According to an email to the student body from Karen Blake, senior assistant director at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, the admissions office will welcome what will likely be the largest-ever group of visiting prefrosh — over 1,300 as of April 11.

The admissions office did not disclose how many students have signed up to host.

“Things are tracking very consistently from previous years,” said Mark Dunn ’07, senior associate director for outreach and recruitment. “But always from previous years, we find that we need to do a lot of reminding and requesting.”

Bulldog Days, a three-day program that offers admitted students an opportunity to explore life at Yale, will run from April 21 to April 23. With the date fast approaching, the admissions office is encouraging more current students to volunteer.

Skylar Cobbett, assistant director of admissions and director of Bulldog Day, noted that student hosts play a key role in helping admitted students decide whether to enroll.

“We know that the most important factor for many admitted students while making their college decision is the people with whom they make connections,” she said.

Rohil Mohan ’28, who is hosting three students, told the News that Bulldog Days was where he met some of his closest friends and, for the first time, could see himself at Yale. Coming from a high school where very few students went to Yale, the event helped convince him to attend.

In response to recent opposition to hosting, including a YCC-led boycott over changes to lunch menus, Mohan remained critical. 

“Hosting is about helping another person,” he said. “To place your dining experience over a student who’s scared about which college to attend is pretty selfish.”

Dunn added that while the office of undergraduate admissions offers plenty of other opportunities for prospective students to get involved, none compares to Bulldog Days. 

“A student who’s able to visit campus, stay overnight, eat in the residential colleges, and get that full three-day experience is going to have the best exposure to the Yale experience that we would want to make their best-informed decision about the next four years,” he said.

To make Bulldog Days accessible, the admissions team also covers the cost of travel for admitted students with demonstrated financial need.

Dunn added that the financial aid travel program is coordinated with the Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid. Once a student’s financial aid award is finalized and meets the eligibility threshold, the admissions team books flights and transportation for the prospective student.

According to Dunn, the admissions team has already invited over 550 students to participate in the Yale Travel Program.

Despite the large number of expected attendees, Dunn expressed confidence that the team would be able to secure enough hosts in time.

“It’s not atypical to need more hosts a week ahead of Bulldog Days,” he said. “I’m always super grateful that so many students open up their suite.”

Dunn also encourages anyone, particularly students who came to Bulldog days themselves, to consider hosting as “a really nice way to pay it forward,” and even a small interaction like letting an admitted student sleep in their room “makes a big difference.”

Registration for Bulldog Days remains open until April 16. 

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To guide its work, the committee will ask for the perspectives of members of the Yale community, as well as a variety of “external experts” and “critics of higher education,” McInnis wrote to the News. Rather than requesting a report or specific outcome, she wrote, the committee will decide itself how to present its findings to McInnis.

A form on the committee’s website solicits comments from Yale affiliates and the general public. McInnis wrote that the group will also create some way for Yale community members to discuss this topic. Her announcement states that attempts to foster dialogue on campus may take place “in the classroom.”

Throughout the announcement, McInnis described the issue as concerning “public trust” in universities as they “come under attack in the public square,” and charged the committee with addressing “public perception.” She did not mention attacks from the federal government such as threats to revoke federal funding or rhetoric framing schools as liberal echo chambers, instead formulating the problem as a lack of confidence among the American people.

McInnis wrote that as universities attempt to understand falling trust, they must “redouble commitments to academic freedom and free speech. At the same time, they cannot operate sealed off from the society in which they are embedded, and which they were established to serve.” She noted that universities must combat “self-censorship” on campus.

The committee is co-chaired by history professor Beverly Gage and sociology professor Julia Adams. There is a professor on the committee from the School of Medicine, School of Management, School of Public Health, School of the Environment and the Law School. Three other faculty members in Yale College round out the group, working in the English, astronomy and physics and slavic languages and literatures departments.

McInnis wrote to the News that she selected these professors based on “several factors, including their ability to convene internal and external experts representing a broad range of views and their commitment to strengthening Yale and higher education more broadly.” 

Gage wrote to the News that the committee has not had its first meeting, so she cannot yet comment on the specifics of its work.

