We are only a couple weeks away from the mid-term elections — consequential elections being held during a time of extreme partisanship and vitriol. Reasonable minds can debate whether 1968 or 2018 represents the worst case of division within the country in our lifetimes. That said, now seems like a great time to report to you what the Class Survey said about our political opinions in 1969 and today.
From the New Haven Register: https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Top-50-300-year-relationship-molded-New-Haven-13303757.php By Ed Stannard|Oct. 13th, 2018 NEW HAVEN — Judith Schiff is a living encyclopedia of Yale University history. As the chief research archivist at Sterling Memorial Library, Schiff can offer dates and facts as if she had just looked them up that day. But Schiff’s relationship with Yale goes back to her days as a student at New Haven’s Sheridan Junior High School and Hillhouse High School. “Growing up in New Haven,…
Editors’ Note: Doug Colton is one the three co-chairs of the Reunion Committee. Based on the success of regional “mini-reunions” in Boston and New York, the Reunion Committee is organizing get-togethers in places where Classmates are clustered. The first two of these have been announced. If you are in or near either the greater DC area, or the Richmond, VA area, please attend! We’d love to see you. “Mini-reunions” are casual gatherings meant for re-acquaintance, conversation, and convivial…
The day before Columbus Day, 1965, Yale University press almost put Columbus himself out of business. Publication of The Vinland Map and Tartar Relation made the case that a map inscribed on very old parchment showed that someone else discovered the New World some 400 years earlier. The New York Times broke the story which, back then, was hardly fake news. It was, in fact, to the world and at least this Yale Freshman, a big damn deal.
from Bloomberg News: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-11/yale-opens-door-to-exit-private-funds-in-social-investment-shift By Janet Lorin Oct. 11th, 2018 Yale, which has about 60 percent of its $29.4 billion endowment in such alternative assets, made the statement as part of its ethical investment policy. The Ivy League school said it will work with its outside managers to adhere to its standards. “In addition to attempting moral suasion, Yale might be able to avoid certain investments through ‘excuse’ provisions, which are part of some private equity funds,…
When Yale decided to rename one of its residential colleges, my college, from Calhoun to Grace Hopper, I was annoyed. Then I remembered that I had met Captain Grace Hopper, had heard her deliver a speech, and had written an article about her back in 1983, when I worked for DEC, the minicomputer company. Here’s what I learned and what I’ve come to think about her, the computer and internet revolutions and what it may mean to education at Yale.
The Lunatic Fringe was one of several Yale rock bands that played the songs we could drink and dance to at our Saturday night mixers. The women bussed in from what we called the “girls’ schools” were always the main event of course, but the Fringe did their part to get everyone on the dance floor, playing the hits at juiced up tempos.
Editor’s Note: Not technically News from our Class, Nordhaus was on the faculty from 1967 on. If you studied under him, please leave comments below. (Source: New York Times, Oct. 8, 2018)
WASHINGTON — The 2018 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science was awarded on Monday to a pair of American economists, William D. Nordhaus and Paul M. Romer, for their work highlighting the importance of government policy in fostering sustainable economic growth. Mr. Nordhaus was honored for pioneering the assessment of the economic impact of climate change, including his advocacy for governments to tax carbon emissions.
from CNBC. The most influential endowment manager just jumped into crypto with bets on two Silicon Valley funds Swensen, who manages Yale’s $29.4 billion endowment, has invested in two funds dedicated to cryptocurrencies, sources tell CNBC. The funds are run by Andreessen Horowitz and Paradigm, which was started by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam and former Sequoia Capital partner Matt Huang. The investment marks a much-needed vote of confidence for the volatile asset class. Swensen started…
Classmates, do any of you remember or have information about a small anti-draft demonstration on Beinecke Plaza one wintry morning in early 1968, our junior year? Three seniors handed their draft cards to Bill Coffin in an act of civil-disobedience, stating that they would refuse conscription into the Vietnam War. I came across the gathering on my way to a class, and I’ve described what I remember in a few paragraphs, beginning in the fourth…
Archives at Yale, a new software tool launched in early September, allows students, faculty, and other researchers to search more precisely across and within more than 5,000 collections held by 10 Yale libraries and museums. The new tool is based on a widely used open-source web application — which means that Yale’s investment in developing it will benefit other libraries and museums around the world. “Yale’s collections are unusually large and diverse, with unique information…
U.S. Education and Justice Departments are investigating. University says its practices are legal. https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2018/09/27/us-reveals-investigation-alleged-anti-asian-bias-yale By Scott Jaschik September 27, 2018 The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice revealed Wednesday that they are conducting an investigation into whether Yale University discriminates against Asian American applicants. The investigation comes as a lawsuit making similar claims against Harvard University — and backed by the Justice Department — is about to go to trial. Yale, in a statement sent to students and faculty members,…
According to the Class Survey, 49 percent of us have published a book or an article in a scholarly journal. So, to showcase our work, Yale1969.org hosts are section called Books By Classmates, a searchable and sortable library showing ALL the books we’ve authored or edited. Check it out!
Send us information about YOUR books by using the contact form or emailing support@Yale1969.org Send only the ISBN or ASIN number OR links to the books on any website, and we will …
By Eren Orbey September 25, 2018 Last week, after Christine Blasey Ford went public with an allegation that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party in high school, the Yale Daily News published an old photograph that directed scrutiny to the Supreme Court nominee’s college years. In the black-and-white image, two brothers of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity march across Yale’s campus in an initiation rite, one of them carrying a flag fashioned…
Here is a scanned copy of a May ’68 issue of an “underground” journal that frankly I had forgotten about: the alternative. This issue drilled into the “Crisis At Columbia,” as reported by a ’67 Yalie who was a grad student at Columbia at the time. Re-reading this now was eerie — partly because it was more complex than I remember, and the threat of violence was …
Branford College’s Rick Drost has been a lifelong singer but in recent years has become a much-sought-after singer/songwriter/guitarist. With the release of his solo album, Turning the World, he has begun performing in national venues such as Passim in Cambridge, MA.
