Benjamin Nuland ’27 and Zach Pan ’27, co-presidents and founders of the Asian Jewish Union, speculated that the previously held Spanish Themed Shabbat helped pique curiosity about what a potential Asian Themed Shabbat would look like. They credited most of the event’s success to the group’s marketing strategies and continuous outreach. They also worked with the Slifka Center, the AACC, Asianish and other organizations in promoting and funding their event.

“We put it everywhere. So Slifka newsletter, AACC Newsletter, all the Slifka group chats, on Instagram stories. We partnered also with Asianish. They sent it out to all their people. We had it on the Slifka website, I think the AACC website. So this is very well advertised, and I remember, as leaving Silliman, I heard someone on the phone, ‘oh, are you coming to Asian Shabbat tonight?’” Pan said.

Pan and Nuland also spent time curating the entree and dessert menus, sourcing kosher ingredients, decorating the Slifka Center with multicolored paper gloves and red paper cranes, and working with the chefs from the Slifka kitchen to ensure that the dishes were the most authentic that they could be.

“The thing is, they have a supplier, a kosher supplier,” Pan said in reference to the Slifka kitchen. “So to make this all kosher, in advance, we gave recipes and ideas to the Slifka kitchen, and then they sourced all the ingredients from a kosher supplier. And then we had a taste test at 2 p.m., I think, the day of, where the Chef, Dave, made all the dishes and Jamin and I went with a couple of other students, and we tweaked the recipes a little bit to make them look a little bit more authentic. After that, they mass produced all the food.”

The catering concluded with mochi for dessert. There was both a dairy-free strawberry option and a green tea option to fully accommodate any dietary restrictions. The mochi, however, ran out quickly due to the large number of attendees and was eventually supplemented with donuts.

Nuland added that next year’s Asian Themed Shabbat would need a signup sheet with restrictions on how many people can come since such a high turnout could potentially be a security issue.

Only a few months ago, the Asian Jewish Union had four members. Now, it has 40, and it is only continuing to grow as events like the Asian Themed Shabbat have drawn attention. 

Natalie Semmel ’25, a member of the Union, reflected that Asian Shabbat was a wonderful way to be able to connect with two communities that she belonged to. She was already very involved with Slifka when she met Nuland in the fall of 2023. She enjoyed being able to celebrate both of her identities at the same time and with other people. 

“It’s kind of amazing to be able to talk about our Bat Mitzvahs in the same conversation as talking about our experiences of being in Chinese classes at Yale as second or third generation speakers of the language,” said Semmel. 

Pan told the News that plans for the Union began in a buttery earlier this year.

“I was in the Stiles buttery. And I met another Asian Jew, and I had not met any Asian Jews at home. It just occurred to us that we should start a group. At least for me, it was really unique to come here and to find other Asian Jews. Yeah, it was a buttery idea that came into fruition,” Pan said.

Pan approached Nuland, and they got to work, reaching out to the Slifka center and the Asian American Cultural Center for funding and resources. A big help in the development of the Union was the agility of the Slifka center, which helped them get approved quickly. After getting approved, the Union was able to receive funding, have dinners and find new members within just a couple weeks.

Nuland told the News that the Union aims to provide a space where Asian Jews can feel comfortable and explore these two identities.

“There are Asian Jews that don’t necessarily feel Jewish as they’re in a Jewish synagogue, but they also don’t necessarily feel as Asian when they’re in Asian communities. And so the real mission of our club is to kind of create this safe space for Asian Americans as well as for Asian Jews as well as creating a web of networks,” Nuland said.

Nuland discussed other initiatives that the group is taking to extend this community beyond just the Yale campus. For example, the Union is an affiliate with the Lunar Collective, a national organization and the only organization for Asian American Jews. They also have communicated with other schools, such as Princeton University, that have a similar affinity group for Asian Jews.

“We’ve already reached out to the Princeton Jasians which are a group that have been established, and they’re one of the rare groups of Asian Jews that exist as a true collective,” Nuland said. “We tried to reach out to Harvard, but there is no Asian Jewish group at Harvard, which was really surprising. The next stop, perhaps, is looking at the regional hubs of New York to see if the New York based schools have an Asian Jewish group.”

Pan hoped that in ten years hundreds of Yalies might pass through the Union.

“We could have a reunion and have some sort of alumni network because, already, just after a year or so, you have 40 people, and at that level, in 10 years, we’d have several hundred alumni. So, yeah, we have very ambitious plans for the group,” Pan said.