Adams called the president’s charge for the committee “especially important and timely.”

“We will cast a wide and inclusive net to be sure that many points of view are heard to inform the Committee’s deliberations,” she wrote.

McInnis explained she sees faculty governance as core to Yale. For her, this manifests in faculty committees, which conduct work as “part of my broader strategy of shaping Yale’s future” based on feedback she receives in meetings.

McInnis first identified declining trust in higher education as a priority she would address during her presidency in a November interview with the News.

Yolanda Wang contributed reporting.

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According to Mark Dunn, senior associate director for outreach and recruitment at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Yale College’s yield rate typically hovers around 70 percent from year to year and is not prone to significant fluctuations. Over the past 10 years, the yield rate has not dipped below 67.1 percent or risen above 72.2 percent.

“The yield looks very encouraging and very similar to previous years, with the caveat that we don’t really pay too much attention until we’re on the other side of the May 1 deadline,” said Dunn.

Colleges routinely admit more students than they expect to enroll, predicting that many applicants are weighing offers from multiple institutions.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions was unable to provide specific counts for this year’s yield rate, as the “numbers are moving targets,” according to Dunn.

Dunn emphasized that April is the most important time frame for Yale to make an effort to connect with admitted students.

The team at Office of Undergraduate Admissions continues to prioritize in-person visits, with the three-day Bulldog Days program remaining the most popular option, alongside Bulldog Friday, Yalie for a Day, and local receptions hosted by the admissions team. At the same time, virtual programming — such as the 30 Bulldog Days of April — has remained popular since its launch in 2020, offering a month-long series of online panels and events for admitted students.

This year, the admissions team made 2,346 total offers of admission, aiming to hit their target class size of 1,650 for next year’s first-year class — a change from their previous target of 1,550 after increasing their class size by 100 students starting with the class of 2029.

Dunn explained that higher yield rates decrease the likelihood of students being admitted off the waitlist, and in many years, the office is interested in making some additional offers to students in May.

“The attitude in the admissions office is that we are absolutely thrilled when we have a chance to admit students on the waitlist because we know that there are so many exceptionally strong students,” Dunn said.

According to a News survey of the class of 2028, of the 541 respondents, 8 percent were also admitted to Harvard.

The News spoke with students who faced, or are currently facing, the decision between peer institutions, Harvard and Yale. While some students found the decision to be simple, others struggled to choose.

After being admitted to both Harvard and Yale, Powell Munro Holzner ’27 wrote that choosing Yale was “the easiest decision in the world.”

After attending Vistas, Harvard’s two-day admitted students program on campus, and Bulldog Days, Munro Holzner quickly came to a decision.

“Yale as a place and people was so much more heartfelt, optimistic, and open than Harvard,” Munro Holzner wrote to the News. “I have friends at both places, and I hear over and over how much this tracks with student experience. All agree Harvard is more formulaic, instrumental, and internally separated.”

“Yale keeps vibrant your love for what you do; at Harvard, you may find yourself wringing it out, lifeless by the end, in service of some distant future,” Munro Holzner added.

For Dana Ko ’27, the decision between Harvard and Yale was initially less clear-cut. However, like Munro Holzner, Bulldog Days made the difference.

Ko applied for admission to Yale during the restrictive early action round and was accepted.

“I had spent months imagining myself at Yale and getting really excited to come here,” Ko wrote to the News.

In March, Ko was also accepted to Harvard, leaving her with the difficult decision of which school to choose.

She made lists of pros and cons, comparing departments and clubs and weighed the advantages of living in New Haven versus Cambridge. However, none of these lists provided the deciding factor. Instead, Bulldog Days proved to be the reason Ko chose Yale.

“It wasn’t until I got to Bulldog Days and felt an inexplicable sense of feeling at home that I was reminded of the reasons I loved Yale,” Ko wrote. “I loved the residential colleges, the debate and political spaces, and focus on the arts at Yale and knew it was the right place for me.”

Miro Raj, a newly admitted student from Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, is also torn between Yale and Harvard. An accomplished violinist, Raj said that the arts culture has played a significant role in his consideration of Yale.

