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Yale University

The private research, Ivy League, American University is located in New Haven, Connecticut. Having been founded in 1701 as the Collegiate School by the colony of Saybrook, the University is the United States’ third oldest institution in regards to higher education. In the year 1718, the Collegiate School was renamed to Yale College in honor of the merchant from the Wales, who was British East India Company’s Governor, Elihu Yale. In the year 1731, the governor also received a gift that came in the form of slaves as well as land from one Bishop Berkley.

The Bishop took it upon himself to provide training for congregation ministers in the field of sacred languages as well as theology, which by the year 1777 had been incorporated by the curriculum provided in the school. Gradually, Yale College incorporated sciences as well as humanities, and as time passed on to the 19th century, the school also incorporated professional and graduate instructions, making it able to award the United States of America first Ph.D. in the year 1861 enabling the school to organize as a university in the year 1887.

Presently, Yale University is structured into 14 constituent schools which consist of the very first undergraduate college, the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the other 12 professional schools. Being governed by the Yale Corporation, every school in the institution has a faculty that administers the curriculum and the degree programs. Additionally, putting aside the central campus that is located in New Haven’s downtown, the University has other properties, which includes athletic facilities located in western New Haven such as a campus located in West New Haven, Connecticut, the Yale Bowl, as well as nature and forest preserves that are all over New England. In terms of assets that are owned by the university, which include an endowment that is estimated at $25.6 billion in value as of last year, 2015, it is also the world’s second largest educational institution.

The undergraduates in Yale College undergo a curriculum that follows liberal arts with majors in different departments and are structured into a residential college system. Almost every faculty in the college teaches courses for the undergraduates, which are actually over 2,000 that are offered every year. The library in Yale University, which serves all the constituent schools, carries a volume of over 15 million and is ranked as the United States of America’s third largest library. In their extra curriculum activities, the university’s students participate in numerous competitions all over the world as the Yale Bulldogs in the Ivy League’s NCAA Division I.

Numerous distinguished alumni’s have passed through Yale University including several American presidents, various judges in the United States Supreme Court, quite a number of billionaires who still live to date, as well as many of America’s foreign state of heads. Additionally, Yale has graduated hundreds, if not thousands, of Congress members and United States’ diplomats ranked to be high level including Hillary Clinton, who was the former United States of America Secretary of State, and John Kerry, who is the current Secretary of State. There have been also some 230 Rhodes Scholars, 52 Nobel laureates, and hundreds of Marshal Scholars who have in more ways than one had a link or connection to the University.

Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut, is located 90 minutes away from the city of New York. It is actually a fact that Yale University is a great research institution that offers a wide range of schools, museums, programs, centers, as well as several associated organizations.
Yale University Mission Statement
“Yale is committed to improving the world today and for future generations through outstanding research and scholarship, education, preservation, and practice. Yale educates aspiring leaders worldwide who serve all sectors of society. We carry out this mission in an ethical, interdependent, and diverse community of faculty, staff, students, and alumni.”

President and Leadership
In the year 1792, Yale’s charter, which was issued in 1701, was amended by the Connecticut Legislature for the purpose of stating that the president, as well as Yale’s College associates, would be recognized as ‘The Corporation” and “shall have the government, care and management of the college.”

Presently, the Corporation consists of 19 members who include the University’s president, 10 successor trustees, 2 ‘ex officio’ members, and 6 fellows of the alumni. Including the president, there are 11 officers. The officers’ and the fellows’ responsibilities and duties are well indicated in Yale’s Corporation By-Laws.

The Yale Corporation
The Yale corporation is a both a policy making as well as a governing body for Yale. Considering the other educational boards that govern numerous other educational bodies or institutions, The Yale corporation can be considered as being very small though effective in its unusual active role when it comes to governing the University.

In total, The Yale Corporation has a number of 19 members. These members include the University’s president, who is also the chairman of the Corporation; successor trustees, who are 10 in number and are responsible for electing their very own successors for 2 terms, a term is usually 6 years; a total number of 6 alumni fellows who are also chosen through an election by the alumni for an unpredictable term; and last but not the least, the lieutenant governor as well as the governor of Connecticut’s State, also known as an ‘ex officio’. It is by the law enacted that in the absence of the president, the senior fellow of The Corporation should take charge of the entire body.

The Yale Corporation meets regularly, a minimum of 5 times annually and sometimes during special sessions. In addition, the Corporation has a number of 12 committees who come together for a meeting frequently all year round.

Yale University Office of the Provost
After the Yale’s President position is the Provost. The Provost is Yale’s chief administrative and educational officer. The Provost’ Office commandeers activities as well as academic policies all over the University. Apart from being an ex-officio member, The Provost is also a member of each governing and faculty board and of every other committee that has its hands in faculty appointments and or policies that are related to education. Among The Provost’s numerous duties, he/she is also responsible for directly overseeing all units of academic support, responsibly allocating institutional resources, and also chairing the University’s committee responsible for making the budget. Working as a team with the Business and Finance operations Vice President, it is the Provost’s responsibility to present the capital as well as the operating budgets of the University to the President and Yale Corporation as a whole. The other Provost high ranked members such as the Assistant Provosts, the Deputy Provost, and the Associate, together with the operations and administrative staff of the Provost, assist the Provost in carrying out the duties outlined.

