Eleven New Haven teenagers competed in the Word’s Youth Poetry Slam at the Neighborhood Music School on Saturday, with the top four poets heading to the Brave New Voices Youth Poetry Festival in June.

“The way I conveyed my emotions [when I was growing up] was through writing. As an art to tune your spiritual health and cognition, writing literature is a great tool,” Douglas said.

Brave New Voices brings together over 500 young people and artists from across the world in an annual four-day festival of workshops, showcases and slam competition. This year the festival will be held in Madison, Wisconsin.

Since 2023, the Word — a spoken word poetry education program in New Haven — has organized and funded a Connecticut team to travel to Brave New Voices. The team also visits local attractions, monuments and museums while attending the festival.

“It’s about the poetry, camaraderie, friendship, it’s not really about the competition at all,” Sharmont “Influence” Little, New Haven’s poet laureate and a teaching artist at the Word, said. “It’s about building community.”

The top four poets — Journey, Anna, Shawn and Amya — will work with coaches at the Word to improve their poetry and stage presence before travelling to Brave New Voices.

All of Saturday’s poets were from New Haven County, although the competition was open to all Connecticut youth.

During the school year, the Word works in middle and high schools in New Haven, often using poetry as a means of resolving classroom issues. The group focuses on teaching kids how to perform and use literary, sensory and writing devices to express themselves. 

“We can take a class that has been very negative, and have them write and perform a bunch of poems all complimenting their classmates. It’s a whole 180,” Jason Johnson Dorsey, a teaching artist at the Word said.

At the slam, the poets prepared original poems on a range of personal themes from race, to family dynamics to life in high school. Across the three rounds, they performed 1 to 3 minute poems.

Five judges — including two Yale undergraduates — rated the poems on a scale of 1 to 10. The middle three scores were added for a cumulative score.

The audience was encouraged to cheer or snap at moments of the poems that resonated with them, as well as express their agreement or disagreement with the judges’ scores at the onset of the slam.

 “I’m really interested in what people are going to do with imagery and what stories they will tell,” Anouk Yeh ’26, a judge, said. “Slam is one of the most personal forms of poetry and of art, so I’m excited to hear what the poets have to say.”

The first-place winner took home $500, while second, third and fourth place received $300, $200 and $100, respectively.

The Brave New Voices Youth Poetry Festival will take place from July 16 to 19.

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One by one, the students — all members of the New Haven Climate Movement — listed the effects of climate change on their daily lives and called on the Board of Education to push the mayor to allocate $300,000 in the 2025-26 city budget for the hiring of three full-time climate staff. 

“We often tend to think of climate as a more abstract thing, but we hope to cement with our testimonies that there are local issues in our communities,” Manxi Han, a student at Wilbur Cross High School, told the News. “We really need to step up.”

In the weeks preceding the meeting, the students had brought the posters to eight high schools across New Haven, walking down hallways and encouraging students to pick up a black marker, sign their names and write the ways in which climate change breaks their hearts.

One message scrawled on a heart read “I want to live in a world without wildfires destroying schools and colleges.” Another student worried about houses “crumbling beneath [their] feet and going out to sea.”

“Isn’t it tragic that we’ve been able to fill eight entire banners of anxiety and heartbreak about our future?” Han asked the board.

While reading out selected quotes from the posters, students expressed concerns about the threats rising sea levels pose to a coastal city like New Haven as well as air pollution, high rates of asthma and warming summer temperatures that may prevent future generations from spending as much time outdoors.

Monday’s demonstration is far from the first time the New Haven Climate Movement has lobbied the Board of Education. In 2022, the board approved the group’s Climate Emergency Resolution, which recognized a climate emergency and resolved to allocate resources to fund projects and, potentially, climate staff. This week, over two years later, the students reiterated demands to hire energy, climate education and transportation and sustainability coordinators.

Adrian Huq YSE ’26, a co-founder of the New Haven Climate Movement, said that the organization prioritizes local action. They have long targeted the same city officials: the mayor, the Board of Alders and the Board of Education.

“We’ve asked for climate staff in previous years where there was a lot of federal funding, and now that’s dwindling, but I’m hopeful,” said Huq. “There have been climate staff hired on the city level, but we’re still hoping for more on the Board of Ed side. So I think maybe third time’s the charm.”

