APPETITE AND REASON

As a junior, Doe enrolled in “Introduction to Ancient Philosophy,” a lecture course taught by Yale philosophy professor Verity Harte. In an essay on justice in the “Republic,” Doe argued that under Plato’s theory of a three-part soul, rapists are driven primarily by lust and a desire for power, and that these impulses conflict with reason in the act of sexual assault.

“I believe spirit can be allied with appetite against reason,” Doe wrote, according to the lawsuit. “A rapist may rape with much vigor, or with anger. Here, presumably, reason should dictate not to rape. However, the person rapes with passion. Is spirit not allied with appetite against reason in this case?”

In the paper’s conclusion, Doe wrote: “It is improbable that it would be the case that rapists are universally not in touch with a reason telling them that their conduct is counter to reason.”

The female graduate student who served as Doe’s TA told Yale’s Title IX office that the paper made her uncomfortable and that Doe had been disrespectful to her throughout the term, according to the lawsuit. In her Title IX complaint, the TA claimed that Doe remarked during office hours before writing a paper that he thought philosophy department faculty members do not have good sex.

After speaking with Harte and the TA, Yale College’s Title IX Coordinator at the time and the current Dean of Undergraduate Education Pamela Schirmeister ’80 GRD ’88 emailed Doe several times in November and December 2013, asking him to meet with her to discuss “a report that has come [her] way” about “a paper you submitted in a class,” according to emails provided to the News.

In the University’s response to Doe’s lawsuit, Yale’s lawyers admitted that the TA made an “informal report of sexual harassment” after Doe’s comment during office hours. Schirmeister did not refer the complaint to the University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct. But during a Dec. 5 meeting, she directed Doe to speak with a staff member at Yale’s Center for Sexual Harassment and Assault Response & Education. For the remainder of the course, Doe’s papers were to be graded by Harte, rather than the TA. He was also instructed to go to Harte, not the TA, with any course-related questions.

Schirmeister told the News she can “state unequivocally” that she neither imposed a punishment on Doe nor told him what he could or could not write in his class papers.

Harte, who is on temporary medical leave until Oct. 17, did not respond to a request for comment.

Philosophy professor and acting department chair Shelly Kagan told the News that Yale’s philosophy department does not, as far as he is aware, have an official policy regarding the use of examples in papers.

Kagan said that in principle, even a relevant example could be used in an offensive, insensitive or gratuitous way. He added that, because he does not know the undergraduate in question or any of the relevant details of the incident, he cannot say whether the actions of the parties involved were appropriate.

“I haven’t seen the paper. I would need to know the assignment, review the relevant passages in Plato. In principle, any example could be apt or could be irrelevant,” Kagan said. “If the question were merely, in principle, could an example involving rape be well-crafted, well-presented in a philosophy paper, the answer is yes, of course it could.”

Kaplan, the lawyer for John Doe, said Yale’s response to the incident — the first alleged instance of sexual discrimination mentioned in Doe’s complaint — was inappropriate because the essay should have been permissible under the standards of academic freedom.

“If the TA didn’t like his example, she thought it was inappropriate … you give him a lower grade,” Kaplan said. “But you don’t say, ‘You absolutely can’t talk about this.’ That’s a manufactured problem that Yale stepped in to address. And the way they addressed it was to take away from his education.”

JANE DOE ALLEGES SEXUAL ASSAULT

The following semester, Yale’s Title IX office investigated John Doe on a second occasion, this time in connection with allegations brought against him by a former sexual partner, a woman referred to in the complaint as Jane Doe.

The lawsuit describes at length John’s sexual relationship with Jane, which began in fall 2013 and continued through much of the spring. The lawsuit alleges that Jane was emotionally manipulative and physically aggressive toward John during this period.

In its legal response, Yale confirmed that John and an adviser he brought with him to University-Wide Committee proceedings told the panel that John and Jane had consensual sex on past occasions but denied that the University-Wide Committee had deemed these interactions “undisputed fact.”

On March 6, 2014, Jane went to John’s apartment, where the two had sexual intercourse that night, according to statements of theirs cited in both the lawsuit and Yale’s response.

In an April 4 conversation at the SHARE Center about that night, Jane said that after a heated discussion, John forced her into his bed and sexually assaulted her, according to the lawsuit. She filed a complaint with the University-Wide Committee that same day, Yale’s response says.

Because disclosing University-Wide Committee documents is a disciplinable offense, Jane’s version of events as documented in the Yale fact-finder’s report remains confidential. The fact that John’s version was made public in court filings does not mean a judge will accept it as true.

According to John’s lawsuit, on the night of the alleged sexual assault, Jane learned that John had had a sexual encounter with another student — identified as Sally Roe — shouted at John and refused to leave his apartment. After Jane followed John to his bedroom and refused to leave, the lawsuit continues, John requested sex. Jane eventually retracted her accusation of forcible sex, according to the lawsuit.

The University-Wide Committee panel ultimately reached no finding of force against John. It initially recommended he be suspended for two semesters, but then-Dean of Yale College Mary Miller reduced the punishment to probation for the remainder of John’s time at Yale, citing an analogy to one of the University’s Sexual Misconduct Scenarios.

“I find it particularly significant that [Jane] voluntarily joined [John] in bed after he requested that they have sex, and the ambiguity created by her action was such that the penalty should be at the low end of the range suggested by the scenario,” Miller wrote in a letter conveying her decision to the University-Wide Committee on June 19.

But before Miller made her final decision, Doe’s advisor, Yale Law School professor Jed Rubenfeld, sent a seven-page letter to her on June 11 — provided to the News in redacted form — in which he expressed his concern that the University-Wide Committee’s findings and recommended punishment reflected gender bias, and urged Miller to reduce the punishment to probation.

“Yale and other universities face a serious problem of on-campus sexual assault,” Rubenfeld wrote to Miller. “But this matter is extremely unusual … I want to stress as strongly as possible that, in my judgment, reasonable people will be very troubled — perhaps outraged — if on these facts a student at Yale were found guilty of engaging in sexual intercourse without the other party’s consent.”

Rubenfeld has since criticized several aspects of current federal Title IX guidelines — most of which were established in 2011 — in op-eds and scholarship.

“Many aspects of the post-2011 procedures, both at Yale and elsewhere, raise serious due process concerns, including concerns about the standard of proof, limits on cross-examination, the absence of legal representation and incompetence or structural bias in Title IX personnel and in the hearing decisionmakers,” he told the News.

According to the lawsuit, John attempted to file a complaint of emotional and physical abuse against Jane but was rebuffed by the UWC on the grounds that it was an act of retaliation.

In its response to the lawsuit, Yale denied these allegations.

SALLY ROE BRINGS SEPARATE CLAIM

The final allegation brought against John Doe came in October 2014, when the Sally Roe referenced in the Jane Doe case requested a no-contact order, alleging that John had stalked and sexually assaulted her, the lawsuit claims. After initially cooperating with the fact-finder, Roe did not appear at the University-Wide Committee hearing.

Ultimately, the University-Wide Committee found that Doe did not violate Yale’s Sexual Misconduct Policy but instituted another no-contact order, this time between John and Sally. John’s counter-complaints and evidence that Sally fabricated her allegations were dismissed without investigation, according to the lawsuit.

Yale informed Doe of Roe’s allegations of sexual misconduct in a meeting between him, former Yale College Title IX coordinator Angela Gleason, Senior Title IX coordinator Jason Killheffer and Rubenfeld in November 2014, according to Yale’s response to the lawsuit.

After Doe and Killheffer clashed over restricting Doe’s access to the residential college where Sally Roe and many of Doe’s friends lived, Killheffer filed a formal complaint against him with the University-Wide Committee, the lawsuit claims.

In its response, Yale denied Doe’s claim that the University’s decision to file the formal complaint was retaliatory. Instead, Killheffer said he filed the complaint “because of a pattern of allegations involving restraint.”

“Yale knew that Jane retracted her allegation of forcible sex, conceded that she willfully went into bed with him and still brought another Title IX claim against him based on what they called a repeated pattern of the same claim of being forced into bed,” Kaplan said. “But it was a claim that had been retracted. It was a false claim.”

In the lawsuit, Doe alleges that Roe learned about the Jane Doe case through the Yale Chaplain’s Office, a religious community that was the center of John’s social life, because someone affiliated with the office may have leaked confidential information about the incident.

“We feel there were serious breaches of confidentiality,” Kaplan said. “All roads seem to point to the Chaplain’s Office. Jane and Sally and John all had reason to be involved with the Chaplain’s Office and that’s where we feel the crux of the confidentiality issues occurred.”

Megan Doherty — who worked as a Reconstructionist rabbi at Slifka from 2010 to 2014 and is identified in the University’s response as one of two female members of the Chaplain’s Office involved in the case — provided the News with the following statement:

“During the academic year of 2013–14, I was working in a pastoral capacity with a student who disclosed to me that she had been sexually assaulted by a member of the campus Jewish community,” wrote Doherty, who is currently the director of Hillel and Jewish Campus Life at Oberlin College. “As I worked to support her in her process, I was simultaneously in conversation with members of the college administration and Slifka senior staff about the best ways to make sure our building remained a safe place for students.”

The News was unable to obtain a comment from the other female staff member involved, Reform Rabbi Leah Cohen, who left Yale over the summer.

Kaplan said Yale showed bias in hearing Jane and Sally’s complaints but refusing to hear John’s allegations of physical and emotional abuse.

“They didn’t allow John to bring a claim against Jane for the physical abuse and the stalking she subjected him to,” Kaplan said. “So she got off scot-free for abusing him throughout the course of the relationship. He got probation … and a third claim [Sally’s complaint] slapped against him.”

The lawsuit argues that John’s experience of the March 6 incident meets Yale’s own SHARE Center definition of an abusive relationship. However, the lawsuit argues that Yale did not recognize John as a victim of intimate partner violence because of the two parties’ genders.

“That same scenario, given that it was the male student being harassed, for some reason, it’s his fault,” Kaplan said. “This is just downright bias.”

