During his travels, Salovey will stop in Côte d’Ivoire and Hong Kong, he wrote in an email to the News, and will deliver a presentation about the University’s developments and strategic goals at the Yale Club of Hong Kong. He will also meet with government officials in Côte d’Ivoire to discuss economic development initiatives and educational collaborations.

“In 2013, during my inauguration, I committed to making Yale more global and unified. Since then, Yale has enhanced international research, teaching, and learning with partner institutions worldwide,” Salovey wrote to the News. “My successor will be able to build on all that we have achieved together at Yale in the past decade.”

Associate English professor and director of the Whitney Humanities Center Cajetan Iheka commented in an email to the News that Salovey’s trip to “cement existing partnerships and catalyze new ones” is “significant” given that the Yale Africa Initiative is now on its tenth anniversary. 

According to Salovey, the University has strengthened long-term relationships with the continent through the Yale Africa Initiative, which creates programs to expand its commitment to Africa abroad and on campus. The Yale Young African Scholars Program, founded in 2013, has increased the number of students from the continent on campus and their presence through student groups as part of the initiative. The creation of student groups like the Yale African Students Association and initiatives like the Yale Africa Innovation Symposium — which recently held its second annual conference — “exemplifies the student energy our increased engagement with Africa has generated,” Salovey told the News. 

“During the past ten years, Yale’s commitment to Africa has yielded wonderful results,” Salovey wrote. 

Iheka, who also serves as chair of the Council on African Studies and head of the Yale Africa Initiative, also wrote that he is “glad” a Francophone country landed on the president’s itinerary. 

He added that he hopes it will result “in stronger multidirectional exchanges” between the University and Africa. 

“We want to see more of Yale’s positive presence on the continent and to bring more of Africa to Yale,” Cajetan wrote. “President Salovey’s trip is a step in that direction. It allows us to foreground the achievements of the Africa Initiative and to set an ambitious agenda for the future.” 

Janette Yarwood, director of Africa and the Middle East in the Office of International Affairs wrote to the News that Salovey’s trip to Africa is a continuation of the University’s effort to form international collaborations around “issues of global importance,” including higher education access, economic growth and environmental preservation. 

Yarwood added that although the Africa trip’s focus is on educational collaboration and economic development initiatives, Salovey will also meet with students at the International Community School of Abidjan — as well as students from across the city — to encourage them to be “lifelong learners” and discuss “Yale’s educational philosophy.” Additionally, Yarwood wrote, Salovey will meet with local university presidents about “enhancing” Yale’s partnerships and educational exchanges with African institutions.” 

Salovey will also participate in “cultural immersion”  in the southeastern town of Grand Bassam, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2012, where he is expected to take a walking architecture tour. 

“President Salovey’s trip to Africa, his third as president, marks the broadening of outreach to include Francophone African countries,” Yarwood wrote. “Throughout his travels, President Salovey will engage in opportunities for networking to help strengthen the bond between Yale and alumni in Africa.” 

The Yale Club of Hong Kong will host Salovey on Tuesday, March 19, for a presentation about Yale’s “latest developments” and “strategic goals for the decade ahead,” according to the club’s site. 

OIA Director for Asia Jieun Pyun wrote to the News that beyond participating in the club’s event, Salovey will also meet with donors in the region. She added that accompanying the president will be School of Music Dean José García-León and School of Public Health Dean Megan Ranney. Both García-León and Ranney joined Yale within the past year and were awarded M.A. Privatim degrees, honorary masters degrees bestowed upon senior University officers, on March 4. 

According to Salovey, the University has worked to rebuild its “traditional strength in Asia,” amassing over 45 faculty members at Yale covering contemporary South Asia in fields including public health, astronomy, religious studies and economics.

“Overall, in the past decade, we have advanced strong collaborations around the globe,” Salovey wrote of his tenure’s impact abroad.

 Upon stepping down on June 30, Salovey plans to return to the faculty after a sabbatical.

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After a year of planning following the first rendition of the conference, the symposium took place in locations around Science Hill over the weekend and featured a keynote speech from Ambassador Fatima Kyari Mohammed and a guest speech from regional Senator Amara Konneh. The event also featured journalist Stephanie Busari, White House Official Deniece Laurent-Mantey and Blacktag startup founder Ousman Sahko Sow to run a series of YAIS-sponsored “Innovation Labs.” 