At the outset of the meeting, the board’s newly minted president, OrLando Yarborough III GRD ’06 ’10 ’14 reminded the audience that at public meetings, the board’s job was to listen to and take note of public comment but not to act immediately on any questions or concerns raised.

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“I thought, if my mother were alive, she would do something about that,” Spears said. “My mother was an elementary school teacher for the City of New Haven for about 40 years, and she always kept a closet in her classroom with clothes for kids in need to wear.” 

That winter, Spears founded Ruth’s Kids Closet in honor of her late mother, Ruth. Spears has since donated hundreds of winter coats. In the first year, a $10,000 grant from the pandemic-era Yale Community for New Haven Fund allowed Spears to donate 300 coats to New Haven kids, along with an educational book on the COVID-19 virus. When she received an additional donation of 125 adult coats, they were gone within one hour.    

Ruth’s Kids Closet has donated around 55 coats to the Newhallville community so far this season, funded by a $1,500 grant from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. 35 of these coats were donated to students at the Lincoln-Bassett Community School, a neighborhood elementary school. 

Spears said she currently has about 30 more coats to donate, but aims to provide at least 500 this year. With the help of another recent $2,000 grant from the Community Foundation, Ruth’s Kids Closet is closer to that goal. 

“I want to make sure I give as many coats out as possible,” Spears said.

Spears is not alone in her efforts. Other organizations around New Haven have collected hundreds of coats for donation this winter. 

Youth Continuum, a nonprofit that provides support and housing for at-risk and homeless youth, partnered with Epsilon Iota Iota, a local chapter of an adult fraternity, and chemical manufacturer THOR Specialties to collect coats for New Haven youth.  

“You think it’s something simple, but a coat goes a long way for someone who hasn’t had a coat,” Ruel Dixon, leader of the fraternity chapter, said. 

Each organization partnered with Youth Continuum donated over 100 coats, according to Youth Continuum’s Director of Development Catherine DiTuri. 

As part of Epsilon Iota Iota’s annual Achievement Week in November, the fraternity hosted a week-long coat and hygiene product drive. 

“A lot of the work that [we] do as a fraternity is encompassing upliftment of the Black community, but also working with youth,” Dixon said. “With those two components coming together, we decided to do the coat drive with Youth Continuum.” 

As she works toward her 500-coat goal, Spears, who retired on Jan. 31, plans to write more grants and host fundraising events. She said she also hopes to partner with Walmart, Costco and other department stores to have her purchases partially matched by donations. 

Currently, Spears prefers to work directly with social workers to find families in need to avoid an overwhelming number of requests from people she will have to let down. 

“We always are in need of items: new underwear, socks, T-shirts, sweatpants — all genders, all sizes,” DiTuri, of the Youth Continuum, said. “They’re always in need, unfortunately.” 

Youth Continuum also has a warming center open daily from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. for young adults ages 18 to 24, located at 317 Winthrop Ave. 

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Christian Community Action — or CCA — His Divine Will Fellowship, Inc. and Beulah Heights Church are the three New Haven organizations with special Thanksgiving services listed on 2-1-1 CT, a information and referral service for essential health and social services.  

After months of planning, CCA — a family-centered organization that provides employment, shelter and food services — will be distributing baskets filled with ready-to-cook Thanksgiving staples, including turkeys, cranberry sauce, vegetables, dessert and more. 

“There are families that are needing to decide between getting food on the table or paying the rent,” CCA’s Executive Director Charmain Yun ’95 said. “This is just a small way of mitigating some of that. It’s a part of this whole journey of helping a family get to a place of stability.”

CCA volunteers will be distributing goods to senior centers and housing authority buildings across the Elm City on Monday. Other churches and organizations will also be picking up CCA baskets that day to dole out to their own communities. The next day, registered families will pick up baskets and any remaining ones will be given out on a first-come, first-serve basis starting at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday. 

In total, CCA will provide around 1,300 baskets, assisted by over 200 volunteers. Although CCA generally focuses on supplying services to seniors, families with young children and disabled people, they do not turn anyone away. Last year they supplied 1,384 baskets. 

“​​Food prices are astronomical right now,” Director of Emergency Family Services Nicole Smith said. “Just one small turkey would be about $25 alone, not including the rest of the food that you have to purchase. That’s why we keep doing it year after year, because so many families benefit from it.”