In contrast, he cited the name of Harvard and “better opportunities in the Boston area” as persuasive reasons for possibly choosing Harvard.

Dunn emphasized the importance of ensuring that all students, regardless of their background, have opportunities to engage with the full range of communities that make up Yale. Student groups — such as the Rural Students Alliance and many organizations affiliated with Yale’s cultural centers — play a large role in outreach by organizing events that represent their unique communities. 

“The best thing we can do is make sure all of our students have a chance to see the full diversity of communities that make up the larger Yale community,” Dunn said.

The yield rate for Yale’s class of 2028 was 69.8 percent.

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In a Monday email to the News, Ozan Say, the director of the OISS, wrote that the office discovered “there have been two SEVIS terminations in the Yale community,” referring to the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, which the Department of Homeland Security uses to maintain information about international students. The News could not verify the students’ identities as of Monday night. 

“As soon as we became aware of this information, we notified the individuals of the terminations and immediately provided access to legal assistance,” Say added. He did not immediately clarify what the legal assistance looked like.

The two terminations follow Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Saturday announcement revoking all visas of South Sudanese passport holders, effective immediately, accusing the African nation of failing to comply with U.S. immigration enforcement. The News was able to confirm that at least one South Sudanese student attends Yale College.

In the past week, multiple universities have announced that the federal government has revoked visas from some of their international students. On March 27, Rubio claimed that his office has revoked at least 300 visas since January.

“There is no right to a student visa,” Rubio stated in a press release on March 28. “We can cancel a student visa under the law just the same way that we can deny a student visa under the law. And we will do so in cases we find appropriate.”

The University’s Office of International Students and Scholars’ list of immigration FAQs notes that Yale partners with immigration attorneys who can provide short-term legal guidance and assistance to students and scholars about immigration issues, including visas.

The website also notes that OISS advisers can help students identify longer-term legal assistance if they require ongoing help.

“Given the recent government actions and updates, OISS staff and advisers have been in close contact with members of Yale’s community of international students and scholars, answering questions and providing guidance and support,” Say said.

Aside from revoking student visas, the federal government has also detained multiple international students and scholars, including individuals who have publicly expressed pro-Palestinian views. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University alum and green card holder, on March 9 and Rumeysa Ozturk, a graduate student at Tufts University on a student visa, on March 25.

On April 1, the OISS hosted a “Know Your Rights” webinar that discussed how to interact with ICE agents, risks of participating in protests and First Amendment protections. More than 500 Yale affiliates attended the event.

A second “Know Your Rights” webinar is planned for the near future, Say added, and another webinar for international faculty and staff will be held on Wednesday.

The OISS is located at 421 Temple St.

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The IHRA definition states that antisemitism includes “targeting of the state of Israel,” with the caveat that it is not antisemitic to lodge criticisms of Israel “similar to that leveled against any other country.” Scholars have debated the definition, with critics arguing it can conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Its proponents suggest that it emphasizes that discourse about Israel can go beyond legitimate political criticism and become antisemitic. 

An archive of Yale’s policies from the day before Trump was inaugurated in January does not include the IHRA definition. The policy page states that it was last revised on March 28. The University did not announce publicly that it would begin to consider IHRA’s definition. 

Yale has not adopted one definition of antisemitism but instead disciplines antisemitism as part of its broader rules surrounding discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, ethnicity and shared heritage. The IHRA definition was added as a footnote that Yale “considers” as part of these broad guidelines. 

The definition includes several clauses tying antisemitism to Israel, such as describing as antisemitic “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” and “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”

Linda Maizels, recently-appointed inaugural managing director for the Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism, said that one of the reasons that universities are looking at suddenly adopting the IHRA definition is pressure from the Trump administration, adding that not all American Jews support such efforts. 

“Many Jews are uncomfortable because they feel that some of these measures are coming out ‘in their name,’ and they don’t support broad-based attacks on removing money from universities,” she said. “I don’t think this is effective. In the end, it could result in exacerbating hostilities against Jews.” 

Maizels, who is a prominent scholar of contemporary antisemitism on college campuses, said that the IHRA definition was not meant to be used in campus settings, but added that it’s a “useful guide.”  