The symposium included a panelist discussion with African innovators to showcase the work they have done to improve economic conditions on the continent, and it ended with a celebratory gala and talent show at the Omni Hotel, featuring musicians like Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer Young Jonn. 

“Let me underline here what truly sets Africa apart. It’s the spirit of the young people and their unwavering determination, their boundless imagination, and their relentless pursuit for a better future,” said Mohammed, who currently serves as Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations, at the opening ceremony. “From change-makers driving innovation to disruptors, pushing the boundaries of what is possible. In every corner of our continent, we see examples of innovation reshaping the landscape.”

The symposium hosted a large number of students from schools across the country and its first international visitors, who were visiting from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Visiting students were hosted by committee members, friends and students around the University who expressed interest in the cultural exchange for the weekend. 

The opening ceremony kicked off with a guest speech by Konneh, who thanked African youth not only as future leaders but as “leaders now.” Konneh attributed the regeneration of Africa to the youth and discussed the importance of democratically elected leaders to steer the continent despite current political strife. He urged the attendants and those part of the African diaspora to create “innovative solutions.” 

The symposium showcased its mission to support tangible solutions in its Innovation Labs, where students worked through case studies with Africa’s foremost leaders in the field to create group resolutions later presented at the closing ceremony. The winning presenters were awarded with the Dr. Ernest Ofori Sarpong Innovation Award, named after a prominent Ghanaian entrepreneur. 

Labs were open to students of all majors and disciplines, even if they did not clearly align with the lab’s theme. Yohanna Mbedgue, a first-year student at American University, told the News that even if her lab with Busari, “Unraveling the Web of Fake News and Misinformation in African Journalism,” was not directly associated with her major in public health as a pre-med student, she valued the experience she had gained. 

“Just because you’re not in the rooms where these things are being decided doesn’t mean you couldn’t be in those rooms,” Maudo Jallow, an advisor for the Gulf Cooperation Council and a panelist at the event, told the News. “So it’s just about preparing people to start thinking in the way … that really critical thinking is needed in order to prove that you can be in those rooms, and when you [are there], to be able to come up with innovative solutions.”

The symposium also hosted a panel discussion titled, “Working With and Within the Continent” with Jallow; Wagaye Johannes, chief DEI officer for World Learning; Martha Phiri, director of human capital, youth and skills development at African Development Bank; Angela Kyeremanteh-Jimoh, Microsoft strategic partnership lead for Africa; and Kadmiel Van Der Puije, CEO of media platform The Voice of Africa. 

Speakers discussed the decision-making process in focusing on Africa for growth. Phiri and Jallow discussed the conscious decision to study abroad to come back to the continent and aid in its development after their education. Kyeremanteh-Jimoh spoke about the possibilities of creating initiatives in the corporate world and the hope that others would come back to Africa to focus on its progress. Johannes also emphasized the importance of collaboration and Van Der Pujie spoke about how success is “all about partnerships.” 

“Look for problems within … the organizations and roles, the societies that you are part of. How are you making yourself visible?” asked Kyeremanteh-Jimoh at the panel.  

During the closing ceremony, Innovation Lab groups presented their resolution slideshows, which aimed to tackle the problem in their lab case studies. David Oyebade, a second-year student at Westmont College, who participated in the “Developing a Digital Transformation Strategy for Ghana” lab, told the News that he had not realized just how practical the solutions would be. 

Oyebade told the News that he left the event with a better understanding of the problem his group was solving. 

“I felt like I was challenged to come to conclusions myself based on the material that I’ve been presented,” Oyebade noted. 

Attendees waited in anticipation as previous YASA President Darren Markwei ’25 spoke about Sarpong’s achievements before announcing the winners of the award. The award was presented to the Economic Transformation Innovation Lab, helmed by Konneh, where students presented a monetary transaction app prototype as their solution to the exchange rate difficulties of African countries to trade with each other. 

The symposium ended with a gala at the Omni Hotel, which featured MC Chiboy and DJ Tidéh along with Young Jonn. Attendees were given a free raffle ticket to win a free Ethiopian Airlines flight to a destination of their choice. Proceeds of all additional ticket purchases went to the Congo Children Trust. The gala featured cultural performances along with traditional African cuisine for all attending to enjoy. 