After three days of preparation and cooking, His Divine Will Fellowship hosted their Day of Joy on Saturday, providing around 800 hot meals to families with children in New Haven Public Schools at Dixwell Q House. 

Beyond turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, collard greens and other traditional Thanksgiving foods, families were offered children’s coats and bags filled with diapers, soap, deodorant and other personal care products.  

“We particularly target families in the New Haven school system because we find that those are the group of people that are really struggling,” Pastor Brenda Adkins said. “There are single moms, and grandmothers and fathers that are forced to re-raise children over again, so we make sure that we take care of them.”

CCA and His Divine Will Fellowship, Inc. are both funded and supplied by individual donors and local organizations. CCA boasts over 30 donors and sponsors, including Vox Church New Haven, Medtronic and Yale. His Divine Will Fellowship is especially supported by Knights of Columbus, Cornell Scott Hill House Center and Yale New Haven Hospital.

After the Day of Joy, His Divine Will Fellowship kicks right off with their holiday season programming, which includes a gift card drive for their Christmas to Remember event. The organization offers teenagers a $25 to $50 gift card the week before Christmas, as older children may often be excluded from traditional holiday gift-giving. 

“All of these projects that we do are based on my personal life,” Adkins said. “The Christmas to Remember is based on me not getting anything for Christmas. My heart was moved to look after other young children that may be waking up feeling like I felt when I was that age.”

Outside of holiday services, CCA supplies food and other essentials for pre-registered families on a monthly basis, along with weekly emergency services to those with immediate need.

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The AACC’s PAE team led this initiative in an effort to educate the Yale community about climate racism and highlight the works of Asian artists resisting environmental despair. During and following the teach-in, participants began creating an upcycled quilt from fabric scraps and old clothes.

“The goal of the event is to educate attendees on environmental racism, climate racism and how colonialism interacts with both,” said Kiswa Rahman SPH ’25, the lead organizer of the event. “Along with this, we wanted to explain how centering joy is one way to resist while continuing to work together in community.” 

Rahman first gained inspiration for the event when she was working on a project on climate racism and flooding in Pakistan last year. After stumbling across the truck artist Ali Salman Anchan, she was struck by the beauty of artwork that centered joy, community and healing as a means of resistance and liberation. 

The event began with a presentation from Andrew Lee ’27 and Marissa Halagao ’27, undergraduate student co-coordinators for the AACC PAE team, on the topic of climate racism — how the environmental crisis disproportionately impacts racial minorities in the United States and formerly colonized peoples abroad. 

“It is difficult to imagine how the Yale community can work to fight against climate racism; confronted with such a large and sweeping force, our efforts seem small in comparison. Yet, there is power and beauty in solidarity efforts,” Lee said. “We can continue to learn, continue to collaborate with organizations that work locally with impacted populations, and continue to create environmental joy.”

After the teach-in, participants created an upcycled climate justice quilt from fabric scrap and old clothes. The AACC PAE team had led a fabric drive for two weeks prior to the event. 

In the coming months AACC members will assemble the quilt to be donated to organizations that support victims of climate crisis survivors. 

“I want this event to give hope to attendees as we create our quilt, embedded now with new knowledge and an inspiration to keep fighting on behalf of those who are disenfranchised and disempowered by climate and environmental racism, recognizing that artists and communities have always been resisting and innovating in the face of struggle,” Hagalao said. 

Ultimately, the event aims to contextualize and reframe the climate change movement as a call for justice and liberation of all oppressed peoples. 

Lee added that in addition to addressing the racialization of the climate crisis, the event also aims to bring light to Asian artists in particular who have used their creativity as a method of bringing hope.

Participants expressed urgency in addressing the climate crisis. For Peter Tran ’25 who attended the event, the teach-in helped build social consciousness on a relevant issue. 

“If there’s any moment when we need to be showing up more for each other, I think the time is now,” Tran said. “We shouldn’t wait until climate refugees are knocking on our doorsteps for us to show up for and take care of each other. In this country, it’s so easy to be stuck in your own individual wants and needs. But, as today’s presentation showed, the time for that selfish line of thinking is long gone.”

Bella Garcia ’26, co-president of the Yale Student Environmental Coalition, said that the event marked the start of a new chapter for the coalition, which has made fostering relationships with campus cultural centers a new goal. 