The Asian Jewish Union most recently hosted a Lunar New Year Celebration in collaboration with Asian-ish. The event featured scallion pancakes, beef noodles, vegetarian and chicken fried rice and pastries. Similar to the Asian Themed Shabbat, they underestimated attendance to be roughly 25 only to welcome 112 guests from the Asian and Jewish community and beyond, according to Nuland.

Kaya Dierks ’26, co-President of Asian-ish, said that it is important for their group to collaborate with the Asian Jewish Union since there is a lot of overlap between the two groups. She described the groups as having a lot of “resonance” with each other. 

“Bringing us to spaces together allows us to talk about everything that we have in common and what it means to be Asian American when our identities also expand within that category in ways that may not be expected,” said Dierks.

The Slifka Center is located at 80 Wall St.

The post Students launch Asian Jewish Union appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Elisa Cruz ’26, co-president of Kasama, shared three focuses she had for this month: capitalizing on the growing size of Kasama, expanding beyond the Filipino community through collaborating with other clubs and a feeling of being restored. She especially stressed the importance of connecting with those in communities beyond just Kasama’s.

“For this month, our main focus was to build community amongst Kasama members, but also beyond that. I think I’ve had a lot of conversations with my friends about this where sometimes on Yale’s campus, a lot of our cultural centers or communities sometimes feel very insular, but there’s really beauty in us just sharing and engaging with other people’s culture in a way that is, one, obviously respectful, but, two, also very joyous and very enthusiastic,” Cruz stated.

Cruz also talked about the rapidly growing size of the club. She said that while there were only roughly nine members last year, there are at least 25 members involved now. 

She and another member, James Tibang ’27 agreed that this made celebrating FAHM much more special this October as they can now begin to build traditions and a stronger community.

“We didn’t do much programming for Filipino American History month, last year. So it was kind of the first big year that happened,” Tibang shared.

Some of this programming included two events where speakers in the clubs delved into Filipino history and the Tagalog language. Both members and nonmembers were welcomed and encouraged to join them for some food and to learn something new. 

Janina Gbenoba ’27, one of the social chairs for Kasama, was very active in helping create these two events, the Filipino Language Empowerment Workshop on Oct. 5 and the Kasama x Mecha Mexican-Filipino Labor Activism event on Oct. 25, both of which occurred in the Asian American Cultural Center multipurpose room.

“I’ve absolutely loved getting to be in a community with not only my fellow Kasama members, but also the broader Filipino community at Yale. It’s been such a sweet month of coming together in Filipino traditions and fun club events, and it also feels really special that this month marks a year since we started our Tagalog at Yale campaign,” Gbenoba stated. “My favorite part of FAHM so far has been the fact that we as a club have also been focused on recognizing the ways in which our stories as Filipinos are deeply intertwined with those of other cultures; I had the honor of being a part of events like the Filipino Language Empowerment Workshop and the Kasama x Mecha event, both of which gave us the space to talk about the love and power that lies in intercultural solidarity.”

At the Filipino Language Empowerment Workshop, main organizers Cruz, Gbenoba, Marissa Halagao ’27 and Alexis Yam ’27 wrote and presented a slideshow teaching the history of the Tagalog language and colonial linguistic suppression. Gbenoba added that this event was a collaboration with the Political Action and Education Team of the AACC.

Advocacy for including and representing the Tagalog language and culture in university curriculum has been a widespread movement across the United States. In fall 2025, Yale will offer its first Tagalog language course due to the advocacy of Filipino Yalies. Celene Bennett ’26, one of the social chairs, like Gbenoba, expressed the importance of Tagalog.

“Uplifting the U.S.’s fourth most spoken language and giving Filipino American students access to a language that connects us to our family members is critical. However, we must recognize American colonialist suppression and the linguistic diversity in the Philippines. Teaching Tagalog is a necessary step, but it’s not enough to prove that the university is uplifting Filipino students and our history to its fullest potential. The Filipino language empowerment workshop drew attention to these points, and Kasama will continue to push for comprehensive education about Filipino culture and history,” Bennett said.

Tibang helped prepare food for the Language Empowerment event. They served lumpia, a Filipino spring roll, and pancit, which is a noodle dish. 

He was also able to provide insight and reflect on the importance of the Tagalog language,

“It’s important to empower the youth and make people aware that, you know, Tagalog is not a dead language, it is very alive and very used,” Tiband stated. “It’s important because it goes back to the history and that fight for liberation and independence from colonialism. I feel like language has a big part in symbolizing that.”  