“We’re solution-oriented here and we can come with a lot of our thoughts and areas of improvement for the continent, said Meg Lambert, a freshman at Hamilton College. “But we’re leaving with tangible connections, we’re leaving with relationship-building skills and potential internships.” 

The inaugural Yale Africa Innovation Symposium was held in November 2022.

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After the last symposium in November, the event has grown in scale with support from Yale faculty and students.  The event also hosts new and returning speakers and introduces emergent case studies. Students from many other universities also plan to attend the symposium, talk to experts in their specialties and form cross-school interactions. Visiting students will be hosted by Yale students.

“From the first symposium, the positive feedback we got, we just said, alright, we need to come back bigger and better for YAIS 2,” said Abi Ndikum ’25, founder and executive director of the symposium.

Ndikum expressed gratitude for the support she and her team received that led them to continue developing the symposium. The first time the event was held, YAIS worked under the Yale Africa Student Association to hold the symposium around the same time the group’s Yale Africa Week was held. To spread both organizations’ efforts and successes throughout the year, Yale Africa Week is now held in the fall semester while YAIS is held in the spring semester.

YAIS also receives support from Yale’s MacMillan Center Council on African Studies through input and financial sponsorship. While the YAIS committee works independently to organize the event, the council and other professionals on campus are happy to provide input into the event and support to “assist them to meet their objectives,” professor Cajetan Iheka, chair of the Council of African Studies, wrote to the News. 

Additionally, the symposium receives help from faculty participants, who hope to build strong relationships with visiting scholars and innovators. Ndikum spoke to the News about the importance of connecting current faculty with visiting scholars for academic and professional endeavors outside of the symposium. Faculty in adjacent fields of global strategy and international affairs, such as Steven Wilkinson, Janette Yarwood and Donald Filer, also plan to attend.

“Too often, conversations about Africa center around what the continent lacks, such as resources or stability, instead of highlighting what we are and could be creating … It’s a refreshing approach that emphasizes Africa’s potential and allows for constructive dialogues about our progress and growth,” Modupe Karimi ’26, officer of outreach for YAIS, wrote to the News.

Committee members and faculty spoke about their excitement about how YAIS could be used as an arena to show the success of innovators in Africa. The symposium’s mission focuses on tangible solutions, aiming to accomplish more than just identifying the problems in Africa’s professional fields through hands-on learning.

To address such a need, YAIS holds “Innovation Labs” during the symposium. During these labs, attendants work on case studies with Africa’s foremost leaders in the field. Featured topics will include “Global Trends in Africa’s Creative Economy” with Gbarpolu County, Liberia, Sen. Amara Konneh and “Africa – The Last Digital Frontier,” with Angela Kyerematen-Jimoh, a Ghanaian business leader and Microsoft’s strategic partnership lead for Africa. Iheka hopes that these labs and the symposium serve as a space for students to ask challenging questions and learn from experts in their fields. Nana Ama Ocran ’26, President of the Yale Africa Students Association shares a similar sentiment, excited for attendees to “gain exposure to the innovative approaches used by experts” and for the opportunity to start creating connections with renowned professionals.

YAIS holds a diverse list of speakers from various fields and African regions and countries. The Symposium itself will feature Ambassador Fatima K. Mohammed, permanent observer of the African Union to the United Nations, as its keynote speaker. The speaker list was selected through calls for nominations of last year’s speakers or through connections in the committee’s network. Ndikum said that her team sought innovators at the “forefront” of impact on Africa’s industries to lead both panels and labs.

“The quality of our speakers that we are bringing this year, [is] really top of the bar, and it aligns with the mission of our conference because we want to bring young, bright minds and African innovators into one space together to work on case studies related to these innovator’s industries, to really equip participants with the skills and knowledge needed to move forward in development of the continent,” Ndikum said.

The event will be held at the Yale Science Building and Kline Biology Tower, followed by a gala at the Omni Hotel.

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COMEXUS creates academic fellowships to encourage educational exchange between the two countries in hopes of a wider understanding, academically and culturally.

Previously, Yale has hosted student Fulbright-García Robles fellows — including graduate and postdoctoral scholars — through a COMEXUS program, but the new visiting chair fellowship will host candidates with more extensive teaching and research experience.

Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos, a CLAIS-affiliated anthropology professor, said that the new chair will add diversity to the courses at Yale.

“This is an opportunity to expand the scope of Latin American studies at Yale,” Mazariegos said. “From my own teaching experience, I know that many students are interested in learning about Mexico, from many points of view. Bringing a Mexican scholar to campus for this chair is an optimal way of responding to that demand.”

In 2023, Yale hosted three scholars through COMEXUS programs in the School of the Environment, the School of Architecture and the Macmillan Center’s Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies. Past scholars have remarked on the importance of cultural exchange where interactions can help solve issues that concern both countries.

The new program hopes to host scholars with diverse perspectives on teaching that could benefit Yale’s campus, expressing the ways international scholars were taught about the world and bringing such views to Yale through courses on Latin American issues, and specifically, Mexican issues.

Though the program will host scholars in the Latin American Studies department, incorporating interdisciplinary knowledge, mixing fields like anthropology, political science, economics, history or the humanities with others is a large part of the cultural exchange’s goal.

Sofia Lambert Cortes ARC ’25 in the School of Architecture, a Fulbright-García Robles Fellow in the 2023 cohort, expressed to the News the benefits she’s gained in the cultural exchange between them and Yale.

Cortes said that her own research has been shaped by interdisciplinary perspectives — a phenomenon she hopes to see with the new program.

“I came here with an idea, but by having my classes and interactions with all of the different people and professors at my school, my topic changed into being more about the border with Mexico and the United States,” Cortes told the News. “I think having other people from Mexico who are going to come here and teach about Mexico will be a way in which I can learn more about my own culture, but also learn more about my research and the topics that I want to cover.”

Through the partnership, the visiting chair would not only provide support to the Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies at the Yale MacMillan Center but also to branching schools, research fellows and undergraduate students by introducing them to Mexican issues from an international perspective.

The program specifies that fellows would be teaching introductory courses in the Latin American Studies department, with course programs included in their application. Per the announcement from the Macmillan Center, the inclusion of the proposed programming in the application process serves as an opportunity for fellows to showcase the pedagogical approach they would take to such a class, tailoring their knowledge to their course when visiting.

Fiacro Jimenez Ramirez ENV ’25 in the School of the Environment, another Fulbright-García Robles Fellow in the 2023 cohort, said that the new program will be interdisciplinary and believes the class the incoming chair teaches will depend on their interests. 

“It’s going to be very focused on Latin American studies, which is a very broad term, it can signify many different things. It can signify political science, politics, economy, industrial economy, the list is huge,” Ramirez said.

The application requires a doctorate degree or an equivalent one but does not restrict which Mexican institutions’ students are eligible for the position, leaving space for all those qualified to apply.

Cortes added that she would like to encourage anyone who is passionate about the program’s mission to apply, no matter what school they come from.

The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale is located at 34 Hillhouse Ave.

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The Buckley Institute, which — per its mission statement — organizes these lectures with speakers of traditionally conservative viewpoints to create lively discussion on Yale’s campus, brought Abrams to campus. Abrams previously served in various presidential administrations — including those of former U.S. Presidents George W. Bush ’68 and Donald Trump. Abrams’ talk aimed to create a space for conversation on American attitudes toward the Middle East, as well as the effect of those attitudes on the ongoing war that Israel is waging in Gaza. He spoke of potential two-state solutions and Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which he attempted to contextualize in a longer history of tension.

Since Hamas’ attack against Israel, in which — according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry — Hamas killed 1,200 people and took around 250 as hostages, Israel has unleashed a full-scale military operation in Gaza, killing more than 26,000 Palestinians as of Jan. 26, according to Palestinian health officials.

“I am struck by the fact again that all of these [foreign leaders] speeches say we need to create an independent sovereign Palestinian state,” Abrams said. “Free of Israeli occupation, Palestinians wouldn’t be free, it’s not a democracy … I think a lot more thinking needs to be done than sloganeering about the creation and the nature of a Palestinian state as a kind of magic answer to all of the problems of the region.”

Abrams marked the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War as turning points in American attitudes toward Israeli statehood in the Middle East. He spoke about a period of “peace processing” where the United States, Israelis and Palestinians held similar interests and asserted that the goal of such processing would be the creation of two states, Israel and Palestine, living in peaceful accord.