FEDERAL INVESTIGATIONS INTO TITLE IX

Doe filed his complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on July 14, 2015. The OCR thought Doe’s claim had potential and sent it from the regional office to the D.C. office in September 2016, according to emails between Doe and the OCR. But by then, the presidential campaign was in full swing and the complaint languished for months.

Once the Trump Department of Education began looking at Title IX complaints, Yale was one of the first universities to come under scrutiny. On April 12, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos hired Candice Jackson, currently the acting assistant secretary in the OCR, and the investigation into Yale was opened five days later.

According to a copy of the letter announcing the investigation, the OCR believed it was justified in investigating Yale for three primary reasons: The University failed to inform Doe of all allegations against him, denied him the chance to provide a full statement to the University-Wide Committee panel and did not consider the evidence he submitted before it made a final decision.

“You alleged that the University discriminated against you on the basis of sex by failing to provide an equitable hearing process during spring 2015,” the OCR wrote to Doe. “Because OCR has determined that it has jurisdiction over Allegation 1 and that it was timely filed, OCR is opening this allegation for investigation.”

A Department of Education spokesman told the News that the case was closed last month when the OCR learned that Doe had filed a complaint in federal court in Hartford and that the case was pending. Doe can refile his case within 60 days of the termination of federal court proceedings as long as the courts have not ruled on the case, the spokesman said.

Yale’s grievance procedures were the focus of the 2011 OCR investigation sparked by the DKE chant. Before 2011, the University addressed cases of student-on-student sexual misconduct through both the Executive Committee and the Sexual Harassment Grievance Board. Considered an informal recourse for students, the Grievance Board offered support and short-term remedies — such as changes to course schedules — to complainants, but had little enforcement power.

By the end of the 2011 investigation, OCR concluded that ExComm, the formal body for adjudicating Title IX complaints, was also inadequate. Primarily a disciplinary body, ExComm “focused on the alleged perpetrator and his/her rights and not on affording the complainant a prompt and equitable resolution of his/her sexual misconduct complaint,” the OCR wrote in a June 2012 letter announcing the University’s voluntary resolution agreement.

The structure of Yale’s disciplinary process contradicted a recent federal directive, known as the “Dear Colleague Letter,” instructing all universities that receive federal funding to use a “preponderance of evidence” standard in sexual misconduct cases, rather than the higher “clear and convincing evidence” standard. It also discouraged universities from allowing the parties involved to personally cross-examine one another.

Last month, DeVos rescinded the “Dear Colleague Letter” and issued temporary guidelines allowing schools to return to the “clear and convincing evidence” standard. In her Sept. 22 response to the announcement, University Title IX Coordinator Stephanie Spangler pledged not to switch back to the higher standard. She added that Yale’s policies are “largely consistent” with the new requirements.

Yale’s current procedures date back to the “Dear Colleague Letter,” although its unified system for addressing allegations of misconduct was already in the works. In its answer to Doe’s lawsuit, Yale denied that it created the University-Wide Committee in response to the OCR’s 2011 investigation.

“For some reason … the administration has positioned themselves publicly and visibly as taking a stand against any change with respect to the ‘Dear Colleague Letter,’” said Andrew Miltenberg, a New York-based attorney who specializes in campus assault due process. “We’re going to continue to see cases coming out of Yale disciplinary hearings, and they might be sued over, and they might be viewed as unreasonable or unfair.”

YALE’S PROCEDURES UNDER FIRE

After it was established in 2011, the University-Wide Committee was initially praised as a thorough, streamlined system. In addition to clarifying the University’s definition of sexual misconduct, the body established formal and informal processes for addressing allegations of misconduct. It laid out investigation timelines, confidentiality guidelines and a definition of consent. Thanks in part to its formation, Yale’s 2012 voluntary resolution agreement with the OCR established that the University was not in noncompliance with Title IX.

But the new system faced challenges in its first few months. In January 2012, the New York Times revealed that Yale football quarterback Patrick Witt ’12 was the subject of an informal complaint that had cost Witt his Rhodes Scholarship candidacy. The informal complaint process, the Times noted, meant that “an individual or a few members of the committee are charged with resolving the issue, without a full investigation or a finding of guilt or innocence.”

Around this time, a Yale junior was accused of sexual assault and later became the first student expelled under the new formal complaint process. In 2015, the male student filed a complaint against Yale accusing the University of violating his Title IX rights.

The lawsuit was the first of three legal challenges to the University-Wide Committee or its proceedings filed against Yale in federal court in the district of Connecticut.

The plaintiff alleged that the University selectively enforced Title IX guidelines, that the University-Wide Committee panel allowed new evidence from the complainant to enter the hearing and that Yale failed to grant the respondent access to legal counsel.

This case has a settlement conference in Hartford on Oct. 18, according to publicly available court records. Gary Kurtz, the plaintiff’s lawyer, said his client has not decided whether to settle at this time, but noted that the overwhelming majority of cases end in settlements.

While some of the allegations in the first lawsuit — such as the claim that the University denied the plaintiff “the right to confront and/or cross-examine his accuser” — contradict the OCR’s 2011 directive, other charges resemble those brought in two subsequent lawsuits filed against Yale.

The next lawsuit, filed in June 2016 by former men’s basketball captain Jack Montague, also emerged out of an expulsion. Montague’s lawsuit — which, due to his position on the basketball team during a high-profile season, attracted more national attention than the other two — also accused the University of violating Title IX rights and failing to observe due process.

Like the John Doe case, the Montague lawsuit also alleges that the complainant initially did not want to file a formal complaint with the University-Wide Committee. In both cases, Yale’s Title IX office filed on behalf of the complainant.

“The structural problems inherent in the [University-Wide Committee] process result in a fundamental denial of due process, which is central to a fair outcome,” said a spokesperson for Max Stern, the attorney representing Montague.

Still, these court challenges are not necessarily indicative of the University-Wide Committee’s stability, said Miltenberg, the lawyer who has defended dozens of students accused of sexual misconduct. He has also advised about six students undergoing University-Wide Committee proceedings in the last three years, he said, and beyond his role in referring John Doe to Susan Kaplan, is not currently involved in any of the three lawsuits.

“Anyone who gets expelled or suspended feels there’s something wrong with the result. But with the proviso that it’s still a long way from being perfect, I think Yale has become more patient with the investigations,” Miltenberg said, citing the University-Wide Committee’s five-person panel and use of an independent fact-finder.

As conversations about sexual assault on college campuses reach broader audiences, universities have found themselves under increasing pressure to deliver guilty verdicts, Miltenberg argued. This results in a high frequency of cases in which universities find students responsible for sexual misconduct yet hand down light sanctions, such as one- or two-semester suspensions — an approach he described as “risk management.”

At Yale, five of the 19 undergraduates found guilty of sexual assault after undergoing the University-Wide Committee’s formal complaint process in the last four years were expelled, according to the semi-annual reports released by the Title IX office. The rest received punishments ranging from written reprimands to one- to three-semester suspensions.

Presented with these figures, Yale spokesman Tom Conroy said the University defines sexual assault as “any kind of nonconsensual sexual contact, including rape, groping and any other nonconsensual sexual touching.” When recommending a penalty, Conroy said the University-Wide Committee panels will take into account many factors, including the nature of the act and previous discipline the respondent has received.

But as long as universities face competing pressures, their efforts to fairly and equitably adjudicate allegations of misconduct will be challenged.

“Every school could benefit from more diligent, expansive, deliberate procedures and more trained or better-trained investigators and hearing panel members,” Miltenberg said. “Yale can as well. But as long as this continues to be such a polarizing issue … you can’t discount the political pressures a university is under to deal with these cases in a way that minimizes their risk.”

DISPROPORTIONATE CONTRIBUTIONS

LIMITED EXCHANGE WITH YALE

Despite that enthusiasm, skeptics at Yale and Yale-NUS question the depth and impact of the engagement between most of the visiting Yale faculty and the Singaporean.

AN ILLIBERAL ALLIANCE

For some, the issue is not the manner but the fact of the relationship.

Since the announcement of Yale’s intention to move forward with plans to establish Yale-NUS, several Yale faculty have expressed their concern about Yale’s involvement in a country with an allegedly illiberal government at its helm.

While Levin told the News that some such critics changed their views after visiting Yale-NUS or hearing from colleagues about the work they were doing there, others remain steadfast in their conviction that Yale has no place in allegedly illiberal Singapore.

French & African American Studies professor Christopher Miller, who has criticized Yale-NUS since its inception, said Yale’s presence in Singapore has made little impact on the country. He noted, for instance, that the government has reaffirmed laws banning sexual contact between men numerous times in the years since Yale-NUS was first founded.

“Yale-NUS is the product of a misalliance between a university that claims to support human values and a regime that represses them,” Miller said. “It remains illegal to be a gay man in Singapore, and the supposedly salutary presence of a liberal-arts institution has thus far made no difference.”

Classics professor Victor Bers added that he was disturbed by the recent case of Amos Yee, a Singaporean teenager who has applied for asylum in the United States on the grounds that he was persecuted for his political opinions in the city-state.

In response to these concerns, Lewis noted the potential hypocrisy in offering assessments on the political climate in other countries.

“I don’t love capital punishment, and I don’t like what happened to Amos Yee,” Lewis said. “I’m a proud American citizen, but we’re not in a position this year in America to tell other countries that they’re not proper democracies and we are a proper democracy.”

LOOKING AHEAD

For all of Yale-NUS’ detractors, many faculty who have visited believe the partnership in its current form allows Yale to define and implement a liberal arts education suitable for the 21st century.

But others remain as strongly opposed as they were at the project’s inception. “Yale should end the partnership and should never have been involved in the first place,” Bers said.

Fischer said that he would also like to see the Yale administration engage representatives across the University community in reviewing the prudence of the current arrangement between Yale and Yale-NUS. He recalled that Levin emphasized two key facts when he first proposed the partnership to faculty: establishing Yale-NUS will not cost Yale a dime, and that the partnership would be subject to periodic reviews that would allow Yale to end its affiliation.

“It is time for Yale to review its partnership, and think seriously about what we are contributing and what we are getting,” Fischer said.

But Lewis does not anticipate any formal change in the relationship. He noted that a periodic review of the kind Fischer mentioned recently took place in 2016, and a committee whose membership including deans at Yale found no reason for Yale to change course.