One of the ways the coalition has done so is by adding the Affinity Chair position, which according to Garcia, is responsible for creating spaces for “open dialogue, community building and meaningful intercultural interactions.” 

Victoria Lu ’25 who is the first active Affinity Chair shared that the experience of being able to shed light on such an important event was “incredibly rewarding.” 

“I hope participants, including myself, will take away the meaningfulness of creating art with people,” reflected Jenny Liu ’26, co-president of the Yale Student Environmental Coalition. “I also hope folks will appreciate the need for art and creativity as a means of resilience and joy. I think a doom and gloom perspective is persistent in the climate world, but figuring out how to create in the face of that is really crucial.”

Yale has set a goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2035.

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Paul Hoffman, director of Yale Mental Health and Counseling, emphasized that overuse of social media is linked to mental health issues among students.

“Young adults who spend more time on social media and more time on their phones tend to experience more depression and anxiety and tend to not form as strong relationships,” Ada Fenick, a professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine, told the News.

Social media platforms encourage endless scrolling, impulsive behaviors, and the need for instant gratification. According to a study, an estimated 210 million people worldwide suffer from addiction to social media and the internet.

Marc Potenza, a professor of psychiatry, child study and neuroscience at the School of Medicine, noted that with considerable changes in the digital technology landscape, particularly in the rise of smartphones over the past several decades, there have been significant changes in mental health, especially in adolescents and young adults.

“Currently, about 95 percent of high school-aged teenagers have access to smartphones, and it’s estimated from Pew Research Center data that both in 2022 and 2023 about 46 percent of high school-age teenagers report being online almost constantly, an increase from about half of that amount, about 24 percent, in 2015,” Potenza said.

The data linking social media use to anxiety and depression among adolescents led the U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, to generate an advisory in 2023 about social media use and youth mental health. Murthy also wrote an opinion in The New York Times that social media sites should contain warning labels similar to those of tobacco and alcohol products to warn of the potential adverse effects of consumption.

As part of a Cooperation in Science and Technology initiative, Potenza and colleagues generated an e-booklet that focuses on how to prevent problematic usage of the internet. Potenza highlighted that it is important to reserve completely tech-free times, replacing digital devices with analog devices as needed, especially in the hour before bedtime.

“People can often feel compelled or engaged with content that can be detrimental to their mental health, especially if they are going through a period of increased anxiety or depression,” Hoffman wrote to the News. “It can be very important that people be mindful about the content they are consuming because often the very goal of the algorithms is to keep you mindlessly engaged.”

Fenick told the News that social media companies have become quite good at creating “quick hits” that make viewers feel for a moment as if their “dopamine receptors are on fire.”

She encourages students to view their phones and social media as learning tools and not as easy access to entertainment for every minute of the day.

“Get off social media if you can, but if you feel like you want to use it, then I would set yourself a limit for how much time you spend on social media,” Fenick said. “I would set a limit not just on how much time, but on which apps you use. Be very thoughtful about what you’re using it for and what your purpose is, and try to make sure that you spend at least that amount of time or more on interactions with other humans in real life.”

Francesco Casetti, Sterling Professor of Humanities and film and media studies, and Neta Alexander, an assistant professor of film and media teaching algorithmic literacy, noted the addictive nature of social media. This spring, the two professors will be co-teaching a new seminar called “Media Anxieties.”

Alexander explained that algorithmic recommendation systems are strategically designed to exploit cognitive vulnerabilities to maximize screen time. 

“These platforms are designed to be addictive by using intermittent rewards and trying to invoke negative emotional responses such as rage, anxiety and jealousy, which are known to prolong our engagement and deepen our attachment to our devices,” Alexander said.

Alexander recommended that to limit the harmful effects of excessive social media use, students could download screen time apps that set strict limits or “lock” themselves out of their favorite platform and prioritize in-person activities. She also recommended students turn off notifications from social media apps or switch their smartphone display to grayscale — which is less distracting and eye-catching. She noted that implementing these simple strategies is especially important at nighttime when tech companies are competing with sleep and users’ biological needs.

Alexander told the News that it is important not to generalize the effects and potential harms of social media platforms, as they depend on the user’s age, support system, lived experience and other factors.

“Social media platforms like Instagram and X have been shown to be correlated with self-harm, anxiety, depression and social isolation,” Alexander wrote. “Such concerns are backed by empirical studies, including data collected, concealed and ignored by the tech companies themselves and revealed by whistleblowers.” 

