We are a group of proud Yale alumni that are excited for the opening of the University’s two newest residential colleges. We were delighted that the University invited alumni input into the naming of the colleges, and we urge the University to name the new colleges after facets of the Yale community that remain unrepresented among the current ranks of residential college namesakes. These unrepresented facets include, but are not limited to, Yale alumnae, alumni of color and LGBT alumni.
The idea for this website came out of the rich conversations generated by an open letter sent to Yale University President Peter Salovey and the Yale Corporation. This website showcases several notable alumni whose contributions to Yale and accomplishments in life make them exceptional candidates as namesakes for the new colleges. While certainly not an exhaustive list of Yale alumni of diverse backgrounds worthy of this honor, we hope that this website makes evident that diversity can and should be a top priority in naming Yale’s two newest colleges.
We invite you to peruse the website and share it widely with Yale alumni, faculty, administrators, and other community members. We also encourage you to share your thoughts, comments, and questions in the Comments section of each profile. To find out how you can help make these colleges a reality, be sure to visit the How You Can Help page.
Together, we can advance diversity at Yale in the twenty-first century.
Christopher Lapinig CC ’07 LAW ’13
Kaozouapa Elizabeth Lee TC ’11
Jeania Ree Moore SY ’12
Ivy Onyeador SY ’11
7 Comments
Jerald Dana Cole • April 7, 2015
You should name one of your colleges in honor of Grace Hopper.
Martin Cobern • April 11, 2015
All of the suggestions are excellent. My top two choices would be Grace Hopper and Edward Bouchet.
Martin E. Cobern '74 Ph.D.
Nancy Alexander • April 20, 2015
All excellent ideas. I would like to see one of the colleges named for Hanna Holborn Gray, the only woman president in Yale's history (acting president 1977-78) and first woman president of a major US university (UChicago, 1978-1993). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanna_Holborn_Gray
Nancy Alexander • April 20, 2015
moderators: forgot to include my affiliation - TD '79, MBA '84
Daniel Case • April 27, 2015
Congratulations on this achievement. One wishes that each of the profiled persons could have a college named after her/him.
Christopher Ho • June 25, 2015
I know this is somewhat off-topic, but is there any way there can be discussion on this site about the need to rename Calhoun College, especially in light of recent events? It has always rankled me, in the same way that it rankled when people commonly used to refer to the "Slave Quarters" portion of Pierson, but this might be a good opportunity to step back and think about renaming Calhoun despite the weight of tradition, etc. If even Wal-Mart can stop selling Confederate flags, Yale ought to be able to take a similar step that recognizes that there are parts of our national history that should not be celebrated.
Christopher Ho • June 25, 2015
Ooops, forgot to mention, I was Pierson '77.