Lewis, who will spend about a tenth of his time in his new role focusing on collaboration with Yale-NUS, said he plans to work toward opening more avenues for exchange between Yale-NUS and Yale — including facilitating opportunities for Yale undergraduates to spend some time in Singapore.

“I hope many people here at Yale can go and see Yale-NUS for themselves and learn what we’re doing, and hopefully think of other ways that there can be collaborations between Singapore and New Haven,” Lewis said. “There’s a lot of good opportunities there.”

Over in Singapore, Yale-NUS administrators are well aware of the divergences in opinion among their partners in New Haven regarding the venture.

Yale-NUS president Tan Tai Yong told the News that earlier reservations and fears about the possibility of a liberal arts education in Singapore have not borne out, and the college’s success in attracting students and faculty has proven that, if given the right nurturing, a liberal arts college is not the strict preserve of a North American environment.

Tan added that Singaporean government remains steadfast in its support, and that Salovey and University Provost Benjamin Polak are quick to respond to any requests he and his colleagues may have. But Tan is also clear that the reputation and success of the college he has led since this summer must be achieved on its own terms — he does not intend for Yale-NUS to be “flying Yale’s flag in another part of the world.”

“We are redefining the liberal arts, not just copying Yale. Some in New Haven still think that this is Yale planted here, and it’s not,” Tan said.  “I have always maintained to my colleagues here that as long as we do well, Yale will be happy. That is what we are doing — but as our own entity.”

Clarification, Oct. 10: This version of the article clarifies computer science professor Michael Fischer’s quote regarding his attitude toward reviewing Yale’s involvement with Yale-NUS.

Clarification, Oct. 10: This version of the article clarifies that University President Peter Salovey was unable to attend the Yale-NUS Commencement because it took place shortly after a reunion weekend.

Draw the line

By Amy Cheng

Published on September 19, 2017

Isabella Ciambotti, a junior at the University of Virginia, walked up Market Street around noon on Saturday, Aug. 12. She brushed shoulders with wet-eyed protesters retreating from Emancipation Park, where they were attacked by tear gas moments earlier.

In front of the Robert E. Lee statue that stands erect at the heart of Emancipation Park, a cluster of white supremacists — many of them wearing Confederate flag-like capes and holding riot gear plastered with the Othala rune and swastikas — busied themselves with hurling stones and racial slurs across the barricade. The counter-protesters returned by pelting them with water bottles and obscenities. Ciambotti, struck on the head by an airborne coke can, found herself having flashbacks to the schoolyard brawls she saw in her high school.

Amid the chaos, she could only make out a few people chanting “shame” over the uproar of hateful swearing and racial insults. In a vignette that she later published in The New York Times, Ciambotti wrote that a woman from the alt-right marching line stared squarely into her eyes and said, “I hope you get raped by a nigger.”

What the newspaper did not print, Ciambotti chuckled, was that the same woman continued to heckle her and called “pimply.” Why are you alone? Where’s your man? That’s right because you don’t have one! You’ll never get a man.

Peering beyond the frontlines of the alt-right ralliers, Ciambotti could make out the faces of the white supremacists. Some, grandfatherly men. Others, “well-groomed and educated white males in their early 20s” — men who could have passed as college students on her campus.

On Aug. 12, the college town of Charlottesville, Va., transformed into a swirling vortex for neo-Nazi and white supremacy demonstrations. The escalation culminated fatefully in the death of 32-year-old counter-protester Heather Heyer, who was run over by a Dodge Challenger barreling through the crowd. The driver, a 20-year-old from Ohio, had been described in a Reuters article as “a kid at an amusement park” when visiting Dachau in Germany.

Promoted as “Unite the Right,” the white nationalist rally was long anticipated after the Charlottesville City Council passed the motion 3 to 2 on Feb. 6 in favor of removing the Lee statue from downtown Charlottesville. The very same panel ruled unanimously that day to remove Lee as the namesake of the public space and rename it Emancipation Park. While groups like the Virginia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Inc. and The Monument Fund Inc. pushed back on this decision by filing a lawsuit the following day, far-right organizations set their heart on a different form of resistance: a physical one that became mired in blood and hatred.

As the dust settles in this southern college town and the shock of fascism’s public revival wears off, the country finds itself amidst a tide of pro-nationalist rallies and counter-protests, many of which often end in arrests and violence. And Charlottesville is hardly the first. Four months before, an April rally in Berkeley, Calif., deteriorated into fist fights between supporters and opponents of President Donald Trump. The event initially began as a “Patriots Day” organized by pro-Trump groups to support First Amendment rights. But hundreds of Trump opponents, many dressed in black clothing and wearing masks, faced off with the far-right supporters. The two sides threw soda cans, rocks, sticks and other projectiles at each other.

One organization in particular has come under fire for its staunch defense of First Amendment rights to speak and assemble in today’s volatile environment: the American Civil Liberties Union, which has been dedicated to defending civil rights such as freedom of speech since its conception in the early 1920s.

The group’s national legal director David Cole ’80 LAW ’84 represented Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler when the Charlottesville city manager withheld the rally permit in an attempt to relocate the rally. The city argued that the new venue — McIntire Park, about a mile away from Emancipation Park — would be safer to manage an expected crowd size in thousands, but the ACLU claimed that revoking Kessler’s permit to rally at Emancipation Park was “based on his viewpoint and was not necessary to achieve any compelling governmental interest.”

A federal judge eventually ruled in favor of Kessler, and the rally proceeded to its deadly end.

Two days after the Unite the Right rally, Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe said in a National Public Radio interview that he felt angry that the demonstration was not moved elsewhere, indirectly jabbing at the ACLU’s involvement in Kessler’s legal defense.

The First Amendment rights are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and have been deemed as a defining feature of American democracy. But as the nation faces polarizing political discourse, is hate speech protected by the First Amendment? And after the bloodshed in Charlottesville and other urban centers, is violence a necessary consequence of upholding free speech?

Protestors gather outside of the College formerly known as Calhoun, advocating that John C. Calhoun's namesake be removed from the building.

Waldo Jaquith, who served on the ACLU of Virginia board for two and a half years, publicly announced his resignation on Twitter in the aftermath of the Unite the Right rally.

“We need the ACLU. We need it so much,” he wrote. “But we also need it to change, just a tiny bit: don’t defend Nazis to allow them to kill people.”

Though Jaquith declined my request to comment further on his resignation, claiming that it would be unfair to the colleagues he had left behind, the backlash on the ACLU’s decision to defend Kessler drew considerable traction on social media and news platforms.

K-Sue Park, who teaches at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and who had previously volunteered at the ACLU, left little room for interpretation in her criticism of the organization’s stance. Calling on the civil liberty group to rethink its philosophy, Park argued that defending hate speech merely fuels the radical, spiteful agenda of the far right. “Sometimes standing on the wrong side of history in defense of a cause you think is right is still just standing on the wrong side of history,” she wrote in a New York Times op-ed.

The ACLU has attracted scathing criticism because of its clients before. The last time when the civil liberty group faced staggering reprisal, around 40,000 members handed in their resignations, a number large enough to threaten a budget deficit of the ACLU’s national branch.

That moment of crisis was triggered when the ACLU represented the National Socialist Party of America to fight for the NSPA’s constitutional right to assemble before a predominantly Jewish village hall with Nazi regalia on full display.

In 1977, the NSPA requested to hold a public demonstration — marching through the streets while wearing Nazi uniforms and holding swastikas signs — in Skokie, Ill., where one out of six residents was a Holocaust survivor. The village of Skokie tried to prevent the rally by asking for a $350,000 insurance bond and prohibited any Nazi imagery, citing possible damages to city property and violent confrontations. The local authorities also obtained an injunction against the rally, forcing the NSPA’s plan to a grinding halt.

David Goldberger, the ACLU lawyer who represented the NSPA, said he received party leader Frank Collins’ request for legal counsel the day before the neo-Nazi group was due in court. Still affiliated with the ACLU today, Goldberger told me that Collins’ case struck him as a classic First Amendment rights violation and compared it to Kessler’s case in Charlottesville. At the time, he thought the ramification of losing the case would deal a heavy blow to all the lawsuits that the ACLU was fighting under the First Amendment as well as any future defense for controversial demonstrations.

Hate speech, no matter how unpopular or offensive, is securely shielded under the First Amendment, Goldberger assured me. He added that throughout the years, the Supreme Court has articulated a set of constitutional standards through landmark cases to doggedly guard the extent to which hate speech is protected.

One of the most popular analogies to describe the boundary of free speech is that one cannot falsely shout “fire” in a crowded theater, deriving its origin in Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.’s widely cited 1919 opinion in Schenck v. United States. Such speech was prohibited because it presented a “clear and present danger” to the public, according to the opinion. Since this case, whether speech violates the “clear and present danger” test has become a key doctrine in determining if it should be protected.

This standard was put to test throughout pages when speech was used to advance racist agendas in cases such as Brandenburg v. Ohio. Clarence Brandenburg, a Ku Klux Klan leader in the 1960s, was convicted under the state’s criminal syndicalism statute when he rallied KKK members for possible “revengeance,” if “our President, our Congress, our Supreme Court, continues to suppress the white, Caucasian race.”

The case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court, which overturned Brandenburg’s conviction in 1969 by drawing a firm line between merely advocating for a political cause and inciting “imminent lawless action.” This morphed into the modern constitutional standard, Goldberger said, for the specific purpose that no group’s rights would be stripped simply because there is potential for their provocative speech to instigate violence.

In addition to the articulation of the “clear and present danger” clause in 1919 and the “imminent lawless action” test in 1969, free speech is also conditioned on the time, place and manner of expression. For instance, Goldberger explained, if a demonstration chooses to picket the busiest intersection during rush hour, it is reasonable for law enforcement officials to demand that the demonstration be moved onto the sidewalk.

Still, even with these court standards in mind, what seems to clearly demonstrate the letter of the law does not reflect people’s emotional responses.

“I was a little naive about the pushback that was coming [on the Skokie case]. It seemed to me on the law, the case was very straightforward,” Goldberger said. “[But] the pushback was huge and much bigger than anyone has anticipated.”