University Leaders
PRESIDENT
Peter Salovey is the 23rd president of Yale University, and the Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology. His presidential term began in July 2013.

PROVOST
Benjamin Polak, the William C. Brainard Professor of Economics, was named provost in January 2013.

VICE PRESIDENT FOR NEW HAVEN & STATE AFFAIRS & CAMPUS DEVELOPMENT
Bruce D. Alexander was appointed Yale’s Vice President and Director of New Haven and State Affairs in May 1998.

VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL COUNSEL
Alexander E. Dreier joined the University as Vice President and General Counsel in March 2015.

SECRETARY & VICE PRESIDENT FOR STUDENT LIFE
Kimberly M. Goff-Crews, Secretary and Vice President for Student Life, joined the university in August 2012.

VICE PRESIDENT FOR COMMUNICATIONS
Eileen O’Connor leads the Office of Public Affairs & Communications and serves as the university’s chief communications officer. She joined Yale in January 2016.

VICE PRESIDENT FOR FINANCE & CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Mr. Murphy is Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer of the university.

VICE PRESIDENT FOR ALUMNI AFFAIRS & DEVELOPMENT
Joan E. O’Neill has worked at Yale for more than twenty five years. She is responsible for leadership of all of the university’s alumni affairs and fundraising activities.

VICE PRESIDENT FOR HUMAN RESOURCES & ADMINISTRATION
Michael A. Peel, Vice President of Human Resources and Administration, joined Yale University in his present role on October 1, 2008.

VICE PRESIDENT FOR WEST CAMPUS PLANNING & PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
Scott Allan Strobel is the Henry Ford II Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University and a Professor of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER
David Swensen, Yale’s Chief Investment Officer, oversees $25 billion in Endowment assets and several hundreds of millions of dollars of other investment funds.

Yale University Governance and Historic Documents
Adopting the charter issued to Yale by the Connecticut Legislature “to erect a Collegiate School” in the year 1701, the University has been carefully guided by the charter entailing the by-laws of the Corporation that were first made public in the year 1795, the succeeding amendments, and the varying regulations that codify a number of both procedures and policies such as process of electing fellow alumni’s, parent protection, and protecting Yale’s name.

These varying regulations and by-laws can be at times amended under the condition that there is a vote from 2/3 of the fellows. Additionally, ever since Yale came to be, the president has always been in charge of appointing committees who are assigned to explore topics that are considered as being very significant, after which the recommendations they give influence as well as shape the administration and the governance of Yale.

Yale University History
Tracing its roots back to the 1640’s, which is the time when clergymen during the colonial times made it their mission to establish a college locally with the intention of preserving the liberal European education traditionally in the new world that was coming to birth. In the process of having that done, the charter was granted to the school in the year 1701. The charter stated, “Wherein Youth may be instructed in the Arts and Sciences (and) through the blessing of Almighty God may be fitted for Public employment both in Church and Civil State.”

Officially as from that time, the school became a college known as the ‘Yale College’ in the year 1718, which was later renamed in honor of one merchant from Wales, Elihu Yale, who made a donation from his earnings from a sale nine bales of goods accompanied by numerous books that were over 400 in number and a portrait of King George the First.

Yale’s rich history, which goes as far as three centuries from the present day, upholds some of the traditions that were performed during those days and carried forward to the present day. Some of these traditions include:

Commencement
The ceremony of commencement is one of Yale’s oldest and most blissful traditions where all of the degrees in the university are conferred in a formal way.

Handsome Dan
Handsome Dan, who was a bulldog, became Yale University’s first mascot in the year 1889. Handsome Dan was bought by Andrew B. Graves, who was a student in the university, after he was spotted sitting at a shop’s entrance. The bulldog was purchased for five dollars from a blacksmith in New Haven.

Class Day
Class Day is a tradition that takes place on the Old Campus on every Sunday that comes before the Commencement ceremony. Class Day involves awarding of athletic, academics, as well as artistic prizes. It also involves the celebration of those students who have completed their undergraduate studies, which is all concluded by an address that is given by a notable speaker giving the graduates a go ahead to change their hats positions.

Founders Day
In the year 2014, Yale University began a new tradition known as the ‘Founders Day’ event that is celebrated by the staff, students, and the faculty as a whole. It is held every year on a day that is closest to when the institute was founded, 1701.

Residential Colleges
The residential college system in Yale University lets the attending students in the institute to get an experience of the intimacy as well as the cohesiveness of a small school while still getting an appreciation of the scholarly and cultural resources offered by the massive university.