Their other political programming event was in collaboration with Mecha de Yale where Halagao and Gbenoba from Kasama and Diego Paz ’27 and Pablo Macias Lopez ’27 from Mecha facilitated a discussion on the history and the documentary “Delano Manongs” which tells the story of Filipino and Mexican laborers during the 1965 Delano Grape Strike.

There was a discussion on how their histories and cultures intersect with one another, establishing intercultural solidarity between Filipinos and Mexicans during this month. Bennett reflected on the event, vetting it as a success.

“The turnout and energy was high, and we got to discuss shared elements of our cultural identities while learning about Larry Itliong and Filipino American farmworkers and activists who are often left out of the story,” Bennett said. “I had never been taught about Larry Itliong, but I knew Cesar Chavez, and it was really special to get to learn that history alongside other students who were as touched by the story.”

Cruz added that although Kasama recognizes the importance of political programming they also like to celebrate Filipino American History Month by building community and sharing their culture, such as through the annual night market.

Every year, the Asian American Student Alliance invites the AACC affiliate organizations to set up booths on Old Campus and hand out desserts, cultural dishes and drinks. This year, Kasama’s sophomore team made turons — a grilled wrapper that contains plantain or banana and jackfruit. It is then caramelized and sprinkled with brown sugar.

Tibang, a sophomore, was a part of the team that made this dessert, which they cooked in the AACC.

“It was a really nice experience for us sophomores. It was me, Marissa, Janina and Anika that helped make the food. Actually we made the food. That was a very fun experience for all of us. Then after the cooking process, we hauled it over to Old Campus where the whole event was being held,” Tibang said. “Aside from the food, there were a lot of performances from various organizations. Especially Asian dance organizations or just performance organizations in general that held some performances out in the open while people were walking around and having tastings of every organization that offered food or a drink.”

Cruz shared that due to Kasama’s growing size, the community this year felt particularly strong. She said that they ended up using a turon recipe from one of their elder members which she said was reminiscent of being passed down traditional recipes from a grandmother.

With a packed month of educational and community-building events, Kasama finished off FAHM with “Halo-Haloween” which occurred on Oct. 31. 

Bennett explained that Halo-Haloweekend is her favorite event because of the good food, such as halo halo, and festive spirit. Also spelled haluhalo, halo halo is a popular cold treat in the Philippines with shaved ice, condensed milk and a variety of different fruits. She added that it is a great way to spend time with the Kasama family and other friends, the energy always being high. Cruz shared a final reflection on “Halo-Haloween” as FAHM came to an end.

“It was also a pretty tight turnaround, but to see it like come in fruition, especially as we’re now ending it tomorrow with ‘Halo-Haloween’  has been really, really special just because I think there’s a lot to be said when you see a lot of people who are passionate about what they’re doing,” Cruz said.

Kasama was founded in 1989.

The post Students celebrate Filipino American Heritage Month appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The revival was set up by Norvin West ’25, the former vice president of the BMU and Alejandro Rojas ’26, a current co-president of the BMU, was its primary leader. Every Friday, members of the BMU commute to Conte West Hills Magnet School, New Haven’s longest-running magnet school, to mentor eighth graders. The mentors offer not only tutoring and academic support but also life advice and high school application help.

“The Bouchet Mentorship Program is a program that we revived in the Yale Black Men’s Union,” Rojas said. “We had a relationship with Conte West middle school, which is about a 15-minute walk from Old Campus, and over COVID and over a few years, the program died. And so it was really the efforts of Norvin West, who, class of ’25, helped with the initial rekindling of the relationship.” 

Rojas had the chance to oversee its recent development. He attributes its revival and growing success to West Rojas explaining it was West’s personal project, his goal being to get the program back on its feet. It took a year to result in what it is now. 

He added that the relationship between Yale and Conte West took time to establish itself and lightly touched on the efforts it took to implement the program into the middle schoolers’ schedules.

The BMU now has a routine schedule for meeting with the Conte West students. They travel to the middle school either by foot or through one of the Dwight Hall cars. Rojas explains this as a time to bond with fellow mentors and to further establish community.

“In the beginning of the year, we walk to the school which has been a pretty endearing experience. It’s not super far, but it’s kind of a nice break from the day where we’re like, ‘All right, how are you guys doing?’ You know, you like checking on each other,” Rojas said. “During the winter, we will rent Dwight Hall cars, and that’s another thing I want to mention. Dwight Hall has been probably one of the most encouraging forces in our program. They’ve been so accommodating and willing to give resources to this program.”