“I don’t think that an institution adopting the IHRA definition is necessarily going to solve the antisemitism problem,” Maizels said. “On the other hand, I don’t think it is as dangerous as it’s made out to be.”

Yale’s addition of the definition comes amid pressure at peer institutions to reevaluate their definitions of antisemitism. 

Columbia University recently revised its definition of antisemitism amid pressure from the Trump administration to adopt the IHRA definition in exchange for restoring federal funding. While the administration urged adoption of the IHRA definition, Columbia instead implemented its own similar version.

Harvard University adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism in January as part of settlements of two lawsuits surrounding antisemitism on Harvard campus. The decision to adopt this definition has been criticized. 

Deena Margolies, an attorney who led the settlement with Harvard, also filed a discrimination complaint that led the Department of Education to open an investigation into antisemitism at Yale. Margolies said that one result she would like to see of the investigation into Yale is the University’s adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

“I know people get very upset when they hear IHRA, and they think, ‘Oh gosh, they’re going to tell us we can’t criticize Israel,’” Margolies said. “And that’s not what IHRA is about. I think the hope is that there will be more speech and more dialogue.”

Administrators emphasized that the IHRA definition is not the only consideration in their disciplinary rules on antisemitism. 

The University spokesperson wrote to the News that Yale’s Office of Institutional Equity and Accessibility “considers all applicable state and federal legal and regulatory guidance” in addition to the IHRA definition. 

The spokesperson added that “Yale’s policies and procedures related to Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation are not intended to infringe free speech or the free expression of ideas.”

“We’re very committed to preventing antisemitism and to helping anybody who becomes a victim of antisemitism,” explained Dean of Yale College Pericles Lewis. “But we don’t have a separate definition of it.” 

The definition has been used by the U.S. State Department since 2010.

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She gave a date by which she would share that vision with the Yale community: her inaugural address, which she will deliver this Sunday, April 6, from the stage of Woolsey Hall. “We will have something that looks more like a vision speech,” McInnis said in August about the inauguration.

But in a Wednesday interview, McInnis said that because the climate of higher education has changed, she no longer plans to give such a speech.

“We are in a different and more complicated moment in terms of the public’s sense of higher education,” she said on Wednesday. “It’s a little bit more complicated time.”

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance LAW ’13 have painted universities as elite echo chambers that indoctrinate students, calling them “the enemy.” Since taking office, the Trump administration has sent higher education leaders into panic mode with threats to revoke hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants to universities. Republicans in Congress have also proposed dramatic increases to the taxes levied on university endowments.

Wesley Whistle, a project director for higher education at think tank New America, said these attacks mean universities will abandon some plans and programs to avoid becoming political targets for funding cuts and to reduce operating costs.

“These attacks will inevitably stifle creativity and ambition within higher education,” Whistle said. “Programs and initiatives that could have driven meaningful change, particularly for marginalized communities, will be sidelined in an effort to maintain funding and, for many institutions, the doors open. It’s truly a shame that college and university presidents are pressing pause on initiatives.”

In a recent budget update, Yale announced that its spending for the 2026 fiscal year will be “far more constrained” in part because potential cuts to federal funding and higher endowment taxes “could have profoundly negative consequences on Yale’s finances,” McInnis wrote to the News. 

In a December interview, McInnis said that her office would design a process by the beginning of the spring semester to “deepen our listening” around five topics she earlier told the News she is focusing on. The University has not yet announced that process. In Wednesday’s interview, McInnis said that Yale administrators have spent much of their time dealing with federal policies and politics affecting higher education.

While some university presidents have spoken publicly about Trump, publishing articles opposing him or letters resisting his policies, McInnis’ approach to preserving Yale’s funding has been to avoid making statements about threats facing higher education. She has instead spent time and money lobbying lawmakers in Washington about the importance of Yale’s research to the country.

Katie Chang GRD ’27, a graduate student who sat on the inauguration planning committee, said that university leaders are facing tough decisions about how much they should say publicly.