She explained that several concerning trends, such as an epidemic of body dysmorphia, self-hatred and attention deficits, have arisen among teenagers leading tech-dependent lives.

Alexander noted that the ubiquitous use of “beauty filters” and AI-generated images and videos gives rise to impossible beauty standards and pushes young users toward dangerous and unnecessary plastic surgeries.

“Social media platforms quantify relationship, intimacy, and attention by creating a 24/7 culture of swiping, liking, and commenting,” Alexander wrote. “This might lead to enhanced anxiety and low self-esteem. [There’s also this] constant need to keep up with the most up-to-date, increasingly expensive personal electronic and data packages, which put financial pressure on teenagers.”

Casetti told the News he had taught a class last semester called “Scared to Death: Fear, Threats and Media,” and that one of the prerequisites for registering for the class was to accept the idea of fasting from social media for 24 hours and writing a diary.

He noted that he received many surprising entries and that one-tenth of the class was unable to suspend their connection with the media for 24 hours.

“One student wrote that he touched the Instagram icon by accident because it was an involuntary gesture,” Casetti said. “And once he was reconnected with his Instagram, he broke the promise to be away from the social network for 24 hours.”

He noted that other students admitted their surrender for other reasons, with one writing “I was scared to be alone with my thoughts” in their entry.

Casetti recalled that the unusual prerequisite allowed students to realize just how attached they were to social media and the harmful extent of their addiction.

“It’s beautiful to meet people, to mix [and mingle]. This is one of the great results of the diaries that my students wrote last year,” Casetti said. “A number of them, during the 24 hours in which they avoided being connected [online], they wrote that they rediscovered the pleasure of reading a book, a physical book. That was fantastic … So I would say to be aware, to use a certain kind of moderation and to be able to discover the entire latitude of the pleasure and the affordances of life.”

Mental Health and Counseling has therapists available to work with students who feel that social media use is negatively impacting their mental health. 

The post Algorithmic Manipulation: How social media platforms exploit student vulnerabilities appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, established in 1928, is a permanent charitable endowment and the largest grantmaker to nonprofits in the twenty-town region of Greater New Haven. Before starting at the foundation, DuBois-Walton served as the executive director of Elm City Communities/Housing Authority of the City of New Haven since 2008. 

“The sense of how we bring together people and community, how we build stronger community, how we can pass impactful investments, has been the work that I’ve been doing and passionate about for my professional career here in New Haven,” DuBois-Walton said. “After 17 years at Elm City Communities, I found myself looking for a new challenge that was going to be able to strengthen this community that I love.” 

Ginsberg told The Community Foundation Board of Directors in 2022 that he would not be seeking a renewal of his six-year employee agreement, which ended on Nov. 1. In fall 2023, he formally announced his retirement and the search for his replacement began.  

Ginsberg said he felt the foundation was “in a good place, which means it’s time to retire.” He praised DuBois-Walton as “a great successor” who will “take the foundation to new places.”

The foundation search committee conducted a national search for Ginsberg’s replacement in collaboration with Koya Partners, a global executive search and consulting firm specializing in hiring CEOs for mission-driven roles. 

The foundation began initial outreach to community members last fall and had contacted DuBois-Walton then. In April, the application process opened up, ultimately attracting around 600 applicants, according to DuBois-Walton. In August, after an initial resume screening and two rounds of interviews, the foundation offered DuBois-Walton the position.

“[Ginsberg] announced his retirement early enough to give us more than enough time to really think about the process and to be able to have planning conversations as a board without any pressure or urgency. It allowed for a lot of attention and thoughtfulness,” Board Vice-Chair Fernando Muñiz, who chaired the search committee, said. “We were able to also talk to and work with other community foundations across the country who had recently been through that transition [of leadership].”

The foundation’s board of directors comprises eleven U.S. citizens and Greater New Haven residents. Muñiz will soon become the board’s chair.

The Board’s primary role is to oversee the foundation’s operations and financial support for community nonprofits. 

“The design is not to have a small group of people, no matter how well-intentioned and however effective, controlling these community assets,” Ginsberg said, referring to the board structure. 

By the end of 2023, the foundation’s endowment had grown to almost $750 million, according to Ginsberg. Last year, they were able to put over $30 million back into the Greater New Haven community. 

