richard Levin first introduced the homebuyer program in 1994, offering employees a maximum $30,000 incentive to purchase and occupy a house in New Haven. To date, Yale has disbursed $25 million in bonuses and grants to the program’s 1,013 participants. University trustees voted at their most recent meeting on Dec. 10 to renew the program for another two year period.

    “It gives me tremendous satisfaction that the Yale Homebuyer Program has led so many colleagues to invest in New Haven’s neighborhoods, enjoy the benefits of living here, and contribute to our community’s renaissance,” said Levin.

    Participants must be permanent Yale employees working 20 hours or more per week. After an employee purchases a home, the program provides a $5,000 first-year bonus and an annual $2,500 grant for up to 10 years. The homebuyer benefit applies to homes purchased in Wooster Square, the eastern portion of East Rock, Beaver Hills, Newhallville, Dixwell, Dwight, Fair Haven, the Hill, Newhallville and West Hills.

    Of the homebuyer participants since 1994, 29 percent are members of the Yale faculty, 27 percent are management and professional staff, 31 percent are clerical and technical staff, and 13 percent are service and maintenance staff.

    According to the U.S. Census, New Haven has seen the largest population growth from 2000 to 2010 of any city with over 100,000 residents in New England.

  8. Christine Alexander, founder of New Haven reads, dies

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    Christine Alexander, the founder of New Haven Reads and wife of a University vice president, died Sunday after a decade-long battle with breast cancer. She was 66.

    Alexander came to New Haven in 1998, when husband Bruce Alexander ’65 signed on as the University’s vice president for New Haven and state affairs. In her 12 years in the city, Alexander established herself as a leader in the city’s literacy movement, overseeing the growth of New Haven Reads into a statewide leader in literacy efforts.

    “Chris created an incredible safe and secure environment for the students where their tutors tell them they can succeed and find a way to make that success happen,” Ethel Berger, a board member and volunteer at New Haven Reads, told the Register. Since 2004, New Haven Reads has distributed more than 725,000 free books, according to the organization’s website. Over 450 students receive its after-school tutoring services each week.

    A nurse by training who held a history degree from Duke, Alexander was one of two people named United Way’s Volunteer of the Year in 2008 for her work with New Haven Reads, and this April, she received a Seton Elm award for strengthening relations between the city and the University. In addition to her volunteer work with New Haven Reads, Alexander sat on the boards of the Literacy Coalition of New Haven and Greater New Haven Literacy Volunteers.

    “It’s almost impossible to think how the literacy movement can go forward without her,” said Doss Venema, the executive of the Literacy Volunteers board. “She was such a powerful voice.”

    In addition to her husband, Alexander is survived by her two sons — both of whom work in education — two daughters-in-law and four grandchildren. A memorial service for Alexander will be held later this summer.

    Alexander’s family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, a donation of books or volunteer time be made to New Haven Reads.

  10. Better them than Sean Kingston…

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    The alternative rock band Sister Hazel, which performed alongside T.I. and The Format at Spring Fling in 2007, is coming back to New Haven as part of the annual Music on the Green concert series.

    Officials at Market New Haven announced Thursday the full lineup for the free summer concerts, which begin at 6 p.m. with the headliners taking the stage at 7 p.m. on three Saturdays in July. The New Haven Symphony Orchestra will play on July 11, followed by Sister Hazel on July 18 and the R&B artist Jeffrey Osbourne on July 25 (with Ward 22 Alderman Greg Morehead and his band, DangerZone, as the opening act).

    The concerts are sponsored by the Smilow Cancer Hospital.

  11. Festival’s opening weekend features a little of everything

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    Over 50 kids munched popcorn on Saturday afternoon, crowding the portico of the Yale Center for British Art. Sprawled on petite mats, their faces stared rapt with enthusiasm at the red velvet curtains of a puppet booth.

    The silly humor of “The Punch and Judy Comedy” show — just one of several events lined up for New Haven’s 14th annual International Festival of Arts and Ideas — was a crowd-pleasing kickoff for the two-week-long festival. All events, which over the weekend included film screenings, a dance party, a concert on the Green by They Must Be Giants, walking tours and even a circus, are free of charge.

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