“I sympathize because in my work as [Graduate Student Assembly] chair, there is a push and pull between advocating for students and making sure we do it in a way that doesn’t endanger the students we speak for or the representatives in our body,” Chang said. “So I understand it from that point of view.”

McInnis said her speech will now consist of reflections on Yale’s history, the values of the University and musings on its future.

Whistle argued that it is unclear what universities can do to avoid being targeted by the Trump administration. He said it is not worth attempting to appease the federal government if those attempts could be futile anyway.

“Obviously, university presidents are in a tough spot given the large amounts of research dollars they receive, but they shouldn’t cave to political coercion,” Whistle said. “They should be firm in defending academic freedom and transparent about what’s at stake.”

The installation ceremony begins at 11 a.m. on Sunday and will be livestreamed.

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However, the DOE can only be formally closed through an act of Congress. The department’s congressionally mandated services and programs — such as data collection — are required by law and would have to be provided regardless of the department’s standing. 

The Trump administration has said that these responsibilities will be reallocated to other federal departments, citing the DOE’s cost, decreasing testing scores amongst children and the efficiency of student loan programs in the March executive order. 

The News spoke with experts in higher education and educational policy, discussing the department’s relationship to private universities and how a reduction in the DOE’s operating capacity — as well as its potential closure — could impact institutions such as Yale. 

Student Loans & Grants 

The Department of Education oversees an over $1.6 trillion student loan debt portfolio for students providing this financial support to approximately 43.2 million students. It determines student eligibility as well as the amount of financial support offered to recipients. 

The department uses a standardized formula to determine the amount, distributing student loans and grants — including Pell Grants — directly to borrowers and recipients. It also sends the information acquired through the formula to colleges and universities, allowing the institution to determine how much financial support it will independently provide. 

The Trump administration has said that financial aid would not be impacted by cuts to the department. Last Friday, Trump announced plans to move the federal student loan portfolio from the DOE to the Small Business Administration.

However, Bryan J. Cook — the director for higher education policy in the Work, Education, and Labor Division at the Urban Institute, a think-tank based in D.C. — noted that this shift could complicate student access to aid. 

“Imagine what happens if you move that to a completely new agency for oversight who’s never had to manage applications for federal financial aid,” Cook said. “I don’t know that it is going to necessarily be a smooth transition.”

The privatization of student loans was also promoted in Project 2025, an outline of Trump’s second presidential term published by the Conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation. This change would mark a change from the Higher Education Act of 1965, which established the federal government as the primary provider of student loans as opposed to banks. 

Sara Partridge, associate director for Higher Education at the Center for American Progress, noted that student loans are uncollateralized. If an individual fails to pay a car loan or mortgage, there is an asset — a car or home — that can be repossessed; this is not the case for student loans. 

She noted that banks may be hesitant to provide financing for a student that they “deemed risky.” Partridge added that individuals who appear to pose a higher risk may face worse repayment terms, such as higher interest rates. 

“Federal financial aid is really an access tool so that people from all backgrounds can afford to attend college,” she said. “We can see how [privatization] could make access to higher education very unequal. … There would definitely be concerns that some people would not be able to get loans at all”

Dean of Yale College Pericles Lewis told the News that the situation’s volatility made him unable to make predictions; however, he did expect that there will be “some decline in funding for higher education, including research, in the coming year.”

Enforcement of civil rights law

The Department of Education also oversees the enforcement of civil rights laws on college and university campuses through the Office of Civil Rights. Around 45 percent of the OCR has been placed on administrative leave in recent layoffs. Seven of its 12 regional offices — which conduct civil rights investigations into schools, interviewing students and faculty — were closed. 

Jennifer Berkshire, co-author of “The Education Wars” and Bloch Lecturer in Education Journalism at Yale, noted that although the majority of complaints received by the DOE from parents of kids with disabilities at the K-12 level, the DOE’s focus has shifted away from these investigations. 

“Those complaints are now on hold. [The administration is] basically saying that their priority is going to be to investigate what they consider reverse discrimination, antisemitism, and then examples of gender ideology,” said Berkshire. 

The department recently opened two investigations into antisemitism on Yale’s campus. 