Attendees asked Abrams how he might respond to those who would oppose Palestine’s existence as a sovereign state, and whether he thought a middle ground could be offered. Abrams included historical colonies and territories under British, American and Canadian governance as arguments for a Palestinian colony under Israel’s governance.

“Even a Palestine under Israeli control doesn’t have to be a terrible place. Most of the places that were British colonies are democracies. U.S, Canada, Australia, the Caribbean, they were British colonies. Why? Because under the British they had a fair amount of self-government,” Abrams said.

Attendee Ely Altman ’25 expressed gratitude for the diverse perspective on campus that the Buckley Institute pursues: in this case, attendees who are “critical of Israel” alongside “people who like Israel.” 

Attendees said that they were glad to have received information from an educated lens from policymakers with opinions across the political spectrum. Other students held the same sentiment regarding receiving diverse leaders on campus but did not agree with some of Abram’s viewpoints. 

The William F. Buckley, Jr. Program has over 730 student fellows.

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The University hosted academic and cultural programming for all members of the Yale community, not just those who identify as Korean, to take part in. Events included lectures, screenings and food tastings. Many of these events were held in connection with Korea University, and lectures were organized by the Yale MacMillan Center’s Council on East Asian Studies.

“It was really meaningful to see Korean culture and language education being institutionalized at Yale,” Yuhan Kim ’24 — an active member of Korean American Students at Yale — told the News.

Korean student groups on campus like Yale Movement, Yale’s first and only K-pop dance group, and Yale Taekwondo, Yale’s first and only team for the sport, also showcased cultural performances during the week.

Heightened interest in the Korean Studies Program and students’ search for Korean-centric events led Yale to organize its first Korea Week. Lectures held in collaboration with Korean Studies scholars at Yale and other universities across the world discussed Korean, American and interrelated topics in literature and culture. 

President of Korea University Dong-One Kim hosted the Nov. 13 lecture, which discussed technology and labor in the context of generative A.I. Kim cited examples of American technological advances and their struggles along with Korea’s rapid labor growth and its challenges.

Lectures heavily involved questions from the audience, who were deeply curious about the differences between the academic, professional and cultural spaces in Korea and the United States. In a talk on Korean entertainment’s effect on a global scale, Ji Hoon Park, a professor at Korea University, included the audience in his lecture by involving them in the questions of how Korean entertainment has evolved within various genres. Audience members were encouraged to learn about the entertainment industry, a topic many were not familiar with but which contributes significantly to how Korea is viewed globally. 

“It’s nice to have events like this for people to get awareness about how various kinds of academic or professional fields of work show what Korea is like in the world,” said doctoral candidate Karis Ryu, who attended the lecture. 

The forum ended with a reception sponsored by Korea University to foster relationships between Yale and visiting Korean faculty. Various traditional Korean items and souvenirs were displayed for attendees to view and appreciate. Toward the end, Korea University visiting faculty were commended and captured in photos to commemorate the event, which they hope will start a long-term relationship between Yale and Korea University.

Various lecturers commented on the relationship they hope to build with Yale and the efforts made to spread Korean culture. 

A number of the students attending were in graduate programs involving Korean culture or academia. Ryu’s specialty is the intersection between American religious history and Asian American studies.

“I think the interest in Korean studies really gave us the opportunity to get us connected to one another,” said Park. “K-pop is not the only topic where we can get connected to one another but this is a really good starting point because people are interested in Korean pop culture these days.”

A highlight of the week for many was Nov. 11’s event, which included the Yale Movement Fall Showcase and a reception featuring food, cultural shows, a film screening and a talk by Joseph Juhn, director of the movie “Chosen,” which follows the story of five Korean Americans as they run for Congress. The Movement group worked to promote K-pop and its urban dance origins through a series of dance performances.

Millie Lao ’27 and Leo Shen ’27, both members of the group, shared that they felt rewarded by the experience of performing for a wide audience of people and spreading appreciation of Korean culture through one of its many branches.

Lao said that it was most of her friends’ first time experiencing a Korean cultural performance, and Shen noted he was glad to celebrate K-pop music with the Yale community.  