Regardless of the resistance and of how ACLU’s defenses are perceived by the public, Goldberger stands firmly by the organization’s dedication to upholding First Amendment rights. In his eyes, the ACLU is a principled institution that does not act out of partisanship, and the bloodshed in Charlottesville should not dissuade the organization from carrying out its mission.

“I am sorry to see people take the position like Jaquith, but that’s clearly a person who doesn’t belong in the ACLU because we are an organization that stands for neutral principles,” Goldberger told me. “I think [Jaquith] prefers clients who you invite home for lunch, and that’s just not the ACLU.”

The organization’s national branch lent strength to Goldberger’s legal analysis. Its statement, in the wake of bloodshed at the Unite the Right rally, affirmed the First Amendment’s protection of “vile, hateful and ignorant speech.” Thus it was the ACLU’s obligation to defend Jason Kessler.

Hate speech may be protected by the First Amendment, but when blood is shed, the clear-cut line between what can and cannot be said — and how various individuals draw the line — begins to blur.

New Haven, a city with a nationwide reputation for its liberal traditions and social activism, is left reeling after its experience this summer with a counter-protest gone awry. The local chapter of a national right-wing fraternal organization, the Proud Boys, had planned a rally to protest against socialism on the New Haven Green this July. Augustus Invictus, an alt-right politician who also headlined the Unite the Right rally, was invited to attend.

The Proud Boys, from founder Gavin McInnes to local members across the country, have a litany of ideological beliefs: pro-Western chauvinism, pro-Trump, anti-feminist, anti-Islam, for example, but also anti-Nazi, pro-gay and anti-willful ignorance. After Charlottesville, the group became defensive about being labeled as alt-right or white nationalistic.

When I contacted John Rutledge, an administrator on the “Proud Boys — Connecticut Chapter Vetting Page” on Facebook, he did not accept my interview request and only sent over an article by McInnes, who argued that the Proud Boys is not a white nationalist group because there are minority members in their ranks.

Tommy Arizona, another administrator on the Proud Boys Facebook page, reiterated to me that his group would never inflict any kind of violence, unless it is used in the name of self-defense. In addition, he offered his own theory as to why political rallies nowaday often deteriorate: “mass mob mentality.”

“You have a bunch of people who hate our president and hate our political system and have no idea why,” Arizona wrote. “So they come to these rallies and cause violence and accuse anyone who isn’t on their side of being a Nazi or being a racist.”

Nevertheless, news that a white supremacy group gathering on the Green made its way to the New Haven activist communities, many of which sprung into action and began to organize a counter-protest. The local chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice, an organization with the goal of undermining white support for white supremacy, became one of the leading groups against the impending Proud Boys rally. Natalie Alexander, one of the co-organizers of the counter-protest, later recounted a “strong communications failure” and has since left the organization.

Back in July, SURJ conducted a close call, which means contacting counter-protest attendees individually without making public announcements so that the Proud Boys would not mobilize more of its members in response. But the lack of a public, unified front led to internal confusion among the counter-protest organizers, who did not agree on how violence, or even its implication, could play out on the Green.

Alexander later shared with me a document that SURJ had prepared beforehand to instruct the counter-protesters how to proceed without physical confrontation. It included tips like “stay 15 feet back for the fascist rally,” “use noisemakers altogether to INTERRUPT speakers,” and “stay on the Green for the dance party after the rally.”

But the celebratory dance party never happened.

Alexander told me that counter-protest organizers originally planned to stake out the center of the Green and remain stationary, using only noise to drown out the Proud Boys’ event. But to her surprise, there were individuals, their faces masked by bandanas and sunglasses, who came from out of town and had little affiliation with the local activism community. They came, Alexander added, with the intention of risking police arrest and provoking a violent outburst.

Immediately after the Proud Boys stepped foot on the Green, she recalled seeing several mask-bearing counter-protesters leap from the ground and charge toward them. Though only a handful of Proud Boys came, almost all were chased by one or two menacing counter-protesters who did not hold back on their kicks and punches. One paint-filled balloon landed on a Proud Boy’s neck, coloring the back of his head entirely pink.

“As soon as it turned into the clusterfuck that it was, it was very difficult to distinguish between counter-protesters and people who were just really angry that this was happening on their Green,” Alexander said.

Violence, it seems, could come from both sides.

Almost half a century before the Proud Boys descended upon the New Haven Green, this city grabbed national headlines during the height of the Black Panther trials. All eyes were on the city government and Yale administrators when Yippies like Abbie Hoffman announced that thousands would march onto the streets of New Haven on May 1 of 1970, threatening to burn Yale to the ground during what became known as the “May Day” rally.

Alex Rackley, a Black Panther member, was mistakenly suspected of being an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was tortured and murdered in 1969 by three fellow Panthers, who were eventually arrested and tried for their criminal actions. But the May Day protest was triggered by the arrest of Bobby Seale, the Black Panther national leader, who the Connecticut state attorney believed to have ordered Rackley’s murder.

Outraged by what they considered to be injustice committed upon the African-American community, people of all persuasion, radical or not, were moved to join the May Day protest, trying to forcibly release Seale from prison.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, Henry “Sam” Chauncey ’57 was special assistant to former University President Kingman Brewster. He told me that the May Day protest took place in an era when massive political gatherings were not only common on college campuses but also highly likely to turn violent. And the default strategy for school administrators was to lock out the demonstrators completely.

Nevertheless, with an estimate of 50,000 people showing up in the Elm City on May Day, Chauncey was convinced that the traditional solution of relying on law enforcement to bar the entry of the protesters would only end in a bloodbath. Instead, he opted to welcome the protesters with open arms and decided to keep police presence strictly controlled.

“The principle behind the plan was that most radicals are people who have a belief which is not consistent with the norms in the current society,” Chauncey said. “[But] they are not harmful or out to cause physical damage.”

Chauncey began to coordinate with the former NHPD Police Chief James Ahern to keep those with the sole purpose of wreaking havoc at bay. Militant left-wing groups like the Weathermen, who Chauncey considered as having no central philosophical standing and only promoted destructive violence, were prohibited from entering the city while all other radical factions were accommodated with three meals a day and a place to sleep.

Yale students — only around 25 of whom decided to leave town before the two-day rally — were recruited to guide or volunteer. Residential colleges were assigned specific roles: for example, Pierson College was the medical infirmary and Davenport College served as a child care center.

Yet, the most daring but clairvoyant plan was asking Ahern to command all law enforcement authorities, Chauncey said, which included the Department of Justice, the Marines, the FBI and 5,000 National Guards. This marked the only time in American history when a local police chief is given command of the federal troop. Unfazed, Ahern ordered that all bullets be removed from firearms and stationed the police far from the boundaries of the Green. Photos from May Day show few uniformed officers — Chauncey told me that only around a dozen or so plainclothes were scattered through a crowd of around 35,000.

“When Ahern took control of all the police forces and the military, he made everyone take out bullets in their guns. It had always been our philosophy that talk is better than guns,” he said.

I asked Chauncey whether Yale exported this model of preparation. But he let out a sigh and explained that after four students were fatally shot by the National Guard during the Kent State University rally in 1970, no peaceful campus demonstration comparable in size to May Day ever occurred in the country. Perhaps this is a history lesson that police departments in the country today have forgotten, or have never learned, he added.

Comparing the level of preparedness between the May Day protest and the Unite the Right rally, Chauncey was cautious to point fingers to the UVA and Charlottesville police force. But Goldberger did not mince his words when I asked what could have been done differently to change the deadly outcome.

“There is no public assembly that can’t be managed if there are sufficient police and law enforcement authorities and they are properly planned,” Goldberger insisted.

As he was watching TV news report on the rally earlier in the day, Goldberger said he was taken back by the lack of police skirmish line between the white supremacists and the counter-protesters. He tried to rationalize this hands-off decision by positing that police officers might have considered their presence to be provocative to civilians. But he quickly discredited this line of reasoning and exclaimed that it is not “rocket science” to implement a neutral area separating confrontational individuals on both sides.

“Frankly, if you really think about what happened, it’s miraculous that the death occurred not by an action of the demonstrators as part of the demonstration,” he said. “It was a one-off by a crazy man.”

Yale, embracing the full force of the May Day rally with detailed preparation, escaped a potentially catastrophic conflict unscathed, while the Charlottesville demonstrations lacked proper law enforcement coordination. But this argument does not answer whether violence is inherent to the nature of heavily partisan, highly emotional ideological conflicts.

The Unite the Right rally upended Heather Heyer’s family, and sent ripples to communities from all sides of the political spectrum. As UVA students begin their new academic year, the rally became the colloquial “elephant” in the room.

Brendan Novak, the opinion editor at UVA’s campus newspaper, The Cavalier Daily, told me that campus conversations around race relations almost always begin with a tribute to Heyer. A second-year student, Novak made national news because of his two opinion columns, which documented his change of heart before and after Aug. 12.

Two weeks before the Charlottesville rally, Novak wrote a column arguing in favor of letting Kessler hold his white nationalist demonstration. He had hoped that these “petulant racists” would openly display “the rotting moral of their ideology,” so that onlookers would come to realize that groups like the KKK are dying organizations.

But what he saw on Aug. 12 completely defied his expectations. Realizing that Kessler and his cohorts had little intention of participating in public discourse, Novak wrote in his second column two days later that violent intimidation and harassment should be grounds to disqualify their alt-right assembly.

I probed him further on his second column, asking if it is possible to have right-wing extremist demonstrations without physical harm. Clearly hard-pressed for an answer, Novak admitted that though these rallies could proceed peacefully in theory, they have shown a record of devolving in reality.

“It’s a blurry line and I can’t pretend to be smart enough to know where to draw the line. But, I know that it takes a nuance,” he said. “It’s not free speech matters so much so that anything goes.”

New Prospects

 

After decades of preparation and debate, Yale’s two newest residential colleges, Pauli Murray and Benjamin Franklin, have opened their doors to students.

 

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Naming sparked heated debate

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Colleges begin to embrace namesakes

As Pauli Murray and Benjamin Franklin colleges welcome their inaugural classes, the respective residential communities are taking steps to learn about their college namesakes.