During the Great Give, a 36-hour online donation initiative held on the first two days of May, the foundation raised almost $4 million for over 500 nonprofits in the community.

“I had a really warm send-off from my old job and from a team that I had grown to love and work with so closely for 17 years. And then came Monday morning and felt just as much of a sense of warmth and family greeting me when I arrived,” DuBois-Walton said. 

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven’s Offices are located at 70 Audobon St.

The post The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven has new leadership appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The line wrapped City Hall’s atrium twice, snaked out through side hallways and — by 6 p.m. — was partially relocated to the first floor. Prospective voters in line told the News throughout the night that they had waited in the line for up to three hours. 

In total, 1,130 New Haveners voted through same-day registration on Tuesday — almost double the previous record for same-day registration turnout, per elections moderator Dominic Tammaro. The last few voters cast their ballots at 10:15 p.m., over two hours after polls closed at 8 p.m.

City “never expected” so many voters

Same-day registration in Connecticut allows eligible citizens to register and vote in person on the same day. 

Voters must go to the designated same-day registration location in each town rather than their polling place. Anyone in line at the same-day registration site by the close of polls, 8 p.m. on Election Day, can remain to register and vote. 

Same-day registration was offered during each of the 14 days of early voting, and 1,012 voters took advantage of the opportunity.

Tammaro said that he found the Election Day numbers surprising considering the lower numbers of same-day registrations during each day of early voting. Tammaro believed that the additional 14 days of same-day registration opportunities would yield a less busy Election Day.

Israel Ortiz and Daniel Gutierrez, both from Connecticut, participated in same-day registration sporting Harris-Walz hats. Ortiz, a resident of Fair Haven, said that he registered and voted today because he “was just uneducated” about early voting. 

Gutierrez, a student at Northeastern University who returned to his home state of Connecticut to vote, said that the long lines to register and vote are worth it. 

“This is my first time ever [voting],” Gutierrez said. “I just wanted to be 100 percent sure that my vote was going to get counted so being there in person made me feel more secure about my vote counting.” 

Lucy Ehrenfeld was registered to vote in Massachusetts but did not receive an absentee ballot in time. As an East Rock resident, she decided that same-day registration in New Haven would be the best way for her to vote. 

“Getting to vote today in support of trans rights was super important in order to help preserve the work I do, but more importantly the rights of my patients,” said Ehrenfeld, who works as a nurse practitioner providing gender-affirming health care. 

As the day dragged on, some voters grew agitated. Around 6:15 p.m., four women walked out of the line to vote after engaging in loud altercations with other voters and shouting expletives at elections officials, alleging they were misdirected and should be farther ahead in the line.

Other voters sought to raise spirits as the hours ticked by. Ian Dunn, an organizer with the UNITE HERE unions, pulled up to City Hall around 4:30 p.m. with a supply of bottled water and a speaker, out of which he promptly blasted Lizzo and The Beatles.

Dunn said that he had been “running around all day, trying to keep the vibes up,” he said. “The speaker just changes everything, doesn’t it?”

Rob Combs and his family came to vote through same-day registration because they “didn’t have a choice” — they just moved and did not register their address far enough in advance to be assigned to a regular polling site in New Haven. 

At around 6:30 p.m., Combs ordered 10 boxes of pizza through Pizza to the Polls, an organization that sends pizzas to voters in lines with estimated wait times of at least three hours. The pizza was passed out to voters and election workers.

Yalies drive up turnout

Many of the prospective voters who lined up at City Hall on Tuesday were Yale students originally from other states. Before, between and during classes, University students joined the hours-long queue of prospective registered voters.

When asked why same-day registration turnout on Tuesday was so high, Tammaro, the moderator, pointed to extra messaging from candidates and from Yale groups targeting Election Day.

“A lot of the Yale people said that they were getting information from Yale groups which told them this was open, to come here,” Tammaro said. “I know other candidates had literature out telling people about this.” 

Yale Votes: A Student Initiative encouraged students who did not receive or could not return an absentee ballot to register and vote on Tuesday. The group also held walks to the polls that day, some of which escorted student voters to City Hall for same-day registration.

Daniel Wang ’27, one of the last individuals to register on Election Day, did not come to City Hall through a Yale Votes walk. However, he told the News that the Yale Votes initiatives influenced his decision to come vote and gave him information on how he could.