Berkshire noted that unlike in previous administrations, the department has begun investigations on the basis of news stories — as opposed to complaints filed by individuals. She pointed to an investigation into gender neutral bathrooms at a Denver high school as a recent example. 

Over a dozen research grants to Princeton University were put on hold on Tuesday. The Trump administration said that the institution had not sufficiently complied with its priorities or attempted to combat antisemitism. Columbia and UPenn are also facing federal funding cuts. 

Professor of Law and Educational Practice at Teachers College at Columbia University, Michael A. Rebell, noted that the OCR’s operations have been “severely” curtailed. He said that if the department were eliminated, the administration would delegate civil rights complaints and investigations to another branch of the federal government, such as the Department of Justice. 

“It won’t be the same robust operation, that’s for sure,” he said. “The Civil Rights activity of the federal government under this administration is not likely to be any late years proactive on racial discrimination claims at any level as past administrations.”

Data collection

The Department of Education is required by Congress to collect data from all colleges and universities that receive federal funds. According to Cook, the data provides insight into higher education, with the information often helping policymakers not only to assess the effectiveness of institutions, but of federal policy. 

Partridge pointed to the Institute of Education Sciences as an example, noting that the organization’s National PostSecondary Student Aid study — conducted over multiple years — provides data into student loans, as well as the education and employment outcomes of students enrolled in a four year degree. 

“In terms of [the data] required by law, it’s things like student enrollment by race, graduation rates, cost of attendance — tuition and fees, books, supplies, distributed federal aid so that there’s some documentation of how much Federal aid is being awarded to students and institutions,” said Cook.

Cook noted that data collection on universities and colleges that receive federal funds is a congressionally mandated function of the DOE. He emphasized that dissolving the Department of Education does not eliminate this requirement.

He said that unless Congress were to act, the federal government would need to designate these obligations to another agency. 

“There are a lot of things that are written into the law that the Department of Education is required to do,”  said Cook. “Before you can shutter the department, you’d have to figure out either where those services or programs would go or whether or not they would continue to exist.”

Access to education

Berkshire emphasized to the News that the administration’s focus appeared to be mitigating the influence of institutions including Yale, as well as limiting the number of students able to attend college and universities. 

“[The administration thinks] too many kids are going to college, too many of the wrong kids are going to college, and that places like Yale have too much influence over the culture,” said Berskhire. “They’re basically proposing a profound shift in the way that we think about who gets to go to college, but also what college is for.” 

The Department of Education began operating in 1980.

Correction, April 11: Rebell is a professor at Teachers College, not Columbia Law School.

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The Yale University Press aims to promote global scholarship in human affairs through the publishing of books in a variety of academic disciplines. With offices in New Haven and London, the Press annually publishes over 400 books in subjects across science, economics, history, literature and more.

University President Maurie McInnis announced the decision on Monday, praising Pfund for his “immersive understanding” of scholarly publishing and serious nonfiction and his extensive experience in the academic press.

“The question for any quality publisher such as Yale is how best to balance the demands of growth, sustainability, and transformation with the desire to publish as many important and beautiful works as well and in as many formats as possible,” Pfund wrote to the News. “I look forward to working with my new colleagues to strategize on how we might best do so in future.”

In a message to the Yale community, McInnis wrote that the search advisory committee focused on choosing a candidate who would support the University’s mission of elevating long-form scholarship in the public consciousness. She commended Pfund for his past commitment to contributing to a global understanding of human affairs.

Pfund believes the two primary purposes of a university press are to facilitate scholarly conversation within the academy and to serve as a “signal booster” for academic voices.

“My entire publishing career has revolved around these two roles, and Yale University Press does a splendid job with each,” he told the News. 

In an announcement to the Yale community, Susan Gibbons, Yale’s vice provost for collections and scholarly communication, said Pfund’s “earned reputation and deep experience as a publisher will be an incredible asset” to the university and “all of us who appreciate the work it does to illuminate our world.

When asked what excited Pfund most about his role, he responded, “The sheer range of the Press’s list.  It’s such an impressive cornucopia of history, politics, art, religious studies, finance, architecture, classics, economics, etc., etc., just an absolute feast.”