Graduate School Register
Each and every year, newly registered students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences are given a register to sign so that they can have a celebration for starting their graduate studies at Yale University.

White Coat Ceremony
The School of Medicine in Yale University welcome the first year students to a life in the field of medicine every year during the White Coat Ceremony.

Athletic Traditions
The football games at Yale University have been a tradition that has been going on for the ‘Yalies’ ever since the middle of the 1800s. In 2015, they celebrated 150 years since they started playing baseball. Yale’s athletes have been known for their outstanding performances all around the world including their participation in international competitions such as the Olympics.

Military Traditions
The connection between Yale and the military has been very strong for a very long time now. Starting from 1779 when Naphtali Daggett, a past president, headed over half of the student body in taking on the British troops when they were in the process of attacking New Haven. Yale University was founded as the “Collegiate School” in 1701. The university, which has gotten a reputation for its excellence in academic curriculum and that has grown to be internationally recognized, is located in New Haven. Some of this institution’s alumni are several diplomats, statesmen, as well as foreign leaders, who include five of the United States of America presidents, 45 members of the presidential cabinet, and 500 congress members. In addition to that, it has also been a part of 49 Nobel Laureates who have either been in involved with the institute’s academic, working capacities or as students.

The Colonial College
Succeeding Harvard University, which was founded in 1636, and the William and Mary College, which was founded in 1693, Yale University is the third oldest education institute in America, as well as one among the nine ‘colonial colleges’ that was given a charter before the revolution of America. This institution, as well as the others, played a very significant role during their colonial times as they were scholasticism and learning centres as well as the future professionals and leaders training grounds. At the time of their economic realities period, students mostly went to those colleges that were nearest to their homes, as such, as is the case with today’s state universities; these institutions came to be identified with certain colonies by where they were located.

Founding the Collegiate School
Despite the fact that there is a document indicating otherwise, in 1701s autumn, Connecticut’s General Court of the Colony passed an act establishing a ‘Collegiate School’ purposely for career training young men in both politics and religions, the roots of Yale University go way back to the 16oos. A college in Connecticut idea came from one of New Haven’s founder, Reverend John Davenport, who was a graduate from England’s Oxford University. After his death in the year 1670, he was succeeded by Reverend James Pierpont, who continued in his shoes to carry out the vision of a Connecticut college. Reverend James, together with several other clerical associates, who were from the colony’s whereabouts, finally secured the Collegiate School charter.

After some time through which classes taught by instructors at different locations in Saybrook and Killingworth, presently known as Clinton, the college relocated to its now location in New Haven in the year 1718. In that same year, the businessman and well known philanthropist who was born in Boston, Elihu Yale, made a contribution of his earnings from the sale of some bale of goods in order to construct a building that was supposed to provide the educational needs of the new institution. In addition to strengthening the school’s founder mission, he also made a contribution of the first King George’s portrait as well as books that were over 400 in number to the school. Later on, the Collegiate school changed its name to Yale University, which was mainly done for the educational and financial support of Elihu Yale.

Becoming Yale University
As the promotion of intelligent principals of the great enlightenment and awakening went on, the university went on to steadily expand all through the 18th century all the while surviving the uncertain and unsettled years of the revolution going on in the United States, which is when there was an increase in the numbers of those being enrolled in the army with an exemption of students. In addition, after the war came to an end, some of the students made a decision to enroll in the army. The army gave Yale the highest enrollment chances among several colonial colleges. Yale’s president at the time, Ezra Stiles, wrote in his diary of how excited he was about the mass in numbers of the students that enrolled. He noted, “Total 218, the greatest number ever together at once in an American University.”

Both the 19th as well as the 20th centuries marked a time of Yale’s exceptional growth. As such, this caused a change in the name of the college to Yale University showing its raised status in 1887. Some of the innovations at the time included the Yale’s school of divinity in the year 1822, the graduate school of arts and sciences in 1847, the school of medicine in the year 1810, and the school of law in 1824. In the year 1861, Yale School of arts and sciences became the first ever awarding body In the United States of America to offer a PHD program.

Other changes occurred at the early beginning of the 1930s, which is when Yale University brought in a new system of a residential college. Reflecting on high ranked universities such as Cambridge and Oxford, Yale University divided the population of undergraduate students into much smaller populations of learning communities with a hope of creating a more intimate social as well as academic experience. The model implemented in the university involved 12 communities, which approximately had 450 members sharing as well as living in the same dormitory buildings and utilizing some common resources such as lounges, dining halls, and libraries.

The Modern University
Presently, Yale University, which includes of the Yale college, the graduate school of arts also offering programs for undergraduates, and a number of professional schools, has a number of students that boasts over 11,000 and faculty members boasting over 3,200, from America’s all 50 states, as well as foreign countries that add up to 108. In addition, the university, which started as a collegiate school that was small in size and located in New Haven’s residential area now has more than 250 buildings and covers over 310 acres of land, as well as numerous pieces of land and building properties that are unattached to the central campus in New Haven.