The approaches the two colleges are taking are as different as the historical figures whose names are carved over the college entryways. The students in Pauli Murray are engaging with a more contemporary figure, one whose popularity in both popular culture and academic scholarship is increasing. Though his papers are housed in Sterling, Franklin is a less accessible historical figure. Still, that has not stopped the college’s administration from encouraging students to study the Founding Father’s life from a variety of angles.

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Students take relaxed approach to new traditions

From mascots to college cheers to nicknames, the first generation of students in Pauli Murray and Benjamin Franklin colleges are uniquely situated to shape the culture of their colleges for years to come. But much like the process of building the colleges, these students are willing to take their time and wait for the proper moment.

(Photo by Robbie Short)

Certain traditions already beginning to take hold: New students in Pauli Murray have taken to calling themselves the “PauliMurs” and a recent residential college event served as a lively chance for first years to brainstorm college chants and dances. But as enticing as the race to create new mascots, celebrations and quirky events has beenin the spirit of other popular customs — from the Berkeley Thunderbrunch to the Saybrook Strip — one theme has persevered: Now is the time for experimentation, not commitment.

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Colleges make final preparations push

Before students finalize their fall schedules, they may have eaten ramen in the new residential college dining halls, or connected with classmates now living on Science Hill. While the integration of the new colleges into the rest of campus may have felt seamless for some, the University has spent decades diligently preparing for this moment.

Professors, residential college leaders and dining hall executives interviewed all agreed that months of hard work and preparation, which culminated this summer, have equipped Yale well as it undergoes this historical expansion.

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Finding a path to the new colleges

Decades ago, preparations were already underway to expand Yale’s undergraduate community through the creation of two new residential colleges. In the years since, different plans have come and gone, but the vision, as first formed by former University President Richard Levin, has remained the same: expand the footprint of Yale College, thereby giving more students the opportunity to receive a Yale education.

(Photo by Robbie Short)

With the opening of Pauli Murray and Benjamin Franklin colleges this fall, that goal has finally come to fruition. In August, the University welcomed its largest class of new undergraduates in Yale’s history. But the long and winding road to move-in day was strewn with unexpected setbacks, both on the local and global levels, and at several points, the success of the project was put in jeopardy.

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Similar expansions, different priorities

When Benjamin Franklin and Pauli Murray colleges began welcoming hundreds of new student residents last month, the occasion marked the second additional major expansion of the residential college system in the University’s recent history.

Not only is this expansion larger than the growth caused by the addition of Ezra Stiles and Morse colleges, but its aims are also different. Prior to the Ezra Stiles-Morse construction, campus overcrowding was a major concern, while the most recent additions to the college system were built with the intention of creating opportunity for more students to study at Yale. And while the announcement of Yale College’s most recent expansion has been a source of excitement and anxiety for a University community anticipating an 800-strong increase in its student body over the next four years, the construction of Ezra Stiles and Morse colleges in the 1960s was greeted with a rather different emotion: relief.

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New colleges to impact retail space, real estate prices

Now that more than 700 students occupy the new residential colleges, it is only a matter of time before more retail shops pop up and development progresses in the area.

When Benjamin Franklin and Pauli Murray colleges opened this fall, the University further established its presence in the Dixwell neighborhood, where the Yale Health Center and the Yale Police Department are also located.

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Colleges offer unique transfer opportunities

As the school year gets underway, upperclass students in Benjamin Franklin and Pauli Murray  colleges are settling into their new communities after a smooth transfer process.

And while the new colleges were intended to reduce crowding in the other 12 colleges, Benjamin Franklin and Pauli Murray have ended up being more populous than initially anticipated. The number of students who decided to transfer last year surprised administrators, exceeding expectations “by a fairly large amount,” according to Head of Pauli Murray College Tina Lu.

(Photo by Robbie Short)

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New colleges blend past and present

Yale’s two new residential colleges are all about juxtapositions — of near and far, of science and humanities, of new and old, and of traditional and modern.

Several Yale presidents are said to have quipped that the prophecy carved into the lintel of Grover Cemetery — “The dead shall be raised” — would eventually come to pass, if and when Yale needed the land. Yale dashed hopes for those awaiting the messianic glory of that moment by selecting to build Benjamin Franklin and Pauli Murray colleges just beyond the weathered headstones.

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SALOVEY: A more accessible Yale College

“Welcome to Yale!” I enjoy saying these words many times at the start of a new academic year. This year, my greeting has even greater significance. With the opening of two new residential colleges this fall, we are able to welcome many more students to Yale, offering the opportunity of a Yale College education to an additional 200 students in each cohort.

As we celebrate Pauli Murray and Benjamin Franklin colleges, we should also reflect on what this historic moment means for Yale, New Haven and the world. Above all, these colleges will increase access to a Yale education.

Tina Lu (Photo by Robbie Short)

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LU: Pauli Murray in the now

Sometimes I imagine what Pauli Murray the person would have made of Pauli Murray College. When I imagine her, it’s usually not the distinguished legal giant and civil rights activist, but a scared teenager, a first-gen, a black girl from Durham, North Carolina, trying to talk her way first into Columbia University and then into Hunter College.

I want to make our college a place where that girl would have thrived, would have been happy, would have felt at once a part of the community and wholly, entirely herself. The challenge for all of us PauliMurs in these first years is how to make this immaculate, monumental, beautiful college — which my children rightly compare all the time to a palace — not only provide room for the real-life Pauli Murrays, but come alive with something like Pauli Murray’s verve and energy and sparkle.

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BAILYN: Franklinia

One of the strange habits of professors is that whenever we embark on a new venture, the first thing we do is assemble a reading list. So since I was appointed the inaugural head of Benjamin Franklin College, I have been reading up on the life and activities of the college’s namesake.

Charles Bailyn (Photo by Robbie Short)

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BOWMAN: A time for vigilance

The completion of Benjamin Franklin and Pauli Murray colleges and the arrival of their newest residents are the talk of our school year. Having seen these stunning facilities rise from an empty pit, I am just as excited as the next Yalie to explore their basements, test their dining halls and discover their architectural nuances.

I am also happy that a greater number of students can now enjoy the Yale experience, although the community around me doesn’t seem 200-plus larger. From my vantage point, just as many lanyard-wearing first years are walking these streets as there were when I arrived in 2014. Numbers for a cappella rush are even down this fall.

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FRIEDLAND: My friend Pauli Murray

It took Yale a long time to honor Pauli Murray by naming a building after her, and it’s about time Yale acknowledged what a great lady she was.

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NEWS’ VIEW: Following through

Administrators often say that we are living in a historic moment, that the opening of the new colleges marks a new chapter in Yale’s history. We at the News not only agree, but also feel as though the stewards of our University have not gotten the credit they deserve for seeing this ambitious project through. For the first time in decades, more students will have access to a Yale education. With or without ramen bars, that alone is cause for celebration.

2021 by the numbers:
Taking stock of political beliefs

By Luke Ciancarelli

Published on September 1, 2017

Coming from across the globe and bringing a diversity of perspectives and opinions, the class of 2021 has a variety, but no dearth, of opinions on the questions and controversies animating campus and national discourse alike.

A News survey distributed to the class of 2021 earlier this summer asked the incoming first years about their opinions on local and national issues. One thousand, two hundred and sixty-seven members of the class responded, yielding a response rate of 80 percent. The results were not adjusted for selection bias.

TRUMP AND 2021

The class of 2021, on the whole, tended to have a negative impression of U.S. President Donald Trump. Just over 5 percent of respondents indicated that they somewhat or strongly favored the president, while only around 3 percent think the current direction of the U.S. government is “good” or “very good.” By contrast, 87 percent of respondents view former U.S. President Barack Obama in a positive light.

Respondents more or less disagree with most of Trump’s major policies to date. Only 4 percent expressed views aligned with Trump’s executive order banning transgender individuals from military service. Similarly, while Trump and the Republican Party have pushed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, less than 8 percent of respondents viewed these efforts favorably.

Overall, the class of 2021 disagrees with Trump’s approach to symbols involving America’s legacy of slavery and discrimination. Though Trump tweeted that he was against the removal of Confederate symbols and monuments in the wake of the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, first years seem to be open to discussions about these symbols and whether they should be changed or removed. The majority of respondents — over 70 percent — were supportive of Yale possibly changing the names of buildings and other campus structures named after historical proponents of slavery, and a plurality — 35 percent — of first years supported the renaming of Calhoun College.

“I think the administration should be proactive about asking its students and faculty for input on this issue,” Alice Park ’21 said. “With such a charged political climate, it’s important for Yale to make decisions without swaying to outside pressures.”

Park also said that Yale should be open to making changes and owning up to past transgressions so that students of all races and ethnicities feel safe and welcomed on campus.

RACE IN ADMISSIONS

While the United States Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into Harvard’s admissions policies towards Asian-American applicants has raised questions about the equity of race-based admissions policies generally, the majority of survey respondents stand behind the fairness of the College’s admissions process with regard to race. More than half of respondents indicated that they thought Yale’s admission policies are fair, while less than 10 percent felt they were unfair. The remaining 40 percent answered that they were “unsure.”

David Hidalgo-Gato ’21 said he felt that Yale’s policies were fair, and noted that he had met students from many different backgrounds campus who “all seem open to learning and embracing other races and cultures.”

“I think Yale has done a good job of managing these demographics to create a racially diverse community where anyone can feel welcome,” he said.

Still, some first-year respondents did feel that race played a role in their chances of admission to Yale. While the majority thought that race did not affect their odds, around 39 percent of respondents felt their racial identity did play a role in their admissions decision.

Of that 39 percent, more than half felt that their racial or ethnic background had a negative impact on their chances of admission. And of those who felt their racial background negatively affected their odds of admission, the plurality identified as Caucasian, with these respondents making up a third of the cohort that felt negatively-affected. Another 27 percent of this category was made up of Asian American respondents, while only 6 percent of this group identified as Indian American. About 17 percent of those who felt like their race negatively affected their chances of admission identified as Latino.