The Bouchet Mentorship Program not only offers academic support and tutoring but also engages with the students outside of the classroom.

They attend their mentee’s sports games, for example, and organize trips to museums. Jalen Bradley ’27, publicist of the BMU, discussed a trip that Conte West took the previous year. 

“We had the idea to combine an event for first years last year and the middle schoolers at Conte to come over to the New Museum. We went together, and it was a good experience just to have camaraderie. Then afterwards, we went to Dwight Hall,” Bradley explained. 

 Rojas also discussed other events the BMU has in store to further their connection with the school and its students.

Like Bradley, Rojas talked about the planned museum visits for this year. He also touched on another unique opportunity in which mentors talk to mentees about their path to Yale. 

“We have something called the snapshot series where different members of the Bouchet Mentorship group will go up and talk about their journey to Yale and how what they do in a classroom connects to what they hope to do or what they aspire to do in future,” Rojas stated. 

Similar to the museum visits, the snapshot series connects two often separated communities, the Yale and the New Haven community, giving youth in the surrounding area the chance to utilize resources they wouldn’t typically have. 

Bradley similarly stressed the importance of interacting with not just the Yale community but with the New Haven area, prioritizing on-campus and off-campus involvement.

“The BMU doesn’t want to be an organization that solely focuses on on-campus matters. It’s easy to be a Yale student, no matter what race you are, and only care about your life here because we have so much going on, but we are black men in a historically black city,” Bradley said. 

Rojas added that it is important for them to try to provide service in the lives of their mentees and be some type of help, “no matter how big or small in our community.”

Nolyn Mjema ’26, the BMU’s current vice president, expressed his thoughts on why this mentorship program is essential to continue.

“This program is vital for these kids. I didn’t have Black mentors growing up, so I hope to be that for them. The program kicks off a week after their school year begins, and the planning involves coordinating with counselors and teachers to handle logistics and ensure the students have their permission forms signed,” Mjema stated.

Conte West Hills Magnet School is located at 511 Chapel St.

The post Black Men’s Union revives Bouchet Mentorship Program appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Tobias Exsted ’26, current co-president of the BMU, discussed the pillars of the organization, which are unity, support and service. During the induction event, there was a strong emphasis on support and the community. Extsted expressed his appreciation of the BMU’s community.

“Throughout my time in the BMU, I have felt constant support from people who genuinely care about what I do and desire to support me in all my interests and pursuits,” Exsted said.

Another member of the BMU board, Jalen Bradley ’27, echoed Exsted’s appreciation for the support of the BMU, citing it as a reason why he joined. 

He identified the BMU as a space to empower black men, to uplift them and create a sense of belonging on the Yale Campus.

“I joined the BMU because I was searching for a space where I could relate to others on campus,” Jalen said. “During my first year last year, Induction had the format of pictures, dinner and then hearing from a Black business owner named Mr. Sean Williams.”

Jalen noted this Induction as special since two Connecticut state senators, Douglas McCroy and Gary Winfield, were sharing their words of empowerment in a year where the first Black woman, Kamala Harris, is running for president.

Both senators encouraged the Black men in the audience not only to engage in the community, the alumni network and the meetings that the BMU offers but also to make their voices heard in the upcoming election.

Senator Douglas McCroy, who was introduced as a champion of education equity, minority recruitment and youth mental health, stressed the importance of the initiative in building a strong black community in his speech.

“We have issues that we have to deal with as black men, and you guys here at Yale University make the decision to come together, talk about who we are, where we come from and what we need to do to improve ourselves individually,” McCroy said to the inductees. “And if you improve this community and community as you go back home, I applaud you for that.”

Senator Gary Winfield was introduced as a dedicated advocate of social justice known for his leadership in criminal justice reform, civil rights and education equity

In his speech, Winfield emphasized the many valuable connections formed in a community like the BMU.

“I know that you have relationships, but I know how many relationships tend to go,” Winfield said to the attendees. “They’re not that deep. They seem deep, and they’re not that deep. And I hope that what you get out of this union is what you create it to be, which is a deeper relationship with other black men, where you have a safe space, and there’s not a lot of spaces out there for us.”

In the many speeches by the board members and guest speakers, there was a recurring idea of having the space and the foundations, as a marginalized group in America, to grow to one’s greatest potential. 

Nolyn Mjema ’26 shared the story of Robert DeShaun Peace ’02, who, despite hardships, was admitted to Yale with a full scholarship. But, without the help of friends, he turned to selling drugs ten years post-graduation. Mjema continued, explaining the importance of an organization like the BMU, which strives to offer the help Peace needed to thrive in an environment like Yale.

