Maurie McInnis becomes Yale’s 24th president
After a nine-month search process, Maurie McInnis GRD ’90 GRD ’96 was announced as Yale’s 24th president on May 29. She succeeded former University President Peter Salovey, who announced in August 2023 he would be stepping down and rejoining Yale’s faculty.
Before the announcement, McInnis was the president of Stony Brook University and was a successor trustee on the Yale Corporation since 2022. She is the first female president of Yale to serve in a non-interim capacity.
Some critics from the University of Texas at Austin, where McInnis served as provost, and Stony Brook called into question her relationship with faculty and her record on campus free speech. After her appointment, former University leaders and scholars praised her appointment, while students shared mixed reactions.
So far, McInnis has said she is focusing on operational efficiency at Yale and lobbying lawmakers in Washington during President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. McInnis has also expressed a desire to continue academic initiatives spearheaded by Salovey, including existing science and engineering projects. (Photo: Ellie Park, Multimedia Managing Editor)
Pro-Palestine protesters erect multiple encampments
In April, pro-Palestine Yalies took to Beinecke Plaza and Cross Campus to protest Yale’s investments in military weapons manufacturers. The protests came amid similar demonstrations at other universities and garnered national media attention, and they capped a year where the war in Gaza sent ripples through the Yale community.
Over 400 student protesters escalated demonstrations on April 19 and erected a three-day encampment on Beinecke Plaza. Protests followed a Yale announcement that the University would not divest from military weapons manufacturers. On the morning of April 22, Yale arrested 47 protesters, including 44 Yale students, for trespassing, though many of the charges have been dismissed.
On April 28, student protesters set up a second encampment on Cross Campus, which protesters called a “liberated zone.” The encampment lasted for two nights until Yale and New Haven police cleared the area the morning of April 30 with no arrests.
In the fall 2024 semester, the pro-Palestine student group Sumud Coalition has continued advocating for divestment from military weapons manufacturers and increasing Palestinian scholarship at Yale. In December, Yale students overwhelmingly passed the coalition’s Yale College Council referendum demanding disclosure of and divestment from military weapons manufacturers. (Photo: Ellie Park, Multimedia Managing Editor)
Yale and New Haven take on 2024 election
On Nov. 5, Yale students and New Haveners headed to the polls to vote in the matchup between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. New Haven and Connecticut remained solidly Democratic, reelecting Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Sen. Chris Murphy, though the city moved to the right and saw decreased voter turnout.
Ahead of the election, 82 percent of Yale students said they supported Vice President Kamala Harris for president and considered abortion, climate change, LGBTQ+ rights and economic policy as some of their top issues in the November election. Yale Dems and Yalies4Harris organized for the vice president in Pennsylvania, Yale College Republicans was revived and Yale Votes advocated for increased ballot access.
The 2024 election also saw Ohio senator and Yale alum JD Vance LAW ’13 ascend to the vice presidency alongside Trump. At Yale Law, Vance was an independent thinker and “moderating influence,” and he met his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance ’07 LAW ’13 at the school. (Photo: Baala Shakya, Staff Photographer)
Yale leaders told not to speak on issues
On Sept. 10, McInnis announced that a committee would be formed to consider institutional voice at Yale. The announcement came as approximately 20 universities, including the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University, adopted institutional neutrality policies.
While students and faculty were divided on the issue, McInnis accepted in full a report by the Committee on Institutional Voice recommending that Yale leaders broadly refrain from issuing statements on matters of public importance.
In the report, the committee stated that University leaders should generally avoid issuing statements unless they directly relate to Yale’s mission and that they should use their personal judgment when making decisions about when to speak. The committee’s report spans all levels of University leadership, from president to academic department chairs.
However, since the institutional voice report provides only guidelines, University leaders who diverge from the restraint will not face official consequences for speaking on issues of public significance. (Photo: YuLin Zhen, Photography Editor)
Diversity remains post-affirmative action
The class of 2028 was the first to be admitted to Yale after the Supreme Court struck down the use of race in admissions in a 2023 ruling. After the end of affirmative action, Yale College’s enrollment share of Black and Latine students remained about the same, while the share of Asian students dropped and the share of white students rose.
In a 2022 joint amicus brief to the Supreme Court, Yale argued that affirmative action was necessary to sustain the racial composition of incoming classes. Yet the demographic composition of the class of 2028 remained relatively stable, in stark contrast with some of Yale’s peer institutions and in line with trends at others.
A variety of factors could have contributed to the result, including increased recruitment efforts and the use of socioeconomic data through the Opportunity Atlas. Students for Fair Admissions, the group which brought the affirmative action cases to the Supreme Court, has also sent letters to Yale, Princeton and Duke in September questioning the legality of the schools’ admissions practices. (Photo: Ellie Park, Multimedia Managing Editor)
Yale plays in March Madness
In a nail-biting Ivy League Championship, the Bulldogs narrowly defeated the Brown Bears, 62-61, with Matt Knowling ’24 making a game-winning floater as time expired. The victory earned Yale the Ivy men’s basketball conference title and sent the Bulldogs to March Madness.
At approximately 2,200 miles, Yale’s journey from New Haven to Spokane, Washington, was the longest of any team in the 68-team NCAA tournament. Yale’s first round opponent, No. 4 Auburn, was heavily favored to win the matchup, but the Bulldogs came out with a historic upset victory, trumping Auburn 78-76.
In the second round, Yale fell to No. 5 San Diego State in an 85–57. Only one other team in program history — the 2016 Bulldogs — had made the second round before 2024. (Photo: Ben Raab, Contributing Photographer)
YNHHS and Prospect spar in acquisition battle
In 2022, Yale New Haven Health System signed a $435 million deal to acquire three new hospitals from Prospect Medical Holdings — Waterbury Hospital, Manchester Memorial Hospital and Rockville General Hospital. The acquisition would add over 700 beds and more than 4,000 employees to the system.
While Connecticut greenlit the deal in March 2024, YNHHS sued Prospect and tried backing out of the deal in May, alleging that Prospect’s neglect, mismanagement and irresponsible financial practices violated prior agreements. Prospect filed a countersuit in June 2024, accusing YNHH of trying to escape its obligation to acquire the three “safety-net” hospitals.
Allegations continue to fly in updates to legal filings, as YNHHS accused Prospect of unpaid taxes in September 2024, while Prospect alleged that YNHH is trying to delay the deal to lower the purchase price. (Photo: YuLin Zhen, Photography Editor)
New Haven confronts auto theft “epidemic”
As auto theft rises in the Elm City, many of the crimes can be attributed to the Connecticut Kia Boyz, or groups of adolescents who post videos of carjacking and joy rides on social media. Car thefts in Connecticut saw a 33 percent increase in 2023, and surged 66.5 percent in New Haven.
In Yale’s annual security report, motor vehicle theft saw the largest spike out of all crimes. 169 vehicles were stolen from Yale Public Safety’s Clery reporting area in 2023, with 64 on campus alone. 2023 saw a nearly 400 percent increase since 2022, when only 35 cars were stolen with 21 from campus.
In October, New Haven Police Department announced its cooperation with the Yale Police Department, the Connecticut State Police and departments from North Haven, West Haven, East Haven, Hamden, Naugatuck, Orange, Wallingford and Woodbridge to curb auto theft rates in the county.
In November, New Haven saw a decrease in the amount of cars stolen in the city over the month. 922 car thefts were reported in New Haven this year as of Nov. 24. (Photo: Lucas Holter)