Most respondents who thought their race had a negative impact on their odds of admission were unsure whether or not Yale’s admissions policies regarding race are fair, while most of those who felt their race benefited their chances found the policies fair.

Of those who felt like their race positively influenced their chances of getting into Yale, the plurality identified as Latino or Hispanic American, just outnumbering Caucasian respondents.

For the 9 percent of respondents who thought Yale’s handling of race in admissions is unfair, the most common reason for this opinion was that the policies disadvantaged Asian American applicants.

ON-CAMPUS OPINIONS

Members of the class of 2021 also weighed in on many campus issues, controversies and recent changes.

Just under half of respondents to the News’ survey thought that the term “freshman” should not be replaced by “first year,” with only 11 percent agreeing with the change. Most supported mixed gender housing for upperclassmen, while most were against mixed gender housing for first years.

The largest share of respondents said they were unconcerned about freedom of speech on campus.

First years interviewed felt that freedom of speech on campus is important, but also agreed that hate speech is a potential threat to the community. Jack Fresquez ’21 said he thought free speech must not only be tolerated but also “promoted and protected” at Yale. He added, however, that Yale should be protected from “violence and violent speech.”

Similarly, Hidalgo-Gato said he thought Yale welcomed students expressing their rights to speak their minds, “so long as it doesn’t severely disturb the peace.”

First years were also on the whole unconcerned about the effects of the new residential colleges on their Yale experience. About 50 percent of respondents thought the colleges would have a positive impact on campus life, with 3 percent disagreeing.

“I feel grateful that the two new colleges have allowed Yale to accept more students in the class of 2021”, said Park, a student in Silliman. “I think the 200 additional students in my year will add to Yale’s rich community of diverse backgrounds and perspectives.”

Luke Ciancarelli | luke.ciancarelli@yale.edu | @lvc250 

2021 by the numbers:
Expectations

Even though many members of the class of 2021 stepped foot on campus for the first time last week, most students arrived with pre-established goals and expectations of their Yale experience.

A News survey distributed to the class of 2021 earlier this summer sheds light on those aspirations. One thousand, two hundred and sixty-seven members of the class responded, yielding a response rate of 80 percent. The results were not adjusted for selection bias.

IN THE CLASSROOM

While 18 percent of respondents said they were not sure about their intended major, many others were. Forty-four percent of students indicated that their intended major falls within the umbrella of science, technology, engineering or mathematics, 26 percent indicated social sciences and 12 percent chose humanities.

Forty percent of students responding said they would be interested in pursuing a double major, while 18 percent were not. Forty-three percent said they were unsure.

Sarah Sotomayor ’21, who plans to double major in music and neuroscience — a new program of study as of this academic year — said that between prerequisites and classes that look interesting, she has already planned out most of her course load for the next four years.

When asked which distributional requirements they expect to find most challenging, most students chose quantitative reasoning, science, writing and foreign language, with about one-fifth of respondents picking each. Only 4 percent of respondents selected social science while 6.5 percent selected humanities.

Out of those who expressed interest in studying abroad, 21 percent of students indicated they plan to do so during a term-time semester and 46 percent said they plan to during summer. One quarter of respondents said they were unsure, and nearly 8 percent said they did not want to study abroad during college.

Willow Sylvester ’21, who did a yearlong exchange program in France during high school, said she definitely plans on studying abroad. But unlike in high school, she said college offers more opportunities in terms of summer programs and those during the academic year.

OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM

Students were also asked about their extracurricular aspirations. They expressed varying degrees of interest in participating in Greek life — 40 percent of respondents said they were not interested in joining a sorority or fraternity, 20 percent indicated interest and 14 percent were unsure. Currently, an estimated 10 percent of the Yale undergraduate body is involved in Greek life.

About half of respondents said they intended to get involved with the cultural centers, while the other half do not.

Jyot Batra ’21 said he is interested in getting involved in the Asian American Cultural Center, particularly because he is a Sikh and wants to connect with others and educate peers about his religion. He added that as a prospective political science major who wants to pursue a career in law, he plans on joining extracurricular organizations that align with those interests and has already signed up for the Yale Undergraduate Legal Aid Association.

The extracurricular that most survey respondents expressed interest in was community service — 48 percent of students said they were “very interested” in volunteering in New Haven during their college experience — followed by academic organizations, student publications, performing arts, intramural sports and political organizations.

“Service is a way to kind of bridge the gap between Yale students and the community we inhabit,” said Sotomayor, who plans on doing community service through Dwight Hall and La Casa Cultural.

Other choices in order of popularity were cultural organizations, club sports, student government and religious organizations.

When asked what they were most looking forward to about coming to Yale, 38 percent of students said the residential college experience. Thirty-six percent chose academic programs of study, while 8 percent said the social scene and parties. Fewer students responded with other extracurriculars, playing a sport and “other.”

IN NEW HAVEN

Coming into their first year, students shared a range of expectations for what life on campus and in New Haven would look like.

When asked whether they thought Yale would be socioeconomically diverse, 47 percent said “yes, slightly” and 36 percent said “yes, very.” 16 percent indicated that they did not think Yale would be very socioeconomically diverse, and 1 percent said not at all.

Sotomayor said she is excited to interact with students from different walks of life and, in particular, to engage with people who come from hometowns less diverse than her native Brooklyn.

“I’m excited to meet new people and give a little part of me to the Yale story, and see how this institution continues to grow and change,” she said.

As residents not just of Yale’s campus but of New Haven, students were asked to consider how safe they expected to feel living in the city. The majority — 63 percent- — said they expected to feel somewhat safe, while 24 percent expected to feel very safe. Combined, just over 9 percent of students said they expected to feel not very or not at all safe.

The two biggest motivators for attending Yale over another school were “student life and campus culture” and “superior academic program in area of interest,” with 39 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

Batra, who described Yale as his “secret dream school,” applied through the QuestBridge program after attending a college fair in his home city of Atlanta and hearing about the University’s outreach to students of color.

“Yale is breaking the stereotype that you can only be white and rich to get in,” he said. “I applied early and didn’t apply anywhere else.”

Sylvester said that as “an academic born into a family of artists,” she has always been self-motivated. And as a first-generation college student, she said getting into and preparing for Yale has been a good learning opportunity and a chance to set the bar high for future generations of her family.

“If the moon is there, why not shoot for it,” she said.

Almost half of the incoming class did not sign up for a pre-orientation program. Of those who did, 29 percent signed up for Freshman Outdoor Orientation Trips, 9 percent for Orientation for International Students, 7 percent for Cultural Connections and between 3 and 5 percent for Harvest, FOCUS and Freshman Scholars at Yale.

“It’s been a great time linking up with people and knowing that even though we’re about to be lost in a wave of 1,400 new students, wherever we go we’re going to see someone we recognize,” said Sotomayor, who participated in Cultural Connections.

Rachel Treisman | rachel.treisman@yale.edu | @rachel_treisman 

2021 by the numbers:
Looking ahead

Jacqueline Hayre-Pérez ’21 does not know exactly what she wants to do after graduation, but says her “secret ambition” is to be a judge on the International Criminal Court.

“Social justice is very prominent in my life and in the areas I am looking to study, including Middle Eastern studies, political science and religious studies,” she said. “I want to be able to work in a job that actually promotes social justice in a real, objective and tangible way.”

Similarly, many other members of the class of 2021 have visions — albeit to varying degrees of specificity — of what they want their lives to look like after graduation.

A News survey distributed to the class of 2021 earlier this summer asked the incoming first-years about their post-graduation prognostications. One thousand, two hundred and sixty-seven members of the class responded, yielding a response rate of 80 percent. The results were not adjusted for selection bias.

When asked about their intended career or industry, 20 percent of respondents said they were not at all sure of their future plans, and 28 percent said they were deciding between several options. Still, 38 percent said they were somewhat sure of what they want to do, with 13 percent indicating they are very sure.

Sarah Sotomayor ’21, for example, knows that after graduation, she wants to pursue a doctorate in neuroscience and study the effects of music on the brain. Willow Sylvester ’21 has also outlined her dream career trajectory, from United Nations fieldworker to translator to diplomat.

“I know exactly what I want to do and why I want to do it,” said Sylvester, whose future plans were sparked by her exchange program experience in high school. “I want to help build empathy throughout the world so other cultures can understand each other.”

But more than half of respondents were less confident, as 53 percent of students said they were not sure whether they would still be working in the same industry 10 years after graduation.

Students were also asked to select the field they were most interested in pursuing after graduation. The most popular options were graduate school, medical school, law school, business or finance. Students also expressed interest in government or public service, consulting, the arts, communications and journalism, nonprofit work and education.

“I would love a job where I could either travel constantly or a job that brings the international community and international affairs to my workplace and my day-to-day life,” said Hayre-Pérez, who is from Boston.

When asked where they expected to live after college, the majority of respondents — 68 percent — indicated that they wished to stay in the Northeast, despite the fact that only 36 percent are originally from the region. Eighteen percent said they anticipated moving to the West Coast, and 12 percent said outside of the country.

For others, the destination was less important than the journey.

“If I could have one hope about my time at Yale at beyond, it’s that I hope to be proud,” Brendan Campbell ’21 said. “I want to be proud of the psets I’ve crushed, the fun I’ve had, the risks I’ve taken and the many miles I will have walked from Murray to Old Campus. But above all else, I want to be proud of who I am as a person.”

2021 by the numbers:
Introducing the class of 2021

By Luke Ciancarelli

and Rachel Treisman

Published on August 25, 2017

On Aug. 25, Yale welcomed through its gates the largest and most diverse class in the College’s history, selected from the College’s largest ever applicant pool. The beginning of the class of 2021’s Yale career coincides with the opening of two new residential colleges, Pauli Murray and Benjamin Franklin — an expansion that, according to Yale College Dean Marvin Chun, allowed the College to “provide a Yale education to more of the most deserving students from all backgrounds than ever before.”

“The Class of 2021 will set the tone for a new Yale as they join with our students, faculty, and staff to harness the energy of expansion and growth,” Chun said in a press release.