“All of us coming together during Korea Week to celebrate this part of Korean culture and just be in community with each other was really fun and exciting,” Lao added. 

The Korean American Students at Yale group was established in 1984.

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New Haven’s annual Veterans Day Ceremony, organized by Mayor Justin Elicker’s Veteran Affairs Advisory Committee, took place Saturday at City Hall. The ceremony, honoring all who have served in any war, welcomed Mark Osenko, commander corporal of American Legion New Haven Post 210, as its keynote speaker. 

“Today is not just another day,” Osenko said. “It is bigger than you or me. It serves as a reminder of why we are free.” 

Colors were presented by the Connecticut Minuteman Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol. Members of the squadron expressed their admiration for the troops they honor each time colors are presented. 

The squadron, which is based in East Haven, had presented colors at the New Haven Veterans Day ceremony in previous years, Julie Cruz, a member of the squadron, told the News. She said they hope to return in the future. 

“It really opened [our] eyes to see that even after people are in the service, they still offer to have ceremonies and respect the people that are in the service,” Chief Master Sergeant Victoria de Lima said of the squadron.

The event also featured musical performances by Music Haven’s Advanced High School Ensemble and musicians Ruth Rosas and Peter Cannon. 

Music Haven played the Armed Forces Medley, which incorporates the marching songs of all six branches of the United States military. Philip Boulanger, the education director at Music Haven, told the News that the event allowed him and his ensemble to feel connected to the New Haven community.

“I love whenever we’re playing the armed forces medley and you can see different people in the audience, different veterans, when their branch’s theme comes they stand up a little bit taller and start singing along,” Boulanger said. “Connecting with that sense of comradery to music is really wonderful.”

The national anthem was also performed at the ceremony, which preceded remarks by Elicker. 

In his speech, Elicker honored veterans, commended their sacrifices and shared the sense of admiration he said he feels for those who have served. 

“I wish to have the kind of commitment to the country and families while serving and the courage to put myself in harm’s way to protect ones that I know and some I don’t even know,” Elicker said.

He also awarded a plaque to Eddie Higgins and Shane Carty, the owners of Trinity Bar, whom Elicker praised for their relationship with New Haven veterans. This has manifested through fundraisers like “Touch a Veteran” Night and a booth at the bar for veterans to create community within the establishment. 

Britt Conroy, a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee who served in the United States Air Force, spoke with the News about the importance of the city’s support in holding events like these for New Haven veterans. 

“I think it’s such a great thing that the city does this every year. We do ceremonies for Veterans Day and for Memorial Day,” Conroy said. “I think it’s very important and I feel very fortunate that New Haven cares enough to continue this and to have a Veterans Affairs Committee for the city.”

Osennko, the event’s principal speaker, spoke to honor all branches of the military as one community. He said he is grateful to have met individuals from all walks of life during his military service. 

After the event, Osenko and his wife, Ryan Dostie-Osenko, told the News that another great aspect of the event was the opportunity to meet veterans from across New Haven.

Jack Mordenty, a veteran who recently retired as the coordinator of veterans and military affairs at Southern Connecticut State University, thanked Osenko for “capturing the moment of today and the union of it.” Mordenty told the News he felt a special bond to his comrades, no matter their branch, which broadens the community he is a part of. 

After the speeches, attendees moved across Church Street to place commemorative wreaths on the New Haven Green’s World War II memorial. 

Veterans Day takes place on Nov. 11 every year.

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Shelly Kagan, a philosophy professor, opened the event with a keynote speech discussing his experience using ChatGPT to interpret philosophy. Through active audience participation and logic puzzles, Kagan talked about the tests he has performed on ChatGPT, making the audience guess which essays were written by the AI tool.

“It sounded like philosophy, it had the air of philosophy … But it was just kind of empty nothingness,” Kagan said. 

The YDA’s team opened the debate on the side opposing AI use in the arts, with Harvard’s team taking the supporting side, during three rounds of speeches and audience questions. Both schools referred to the recent SAG-AFTRA strike, Pixar animations and the use of DALL-E in their arguments on both sides.

Yale’s team included Lauren Cho ’26, Ryan Gumlia ’26 and Anish Beeram ’27, and Harvard’s team included Sam Jones, Julia Shepard and Theo Datta. The debate was judged by Kagan, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Tamar Gendler and Judge Karen Goodrow of the Connecticut Superior Court.