Pfund noted that one of the greatest challenges that the press will face is AI, and that understanding when to sell content through traditional versus emerging channels is a “key” part of serving as a scholarly publisher.

Ultimately, the goal within any “information economy,” he said, is to ensure that the publications reach the widest possible audience.

“It can be exhausting to run faster and faster in place just to keep your head above water when structural forces are transforming the landscape,” he said. “There are no ‘eureka!’ panacea solutions; rather there is the hard but rewarding work of assessing strategic priorities and strengths and acting on them.”

The Yale University Press was founded in 1908. 

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Yale’s spokesperson told the News that around 350 invited guests are set to attend the inauguration, “including alumni, community leaders and delegates who will represent other colleges and universities.” The installation ceremony, which is expected to include an inaugural address delivered by University President Maurie McInnis, is invitation-only for the Woolsey Hall event but will be livestreamed. The inauguration is purely ceremonial, and McInnis has had full status and capabilities as president since she assumed the role in July.

The inauguration has been in the works for months and was planned primarily by steering committee co-chairs Kimberly Goff-Crews, Secretary and Vice President for University Life, and Daniel Colón-Ramos, professor of neuroscience and cell biology and associate director of the Wu Tsai Institute. Twenty-two professors, deans, student representatives and other Yale affiliates rounded out the planning committee.

“They did ask me what I hoped as an overall frame for the inauguration, and I said I wanted it to emphasize community, and I wanted it to emphasize Yale, not me,” McInnis said. “It is a celebration of Yale and it is a celebration of our community. Community is about Yale, but it’s also about New Haven.”

On Saturday, McInnis will host a presidential panel with three other university heads who attended Yale: Melissa Gilliam ’87 of Boston University, Jennifer Mnookin LAW ’95 of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Deborah Prentice GRD ’86 GRD ’89 of the University of Cambridge.

The inauguration website states that the panel of university presidents will address challenges facing universities, such as “advancing their missions amid financial pressures” and “complex issues from affordability and accessibility to the integration of artificial intelligence.”

The panel is cushioned by a morning “Symposium I: Promoting Knowledge” and an afternoon “Symposium II: Applying Knowledge.” The first panel will take on “the balance between academic freedom and the responsibility to combat misinformation,” according to the website, and the second will discuss “concrete examples of knowledge application.”

Daniel Esty, Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy, is a speaker on the first panel. He sees the event as “an opportunity to showcase how valuable a place like Yale is to the broader world.”

He believes the inauguration’s organizers thought “it would be good to showcase some of the professors across the campus who are engaged with cutting-edge knowledge creation to engage with what a university is.” He sees the audience for the panel as not only the Yale community, but also “those outside who are trying to make sense of the role of higher education and President Trump’s critique of higher education.”

Esty clarified that he was invited to speak months ago, before Trump’s attacks on universities dominated headlines, and that the panel is not a reaction to Trump.

Alongside Esty on the panel will be Ned Blackhawk, Howard R. Lamar Professor of History. He said that the panel is an example of “a longer conversation that’s happening across campus” about solidarity between professors across disciplines.

“It’s a good time to be communicating to broad audiences the work that academic scholars do,” Blackhawk said, and to display “the dynamic conversations and insights that Yale faculty and other professors across the country are contributing to society.”

From Friday through Sunday, around 40 open houses will take place, including backstage tours of the David Geffen School of Drama, late hours at the Yale Peabody Museum and newly-opened Yale Center for British Art, and an exhibit of historical inauguration materials in Sterling Memorial Library. The University spokesperson wrote that the University expects around 1,400 Yale community members to volunteer or attend the open houses.

McInnis is Yale’s 24th president and the first woman in the role in a non-interim capacity.

The post What to expect from McInnis’ inauguration this weekend appeared first on Yale Daily News.

On Friday evening, rumors circulated among Yalies that ICE agents in civilian clothes had been spotted near campus, according to multiple students who spoke to the News on the condition of anonymity. A Yale administrator said that rumors suspecting ICE agents were near campus on Friday night are “false.”