To get a better sense of the character of this superlative-heavy incoming class, the News distributed a survey to incoming first-years earlier this month. The results from this survey shed light on the personalities behind these unprecedented numbers. One thousand, one hundred and forty-three students responded, yielding a response rate of 72 percent. The results were not adjusted for selection bias.

WHO IS THE CLASS OF 2021?

The survey reported a demographic breakdown of the class hailed as the most diverse in Yale’s history, with just under half of respondents self-identifying as Caucasian. Around 9 percent identified as African, Afro-Caribbean, or African American, and 25 percent described their ethnic background as East or South Asian, a slight increase from last year’s survey. Less than 12 percent of survey-takers identified as Latinx or Hispanic American, and Pacific Islander, Native American, and Middle Eastern first-years composed 4 percent of respondents.

Female respondents outnumbered their male counterparts by about 10 percentage points. Additionally, about 1 percent of students who took the survey identified as transgender, genderqueer or another identity outside of the gender binary.

Around three quarters of freshmen identified as straight, about 9 percent as bisexual or pansexual, and 7 percent as gay or lesbian. Some members of the class of 2021 also identified as asexual, ace spectrum or questioning their sexual orientation, with these respondents totaling to about 5 percent of respondents.

The majority of respondents hail from suburban communities — 59 percent — while 34 percent come from urban communities and nearly 8 percent come from a rural area.

At home, 84 percent of students speak in English. For those who reported speaking a different language in their home, commonly cited languages included Spanish, Japanese, languages of China, Hindi and Russian.

Fifty-four percent of students attended public high schools, while 29 percent attended private, non-denominational high schools. When asked to rank the enjoyment of their high school experience, the majority of respondents — 52 percent — said they enjoyed an “above-average” high school experience.

Willow Sylvester ’21, whose family has moved at least once a year since she was five years old, said she loved her high school experience because she was able to stay in one place and fully immerse herself in academics, extracurriculars and the social scene.

“My four years of high school probably couldn’t have gone better if I had scripted it,” she said. This fall, Sylvester is leaving Morse High School in Maine to become a member of Morse College.

And most members of the class of 2021 are moving onto campus only one summer removed from high school. Only 43 students, or four percent of respondents, took a gap year.

STUDENTS REPORT IMPROVED ACCESS TO FINANCIAL AID

The survey indicated a greater degree of socioeconomic diversity in the class of 2021 than in previous Yale classes. A little under one fifth of participants in the survey said that their legal guardians made under $65,000 a year, while 14 percent marked that their household incomes fell between $65,000 and $100,000, and around 15 percent of respondents said they came from households making more than $500,000. While the survey’s data still suggests the median household income of a Yale student is a great deal higher than the average American annual wage, it also marks an improvement from the level of income inequality at Yale identified by past studies. An analysis published by the New York Times earlier this year showed that between 2002 and 2014, more graduating Yalies came from the top 1 percent of the national income bracket than the entire bottom 60 percent (an income equal to or below $65,000). This did not hold true for those freshman who took this year’s survey.

Slightly more than 12 percent of students had a parent or grandparent that attended Yale, and about half of that number had a sibling who also attended or was attending Yale.

This year’s freshman survey also suggests that Yale’s financial aid program has improved its reach relative to years prior. The majority of survey-takers stated that financial aid was an important part of their college decision, and just over half of respondents said they received some form of financial assistance from Yale. Three quarters of those receiving financial aid said they were satisfied with their award, while less than 10 percent said they were not satisfied with their aid. Just under half of students who took the survey said they planned on seeking an on-campus job.

Additionally, according to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, this year’s class includes 250 students who will be the first in their family to graduate from college, an uptick from the 206 in the class of 2020. The class of 2021 also includes 253 students eligible for a federal Pell grant for low-income students, more than the 214 in last year’s freshman class.

And while Yale spent $128 million on financial aid last year, Scott Wallace-Juedes, the inaugural Director of Undergraduate Financial Aid, reaffirmed the University’s commitment to financial aid in the face of expansion.

“As Yale College expands in size with students from all backgrounds, we look forward to extending our generous need-based financial aid policies to more students than ever,” Wallace-Juedes said. “We are continually committed to making the Yale education accessible and affordable to all of our admitted students.”

MOST INCOMING FIRST-YEARS HAVE NOT HAD SEX, DONE DRUGS

Incoming first-years reported experiences with drugs, alcohol and sexual encounters consistent with the findings of previous News surveys.

The most commonly used substance according to the survey was alcohol, with 45 percent of respondents reporting trying it at least once. Twenty-one percent reported using marijuana, 12 percent indicated having used tobacco, with less than 2 percent indicating having used cocaine and ecstasy, respectively. Still, 20 percent said they had tried none of these.

Sixty one percent said they had never had sexual intercourse. Of those who said they have had intercourse, 51 percent reported having had one sexual partner, and 19 percent indicated having had two. Thirteen percent of respondents reported having had more than five sexual partners.

Students also reported varying degrees of religious observance. Overall, members of the class of 2021 do not self-identify as very religious: 35 percent said they were not religious at all, while just under 4 percent said they were very religious. The 36 percent of students who said they did not usually observe a faith outnumbered those who said they planned to observe their faith on campus on their own time or by attending services.

THREE QUARTERS OF STUDENTS IDENTIFY AS LIBERAL

Levels of political activity in the class varied, with self-reported levels of political engagement running the gamut.

An overwhelming majority of respondents, 73 percent, describe themselves as somewhat or very liberal. Sixteen percent identify as moderate, while only around 10 percent consider themselves somewhat or very conservative. These numbers are consistent with the survey the News distributed to the entire student body last November in advance of the 2016 presidential election.

Fifty one percent of respondents said they were registered to vote in the US, 31 percent said they were not and 18 percent said they were not eligible — slightly lower figures than the schoolwide average, according to the October 2016 survey.

Of those registered, 66 percent said they did not vote in the 2016 election, while 27 percent voted for Hillary Clinton LAW ’73 and 4 percent for Donald Trump.

When asked if they thought they had become more or less politically engaged since the election, half of respondents said they had become moderately more engaged. A smaller but substantial 24 percent said they had become significantly more engaged, and 18 percent reported no change.

Contact LUKE CIANCARELLI at luke.ciancarelli@yale.edu and RACHEL TREISMAN at rachel.treisman@yale.edu .

UP CLOSE:
ACA repeal prompts medical student advocacy

By Ellen Kan

Photography by Robbie Short

Published on April 28, 2017

Just past noon on Jan. 30, over 100 Yale medical students, hospital residents and faculty members congregated before the Sterling Hall of Medicine. At the top of the steps, six students stood shoulder to shoulder, wearing white lab coats over their winter clothes as they rallied the crowd with chants and neon signs.

This gathering at the heart of the Yale School of Medicine was one of nearly 50 demonstrations that took place at medical schools across the country that day. Protesting the potential repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the rallies called on members of Congress to put patients before politics and “do no harm.”

“It is important to remember that we have a special obligation when it comes to health care,” Matt Meizlish ’11 GRD ’20 MED ’20 told the crowd. “When we put on our white coats, we represent our patients. When we walk into a legislator’s office in our white coats, they know what you stand for, they know why you’re there. Let’s lend our voices everywhere they’re needed, but let’s lead when it comes to health care.”

Since it was signed into law in 2010, the ACA, also known as Obamacare, has faced strong opposition from the Republican Party, including multiple attempts at repeal. However, with President Donald Trump in the White House and Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, repeal stares the nation in the face as never before.

Priscilla Wang MED '17

'When you strip away all these political layers, everyone cares about health care and everyone cares for their family.'

Since the Nov. 8 presidential election, the threat of repeal has led to an upwelling of grassroots support for the act. One advocacy group born from these efforts is #ProtectOurPatients, a national campaign led by future health care providers dedicated to the ACA’s preservation and improvement. At the heart of this student movement is the Yale Healthcare Coalition, a group of medical students who have played an instrumental role in building #POP and mobilizing their peers — at Yale and nationwide.

Over the last six months, as Republicans have advanced a repeal plan that has been seven years in the making, the YHC has responded by writing op-eds, circulating petitions, leading phone banking efforts, sharing patient stories with Senate staffers and rallying in New Haven, Hartford and Washington, D.C.

In March, Republicans unveiled the American Health Care Act — an alternative health plan that would involve ACA repeal and replacement — but withdrew the bill later that month, citing disagreement within the party. The YHC joined advocacy groups around the country in celebrating this as a victory for grassroots activism.

Last week, however, Republicans revived the AHCA with a new amendment that may attract the necessary support to clear the House of Representatives, presenting a new challenge to the YHC and student health care activists nationwide. But given their limited reach, how influential can the coalition be in today’s politically charged, bitterly divided health care landscape? What is the role of medical students in this debate, and what can grassroots activism hope to achieve in the face of powerful obstacles?

CULTIVATING A STUDENT VOICE

The presidential election sent shockwaves through the country, and Yale was no exception. The week after Nov. 8, students and faculty from across campus convened at the Yale Law School to discuss the issues now at stake.

Matthew Meizlish '11 MED '20 GRD '20

'We see ourselves as apolitical, but that doesn't mean we sit on the sidelines. We think advocacy is an important part of taking care of our patients — it defines our generation of medical students.'

It was at this event, during a health care breakout session, that the Yale Healthcare Coalition was born. Karri Weisenthal ’09 MED ’18, a YHC leader, said she was motivated by the urgency of the moment, coupled with her firsthand observations of Obamacare’s benefits.

“All of us care about a lot of different issues that will be affected by this administration,” said Meizlish, another leader of the YHC. “We all need to offer energy and resistance where we’re best positioned to do it. We’re positioned well to have our voices heard in health care and to defend this particular group of vulnerable people — the people who will lose health insurance if the ACA is repealed.”

Following a series of informal meetings, the coalition developed from a core group of nine students, comprising Meizlish, Weisenthal, Juliana Berk-Krauss MED ’18, Eamon Duffy MED ’18 SOM ’18, Samara Fox ’09 MED ’19, Erik Levinsohn MED ’18, Talía Robledo-Gil MED ’18, Andi Shahu MED ’18 and Priscilla Wang MED ’17.