Cho kicked off the debate for Yale on the anti-AI side, making note of the long and short-term consequences of AI in the arts while referring to current events. 

She argued that AI corrupts the purpose and value of art — instead, churning out a “mechanical reproduction.”

“AI is no tool,” she said. “AI predates on human creativity.”

After Cho closed her argument, Jones started the Harvard pro-AI side’s speech by discussing the benefits of using AI to assist humans in making art. 

While he acknowledged the opposing side’s argument toward worker exploitation when AI creates tension and competition between workers, he argued that AI is just another medium of art. 

“Art is by and for humans, and AI does not change that.”

Jones noted that the use of AI will create accessibility to those previously barred from creating art, such as disabled artists. 

“Most prominent art forms require high levels of motor control, pushing out artists with physical disabilities,” he said. “Artists using generative AI can create complex and visually appealing works by inputting creative prompts.”

To deconstruct Harvard’s argument, Gumlia asserted that AI is not simply a tool — that instead of assisting, it tries to be an artist of its own, creating low-quality pieces of art. 

To challenge Yale’s argument that AI would lead to a saturation of artwork, Harvard’s Shepard argued that the consumer market would not become overcrowded to the point of no diversity or choice to consume by humans. Even with higher amounts of art available with the rise of AI, Harvard’s team argued, observers of art can decide what narrative to consume.

To close out the debate, Beeram and Datta each dissected the opposing team’s arguments. Beeram noted the “full contradictance” of Harvard’s argument about increasing inaccessibility, noting the lack of diversity in the tech industry designing these AI tools. Despite this, Datta reinforced that instead of restricting, AI would make the art field’s “floodgates open.”

The end of the debate was met by applause from the audience, and after the debate, the panel of judges deliberated in a separate room. Kagan returned to the stage to summarize the panel’s divided thoughts, declaring Harvard the winner of the debate. 

The YDA, the organizers of this event, emphasized the importance of debates not only for the intellectual growth of the students debating but also for the audience members. 

Unlike the YDA’s typical debates, this debate involved active audience participation, where the audience was able to ask questions of each team after their opening arguments. 

“Events like these are different because we are trying to put all the ideas on the table for the audience to consider,” Ely Altman ’25, YDA president, said.

After the event, audience members stated that the debate provided them with a fresh perspective on the emergent issue from both Harvard and Yale. 

Members of the Harvard team said they appreciated the format of this debate, unique compared to the usual debate styles they use — this format incentivizes deeper research into the debate topic, according to Jones. 

The Yale Debate Association was established in 1908.

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In that class, I learned sleep deprivation is linked to low immunity and mood changes. However, I’d like to think I haven’t fallen victim to these unfortunate side effects, aside from the inevitable mid-day sleepiness. My high school sleep schedule primed me for Yale; I evolved during those formidable years. Now, going to sleep at 5 a.m. is normal, as is proceeding to say hi to the surprised Silliman dining hall employees who spot me, bleary-eyed, on their way into work.

With all this said, I couldn’t embark on my nightly journeys without my trustworthy companion: Celsius energy drinks. For whatever reputation energy drinks have, I always include them in my daily gratitude journal. Caffeine is God and I worship the Peach Mango Green Tea Celsius.

I’ve tried to convert to coffee but didn’t have enough faith in it. I already was skeptical of the difference in milligrams of caffeine. An average cup of coffee has 100 milligrams of caffeine, while a 12-ounce can of Celcius has 200. Coffee gives me the breath of a 40 year-old librarian and I can never find the perfect combination of cream and sugar. Coupled with the pretentiousness of coffee connoisseurs who would judge me for ordering a Starbucks Caramel Macchiato, espresso shots and lattes don’t give me the burst of satisfaction that Celsius does.

My schedule may seem insane and a bit excessive to some. Others may argue that procrastination gets the best of me. But I see the situation differently. I could work between my classes, or get up earlier in the morning to do readings, but the eerie light coming through the Humanities Quadrangle windows or the claustrophobic Bass Library study cubicles create the best environments for me. In these rooms, I carve out space for myself, away from noisy notifications, the stress of finding a seat in libraries and the distraction of people-watching. However, I also stress myself out, with good reason. Working through assignments due the next day, these high-intensity, pressure-driven study spaces make me determined to finish my work before 5 a.m. (and I always do!). Most nights, I finish right at 2 a.m., motivated by the fact that I’ll soon be asked to leave Bass.