Salvador Gómez-Colón ’25 is from Puerto Rico. He voted in Connecticut on Tuesday “for the three million people who cannot vote in the presidential election” — the population of Puerto Rico, who despite being citizens do not have electoral college votes. 

He said that it was “very complicated” for Puerto Rican residents to request a ballot. He found out this morning that he could register to vote same-day in Connecticut. He added that while local elections in Puerto Rico are important, given the circumstances, he is enthusiastic about voting in the presidential race. 

Gómez-Colón stood in line for around two hours and 30 minutes before registering. 

Texas excess?

Though Yale students at City Hall hailed from dozens of states and registered the day of for myriad reasons — from forgetting to register previously to facing issues with mail-in voting — one story kept repeating.

Five students from Texas told the News that they experienced issues requesting or receiving an absentee ballot to vote in their home state.

Josh Danziger ’28 arrived at City Hall at 8:45 a.m. and had been standing in line for an hour and 15 minutes when he shared with the News that he initially did not plan to vote in Connecticut. Hoping to vote in Sen. Ted Cruz’s race for re-election in Texas, his home state, Danziger’s absentee ballot request was rejected three times because he had allegedly failed to specify which election he intended to vote in by mail, a claim that he denies. 

After the third rejection, Danziger decided instead to vote in Connecticut because he believes it is “important to create a habit for civic engagement.” 

Ella Piper Claffy ’28, another Texan, also had difficulties receiving an absentee ballot. Claffy initially had issues with her voter registration application being denied but eventually successfully submitted it by the state deadline. 

However, she did not receive her ballot until this afternoon, leaving just over 24 hours for it to be received back in Texas. She decided to vote in Connecticut instead. 

“I was so disappointed by the way this all played out,” Claffy said. “It never ever occurred to me that as an American citizen, I would have to spend five-plus hours on the phone with people in multiple different counties trying to just get my ballot and be able to vote.”

Josh Siegel ’26, originally from Houston, also did not receive the absentee ballot he had requested. Siegel came to City Hall in the morning to vote.

Lacey Neel SOM ’25 is a registered voter in Austin, Texas. Neel and her husband wanted to vote in Texas because they felt like their votes could “make a bigger impact in smaller elections that we are invested in.” 

However, because their address had changed since the last time they voted, requesting a mail-in ballot would take up too much of their time. Neel voted for the Harris-Walz ticket at City Hall instead. She described herself as a “one-issue voter” for women’s reproductive rights.

Connecticut is one of the 20 states that allows for same-day voter registration. 

Zachary Suri contributed reporting.

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While all of the pups received plenty of pets and treats from the owner’s daughter, the pups present for the award ceremony were rewarded with Halloween-themed dog toys, from Freddy Krueger to Chucky to a spider.   

“We wanted to do something fun for our customers, and I had seen some funny and cute pictures of animals dressed up, so we sent out the idea in our newsletter,” John Kraszewski, the founder and owner of Armada Brewing, said. “We’re also trying to bring some awareness to the animal shelter.”

Kraszewski launched Armada Brewing in 2017 and relocated to a former Bigelow Boiler Company building in Fair Haven in 2022. Armada Brewing restored the industrial space, which now features two family-friendly taprooms, a beer manufacturing plant and murals painted by Alexandra Kraszewski of modified illustrations from beer labels designed by Scott Buon. 

The brewery is now a favorite of Fair Haven and New Haven locals and visitors alike. Armada Brewery serves draft beers crafted in the brewery, cocktails, wines, ciders, non-alcoholic beverages and some small plates. However, they try to emphasize that they are not a restaurant and encourage customers to support local businesses by bringing outside food in to accompany their drinks.

Armada also welcomes pets into the brewery regularly to enjoy the space alongside their owners.

“We were excited to bring Calvin to get some enrichment at one of his favorite places. He comes to Armada for most holidays so today should be no different,” Tara Kleinberg, owner of Calvin who was dressed as a chicken, said. “Everyone’s always so friendly to him and they always have treats.” 

Kraszewski noted that Armada Brewing tries to host regular events. In October, they hosted Paradise Alley Pro Wrestling in the parking lot, horror trivia and a performance of the Dracula soundtrack by the Haven String Quartet. Armada Brewing is also available for private events and partners with local caterers. 