A University spokesperson did not confirm nor deny whether Yale Public Safety’s swipe access policy update is related to the University’s recent communications and guidelines about potential ICE encounters on campus.

Instead, the University spokesperson wrote, “We are heading into a busy time at the end of the semester and prioritize the safety of our community members.”

Yale Public Safety’s announcement does not mention outside law enforcement and instead references University President Maurie McInnis’s upcoming inauguration and the University commencement in May as reasons for the policy update and reminder.

Yale, local police say no ICE presence reported

On Friday evening, some residential college leadership called international students living off campus to offer them the option of staying on campus overnight, according to two students who received these calls. Other students with an empty bed in their suites were asked over email late Friday night by at least one Head of College to “make sure that this bed is clear” and “note that a student may be placed in that bed at any time,” according to communications obtained by the News.

On Saturday, one international student who spoke under the condition of anonymity told the News that some of their friends in the international community began panicking after hearing the rumors of an ICE sighting, and that most believed them to be true. The News could not independently verify the source of the rumor or when it began.

“I was not too worried but it felt like something that was hanging over us since January was now here,” the student said, referring to the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Donald Trump, who promised stricter immigration policies throughout his campaign. 

While Ozan Say, the director of the Office of International Students and Scholars, declined to comment on the communications with off-campus international students, he clarified that “ICE presence near campus yesterday is a false rumor” in an email to the News on Saturday morning.

A University spokesperson reaffirmed on Saturday evening that the University had not received any notice of immigration agents on campus.

New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson told the News on Saturday morning that he was “not aware of any incidents” of ICE activity or presence from Friday night. Though New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker has told the News that ICE has historically notified the NHPD when it intends to operate within the city, an NHPD spokesperson clarified that the federal agency does not always do so. 

Public Safety, international students office post guidelines for ICE encounters 

A list of frequently asked questions about immigration on the Office of International Students and Scholars website, posted on Friday, states that Yale will “not allow” ICE agents to enter “non-public” areas on campus without a subpoena or judicial warrant. 

The OISS webpage clarifies that such “non-public” areas include “all classrooms, research and teaching labs, offices, dormitories or housing.” The page does not provide more details on how University officials might prevent or restrict law enforcement agents from accessing such spaces.

The webpage instructs students who witness or encounter an ICE representative “while on campus” to immediately call the YPD’s non-emergency number. 

New guidance on the Yale Public Safety website homepage instructs Yale community members who encounter “any non-YPD personnel on campus, including those from immigration enforcement” to ask for the agent’s credentials and request that they wait in a public area for the YPD to arrive. The guidance also notes that “YPD does not enforce U.S. immigration law.”

A one-page document with more detailed guidance published on the Public Safety website also instructs community members to contact Yale’s Office of General Counsel if they are approached by law enforcement.

The OISS webpage affirms that Yale will not voluntarily allow federal immigration enforcement agencies to obtain or review student and employee records, personal information or non-public research without a subpoena or judicial warrant. If a warrant is procured, the University will notify the student or employee in question, unless prohibited from doing so.

The University has stated that it can connect students with short-term legal representation and that it will help international students denied reentry into the U.S. “by advising on resources for immigration assistance and academic options.”

Yale’s new guidance on encountering federal law enforcement follows the federal government’s detainment of multiple international students and scholars, including individuals who publicly expressed pro-Palestinian views during the past year’s nationwide protests relating to the war in Gaza. ICE detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University alum and green card holder, on March 9 and Rumeysa Ozturk, a graduate student at Tufts University on a student visa, on March 25.

Public Safety updates campus building access policies

In an email to the Yale community on Saturday night, Duane Lovello, head of Public Safety, announced new policies on restricted access to University buildings. 

Starting at noon on Monday, “access to academic buildings and classrooms will require an active university ID,” the email reads.According to the email, buildings open to the public, such as libraries and museums, will remain “greenlit.”

The message also reiterated safety reminders for the Yale community, which included reporting suspicious activity to the Yale Police Department, locking doors and windows and downloading the Livesafe app. 

This is a developing story.

Yurii Stasiuk contributed reporting.

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