“Right at the core, the Black Men’s Union was founded to support each other,” Mjema said. “So to all the first years, sophomores, juniors, every black man and woman on this campus, whether you come to every BMU meeting or none at all, know that our organization is built on the principle of support, and that’s why we’re all here today to ensure that none of us ever have to walk this journey alone.” 

After the speeches, the Induction concluded with the inductees signing the BMU book. 

Both co-President Exsted and Publicist Bradley described this as a very special part of the event each year.

“It is a key moment in which each individual gets their moment of recognition, but it serves as a symbol of the unity the inductees will build with each other over the next four years,” Exsted said.

Lastly, after signing the book and becoming an official member of the BMU, inductee Abdur-Rahman Oladoja ’28 shared his own reason for joining the organization.

Oladoja added that he was excited by the BMU’s work mentoring younger students in New Haven.

“I wanted to find a community of black people. And when I found out that Yale had a black men’s Union, I felt really empowered to join it because, yes, we are obviously all men, but I think black men are a very marginalized group in America in a bunch of different categories,” Oladoja said. “And I felt like it’s really important to me that we have a space on campus that really tries to uplift black men.”

The night finished with the formerly inducted and now inducted members of the BMU gathering together for a celebratory picture and hope for another year of great community and strong brotherhood.

The BMU was founded in 2007.

The post Black Men’s Union celebrates new members at their annual induction event appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Sundstrom, who attended a public New Haven high school, is now one of 21 students in the class of 2028 from the New Haven Public Schools, the largest number in the University’s history. Initially, she wanted to move out of her hometown. However, she learned about Yale through the University’s programming, which she participated in during her senior year in high school, changing her mind.

“It was once I did this that I realized it actually had everything I was looking for in a school: the freedom to pursue multiple interests and disciplines, a welcoming and thoughtful community and a strong arts presence,” Sundstrom said.

Mark Dunn, senior associate director of admissions for outreach and recruitment, wrote to the News that the admissions office makes “a special effort” to connect with students in New Haven public schools.

Sundstrom participated in the Yale Pathways to Arts and Humanities, a program that welcomes local public high school students to Yale’s campus for a wide array of arts and humanities performances, talks, tours and seminars. Sundstrom said that the program provided her with an introduction to some of the facilities, such as the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and the Yale University Art Gallery. 

She added that the ability to take one class a semester at Yale during her senior year made “more of an impact” on her desire to go to Yale, and made her more confident while transitioning from high school to college. 

Dunn told the News that many of the applicants the admissions office sees from New Haven public schools have already had “meaningful academic and extracurricular experiences” with Yale faculty, students and staff through the University’s countless programs for local students. 

Such programs provide New Haven high schoolers with unique insight into the lives of Yale College students, Dunn added. 

The outreach efforts include Yale admissions officers visiting New Haven public schools, citywide college fairs and events hosted by New Haven Promise. This summer, Samantha O’Brien, Yale’s new senior assistant director for partnership programming, hosted two workshops for Yale Pathways to Science students on selective admission and financial aid. 

Alexandra Daum, associate vice president for New Haven affairs, told the News that Yale has created an expansive ecosystem of opportunities for middle and secondary school students to learn directly from Yale students, faculty and staff and to experience Yale from the inside.

These programs, she said, range from one-day events to 10-day summer programs, from drop-in programs to residential programs and six-week laboratory internships, with hundreds of individual sessions over the course of a year. 

Yale also admits many New Haveners who went to private high schools.

Gabriel Mena ’28 attended the Hopkins School in New Haven, which is only 10 minutes away from Yale’s campus. The proximity presented him with a few interesting opportunities, he said. 

Mena worked at the Yale Magnetic Resonance Research Center, looking into cardiac MRIs, through the Hopkins Authentic Research Program and Science program at his high school. The program is not affiliated with Yale. 

Mena also said that the proximity, in combination with Yale’s selectivity, deterred some of his fellow classmates in the college application process. He said that he felt similar concerns. 

However, he said he came to realize that Yale offered the things he was looking for in a school, from the community to the intensive Greek course his high school Latin teacher helped him discover.

“Once you actually look into the school and realize the opportunities that are there, the community that it has, I think that you start to really, really fall in love with it,” Mena said.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions is located at 38 Hillhouse Ave.

The post Yale admitted a record-high number of New Haven Public Schools students appeared first on Yale Daily News.