I will say that my goal wasn’t always to finish my problem sets before the sun rises. My junior summer of high school, I was captivated by the promises of a Pinterest aesthetic morning routine. I went to sleep at 10 p.m. and woke up at 7 a.m. This lasted a total of two weeks before I decided to regress into my comforting night-owl habits. During that short spurt of early mornings, I dreaded waking up even though I knew I slept more than the recommended eight hours. In fact, I was much more sleepy than if I had followed my usual routine. It seemed like my usual sleep cycle had made me incompatible with an early start to my day.

Yale didn’t exactly change my sleep patterns. Instead, it validated them. As I bond with students I recognize coming out of Bass or random HQ classrooms, I take comfort in knowing there’s someone out there who is more sleep deprived than me (a shout out to a particular Electrical Engineering major: you know who you are). And though it may seem like I have no rules when it comes to sleep, know that I do. I consider it a triumph that the creeping need to pull an all-nighter hasn’t caught up to me yet. Until it does, I’ll continue to hold myself to my four hours, even if they begin at 5 a.m.

The post That 5 a.m. Glow appeared first on Yale Daily News.

There was a four percent increase in matriculating Latine students in the 2023-2024 school year than in the 2022-2023 school year, according to numbers released by the University’s admissions office. With the increase in Latine representation on campus, several students told the News that there is now a greater need for a wider net of support for student clubs from Yale and affinity groups including La Casa. 

Eileen Galvez, director of La Casa and assistant dean at Yale, said she commends the growth in the amount of Latine students on campus. 

“I’m actually quite excited to see how much space Latine students are taking up at not just La Casa, but at Yale overall,” Galvez said. “The growth of this year is certainly a major accomplishment for our current students and future generations to come.” 

Daisy Garcia ’27 said she was surprised to discover that Yale is just 7 percent away from being recognized as a Hispanic Serving Institution, which recognizes schools with at least 25 percent of their student body being Latine students. 

Galvez said that this recent increase in Latine first years serves as a “testament to the talent and strength of Latine students across the country.”  

Several students told the News that there is now a greater need for Yale to provide spaces for the diverse Latine identities represented on campus.  

Erick Lopez ’24 said that these spaces allow students to not feel “ostracized” and provide “a sense of community and space to fall back on.” 

La Casa works to provide a support system through their peer liaisons, or PLs, program, which pairs one upperclassman student per residential college with first-year students. Through La Casa, two co-head PLs organize campus-wide events including the Latine Student Mixer at the beginning of the semester. La Casa has also aimed to continue building community through its affiliated cultural clubs, ranging from Sabrosura, Yale’s premier Latin dance team, to Contigo Peru, a Peruvian student group. 

“It’s just about coming into these spaces and enjoying it,” co-president of Sabrosura Michaell Santos Paulino ’26 told the News. “We’re in charge of curating and creating that.”

Paulino told the News that the group saw an increase in interest from first years this year. While they have a competitive recruitment process, Paulino said Sabrosura also aims to maintain a welcoming space open to all interested Latine students. 

According to Lopez, there has been a resurgence in clubs that previously disappeared during the COVID-19 pandemic such as Club Colombia and Teatro de Yale. Because of the rise in the number of Latine students, Lopez said, there has been a heightened enthusiasm for these clubs, allowing them to return to campus. 

Despite efforts by La Casa and affiliated organizations to support the expanding Latine community at Yale, there remains uncertainty regarding the future growth of the Latine population at the University given the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down affirmative action ruling in June. 

“I’m worried a little about affirmative action and things like that, obviously, but I’m really happy to see the Latine community growing,” Garcia said. “It’s wonderful to see us be successful.” 

La Casa is located at 301 Crown St.

Correction, Oct. 13: A previous version of this story incorrectly said the admissions office did not respond to request for comment; the News, however, did not contact the Yale Office of Undergraduate Admissions and has since removed this line.

Correction, Nov. 11: A previous version of this story misspelled Club Colombia.

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