Armada Brewing will be hosting a Halloween party featuring a DJ, dance party, cocktails and more on Oct. 31, although Kraszewski jokingly remarked that dogs won’t be invited to this event. Tickets are $10 at the door and costumes are required for entry. 

“We’ve been coming here for a few years. Armada feels like our neighborhood, and the owners are the best,” Laura Campbell, the owner of Rudy, a pug disguised as Missy Elliott in a bedazzled pink and black jumpsuit, said. “They treat everyone like friends and host lots of cool things to bring the community together. It’s nice to have a spot away from Downtown,” Rudy’s other owner, Brendan Galvin, added.

All donations collected at the puppy costume parade benefitted The Friends of the New Haven Animal Shelter, a volunteer 501(c)(3) organization that works with the Robin I Kroogman New Haven Animal Shelter. The shelter is the second largest municipal animal shelter in Connecticut, taking in about 1,400 dogs and cats each year. 

Armada Brewing is located at 190 River St.

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The program, initiated by Kanyinsola Anifowoshe ’23, began hosting bimonthly sessions last spring with the goal of decreasing the digital divide that incarcerated individuals often face, especially after long sentences. This semester’s sessions are organized by Martine Dosa ’26 and Celene Bennett ’26, the current program leaders, in collaboration with Seth Godfrey, the business, job and nonprofit services librarian at NHFPL. They are held on one Tuesday evening and Saturday afternoon each month. 

“People who are impacted by the criminal legal system are often left behind or forgotten about or not spoken to as if they have all the experience and wisdom that they do,” Bennett said. “Every single person I’ve encountered in these sessions has been so wonderful and so open. They have a drive to learn and move forward, which I think is something that should be supported.”

Bennett and Dosa are focused on increasing outreach and partnerships to inform more people about their sessions, a task that is difficult when the target audience often does not have reliable access to technology.

Currently, YUPP partners with EMERGE Connecticut — a social enterprise that assists formerly incarcerated people find employment and integrate back into their communities — as well as local halfway houses and reentry programs. The NHFPL also has a Job Resources Board advertising YUPP’s services, along with other employment-prep opportunities and resources.  

“It took me a while to open back up to people again, and the people in the program make it very easy for me, they make me very relaxed. Not everyone has a pleasant personality. But, they’re all so caring,” Abdullah Shabazz, who attended sessions regularly in the spring to share the poetry he wrote throughout his 30 years of incarceration, said. “I can tell them what the poem is about, the condition I was in when I wrote it. They’re very professional and I appreciate them.”

Correctional facilities frequently restrict or deny inmates access to the internet and technology for security reasons, leaving incarcerated individuals unable to experience technology in the same way most people do. 

This lack of digital literacy makes reentry into a technology-dependent society all the more challenging. Without basic technological skills, people are unable to apply for jobs online and struggle to navigate modern society. 

“There was a gentleman who came in here a few months ago who had recently been released from incarceration. When he discovered you had to apply for jobs online he threw his hands up in the air and walked out,” Jeff Williams, NHFPL technology programs librarian, said. 

The NHFPL offers similar one-on-one appointments with staff members for technology and employment help, although Williams emphasized that the library itself does not have nearly enough resources to fulfill the demands of the New Haven community. 

Even with nonprofit organizations such as YUPP providing additional assistive resources, community needs are not always met due to logistical constraints. Godfrey highlighted that Yale students have a summer vacation, but that doesn’t mean demands for help are any less during those months. 

“A lot of these problems seem really big and systemic and out of the control of us as individuals, and it can lead to feelings of apathy or hopelessness, but the library is a place where we can actually take action to help people,” NHFPL Librarian Andrew Lindgren-Robertson said.

The NHFPL also offers two free beginner-level computer classes to the public at the Ives Main Library. The basement of the Ives Main Library is also home to 16 publicly available desktop computers, more than any other branch of the NHFPL has available. Yet, patrons often have to wait in line for computers to become available, especially during the winter, according to Williams. 

“Lifelong learning and providing tools so that people feel empowered in what they’re doing so that they’re able to be autonomous decision-makers is really important,” Dosa said, highlighting the importance of current library resources.  

The next YUPP resume and tech support session will be held at the Ives Main Library at 133 Elm St. from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Oct. 22. 

Correction, Oct. 20: The previous version of the article incorrectly transcribed Bennett’s words.

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