Within a month, the YHC found allies in like-minded medical students across the nation, and together they began building the #ProtectOurPatients movement. By the end of December, the YHC had also written a “Do No Harm” petition, which has since garnered signatures from over 5,000 future health care professionals calling on Congress to prioritize patients over party loyalty.

Juliana Berk-Krauss MED '18

'It’s important for those politicians and others across the country in power to hear not only from us, but also people at the bottom who will be most directly affected.'

As 2017 began, the YHC shifted more of its energy outward to influence swing state legislators to oppose ACA repeal. In a Jan. 12 op-ed in the Huffington Post, the group urged Republican lawmakers to put their constituents before party rhetoric. In an effort to oppose the nomination of then Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., for secretary of health and human services, the group launched a phone banking campaign.

The students also met with Dean of the School of Medicine Robert Alpern and Yale New Haven Health System President and CEO Marna Borgstrom SPH ’79, where they encouraged the administrators to take a public stand on the issue of the ACA.

To the students’ disappointment, Alpern and Borgstrom ultimately did not release a public statement on the ACA. In an interview with the News, Alpern reaffirmed his support for the students’ intentions but said that academic institutions retained a “social responsibility” to nonpartisanship, no matter the political climate.

However, Alpern underscored the difference between speaking as a representative of the medical school and as an individual. In an April 6 interview, he noted that although he and Borgstrom had canceled a planned op-ed following the March 24 AHCA defeat, they would write and publish the piece “if the bill should come alive again.”

Andi Shahu MED '18

'While it would be ideal to practice medicine in a vacuum, the reality is that’s not possible because the legislation being approved, the executive orders being signed — they all change and affect the way we practice.'

Among other changes, the AHCA proposes a system of tax credits which would more heavily subsidize high-income recipients. In addition, it would eliminate the ACA’s individual mandate, which requires people who can afford health insurance to purchase it, punishable by tax penalties.

But according to Wang, the most troubling component of the replacement bill is its restructuring of Medicaid. The AHCA would end Medicaid expansion, which Wang said threatens some of the country’s most vulnerable populations — low-income, disabled and elderly patients.

Duffy stressed the influence of the ACA on his medical career, noting that the act has defined medical education for his generation. He added that many medical students perceive health care as a universal human right.

“For the first time, you have medical students across the country who have been taught that because of the ACA, health care and health insurance should be accessible to everyone,” Duffy said. “I think that’s why you saw such a strong reaction by medical students. It would be as if someone came in and tried to rewrite all the rules of the human body.”

SHOULD MEDICINE BE ABOVE POLITICS?

But institutions of higher learning aside, in the current political climate, individual physicians must decide whether to silently serve as objective providers or take a stand on health care.

Over a dozen interviews with current and former Yale medical school administrators, faculty members and health law experts revealed unanimous support for public physician advocacy.

Yale School of Medicine Associate Dean of Student Affairs Nancy Angoff SPH ’81 MED ’90 said that while physicians should not advertise their political beliefs at patients’ bedsides, they do have a duty to fight for access to affordable, appropriate health care.

She recognized, however, that institutions may be worried that speaking out will cost them a seat at the political table. A response to this concern, she said, is to emphasize physicians’ right to say “we care about the wellbeing of our patients,” which is not a political statement.

Talía Robledo-Gil MED '18

'As medical students, we are often juggling many tasks at once. We’re used to this resetting and refocusing mentality.'

Former Dean of the School of Medicine David Kessler offered a similar perspective.

“What good is it if you spend your life working on developing a new medicine, but then people can’t afford it?” said Kessler, who served as dean from 1997 to 2003. “It’s a sad reflection on our times when taking care of patients and advocating health care for all is viewed as partisan. It’s not — it’s in the public interest.”

Former Dean Leon Rosenberg, who led the Med School from 1984 to 1991, applauded the YHC for its efforts. But like Angoff, he acknowledged the difficulty of striking a balance between speaking up for individual beliefs and protecting an institution’s reputation, noting that medicine’s oldest adage — “do no harm” — is not restricted to just the hospital room.

He added that the medical profession — both institutions and private practitioners — do not tend to be politically active.

“The idea that medicine is pure, that it doesn’t want to dirty itself with the rough and tumble of partisan politics — I think that’s old-fashioned and outdated,” Rosenberg said. “[Doctors] have an enormous stake in what happens across the broad panorama of health care, so I believe it is not only OK for medical professionals to become involved, but it is necessary that they speak from what they know best.”

Abbe Gluck ’96 LAW ’00, who encouraged the YHC to write their Jan. 12 Huffington Post op-ed and directs the Yale Law School Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy, noted that in the past, doctors have been one of health care reform’s biggest opponents, pointing to medical groups that opposed reform efforts in the 1960s. Gluck said that it is refreshing to see Yale students take the lead on shifting the narrative toward social justice and equality.

For medical professor Naftali Kaminski, who participated in some of the YHC’s rallies, the students are part of an especially important movement that has given the medical profession a strong moral and ethical foundation. Kaminski received his medical training in Israel, where health care is offered to all citizens and participation in a medical insurance plan is mandatory.

Samara Fox '09 MED '19

'Activism is about changing the rules of the game and changing the messaging. In some ways it’s more fun because you get to make your own rules, but on the other hand the impact can be less immediate and measurable than with direct services work, even though it’s just as important.'

He said that, from an outsider’s perspective, he has been frustrated that American physicians do not have a strong, collective position on the need for health care reform. He added that, in general, the desire to ensure access to care for all is not present in discussions about career choice, which he finds surprising.

Among the crowd rallying on Jan. 30 was Director of the Internal Medicine Traditional Residency Program Mark Siegel, who deemed efforts toward effective health care access a “professional responsibility.” He said that while doctors may hold contrasting opinions regarding the best method of health care delivery, they should unite against harmful health care legislation.

“I think it’s very appropriate for doctors to be involved in these conversations,” said Ben Howell, chief resident for advocacy and community health at the Department of Internal Medicine’s primary care program. “People worry about losing some of the objectivity when you start to make political statements, but I think that if you have power, you have to risk it sometimes to speak for people who don’t.”

A HOTBED OF ACTIVITY AT YALE

Although the YHC members had not previously engaged in activism on this scale, many have used previous experiences to build a foundation for their current political activity.

In 2013, for example, Meizlish and Wang helped cofound Students for a Better Healthcare System, a movement that later evolved into a national campaign aimed at educating community members about the ACA.

Eamon Duffy MED '18 SOM '18

'They tell you on your first day of (Yale) med school, if you ever have the choice between hitting the books and focusing on a community group, choose the community every time.'

At the time, Wang said, there was “a lot of misinformation” surrounding the ACA, with some patients even unaware that the ACA and Obamacare were the same. She added that through SBHS, she helped raise nonpartisan awareness about the act and assist patients in signing up for coverage.

“When you strip away all these political layers, everyone cares about health care and everyone cares for their family,” Wang said. “The majority of people in our audience were surprisingly supportive of the ACA, once it was removed from a political context. This underscored to me that as doctors, our responsibility is to provide our patients with the facts about matters that impact health — and this includes legislation and policies.”

Beyond the YHC, faculty members agree that the Yale School of Medicine has a rich history of activism, although student efforts have not always played out on the national stage. Rosenberg said that during his tenure, he did not recall medical students being noticeably vocal in national politics. Students were most invested in issues involving internal change, such as modifications to the Yale System of Medical Education, he said.

Alpern, who became dean in 2004, said there has been an uptick in student activism only in the last few years. Similarly, professor Robert Gifford, who has taught at Yale since 1966 and served as dean of education at the medical school from 1985 to 2000, agreed that in the last two decades, Yale students have generally been less active on the national scale, compared with Vietnam War and civil rights-related activism from the 1960s. However, he noted that in recent years, student activism has been directed more towards New Haven public health issues.

“That is such a tremendous difference from when I went to medical school — there was very little interest in the surrounding community. That’s not true here,” Gifford said. “It’s been a hotbed of activity for whatever the major cause might be. That’s one thing that really strikes me over the years.”

Gifford pointed to the early and mid-1990s, when a rise in student recognition of New Haven poverty led to the annual Hunger and Homelessness Auction at the medical school, which now regularly raises over $20,000 every year. The AIDS epidemic also fostered awareness among medical students of people without health insurance, particularly undocumented immigrants, Gifford said, which eventually led to the establishment of the HAVEN Free Clinic in 2005.

He added that the medical school incorporates a course titled “professional responsibility,” which teaches students about medical ethics, the pharmaceutical industry and health care policy. The class begins in the first week of the first year, which acquaints students with “all of the ethical and financial issues facing medicine right from the start,” Gifford said.

According to Angoff, medical students today also receive an education that places a much more pronounced emphasis on the social determinants of health care. Rather than simply studying disease processes, students are now more aware of the ways in which access to food, housing and education affect patient health.

However, Yale student activism in the health arena is not restricted to the medical school. In 2000, first-year law student Amy Kapczynski LAW ’03 spearheaded efforts to make more widely available an important anti-AIDS drug, for which Yale held a patent that was licensed to pharmaceutical firm Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Kapczynski, now a professor at Yale Law School and co-director of the Global Health Justice Partnership, praised medical student activism, noting that it allowed students to find their place in a critical national debate.

Many members of the YHC credit the Yale System for providing them an opportunity to get involved with student advocacy. The Yale System is a philosophy unique among medical schools that de-emphasizes grades and competition and encourages students to cultivate interests outside of the direct practice of medicine.

Meizlish said that founding SBHS would have been difficult at other medical schools, noting that he and his peers sometimes worked up to 40 hours a week on community health care education.

However, Fox noted that even with Yale’s flexibility, it is still hard to persuade peers that advocacy is worth their time. As the only second-year student in the YHC core group, Fox said that it has been especially hard to mobilize her class, although she has not found this surprising, given that the second-year students have just started their clinical rotations.

“They tell you on your first day of [Yale] med school, if you ever have the choice between hitting the books and focusing on a community group, choose the community every time,” Duffy said.

THE POWER OF THE SHORT WHITE COAT

Just as they had used the power of the short white coat — the traditional garb of a medical student — to teach the New Haven community about the ACA, the YHC is once again in a unique position to bridge the gap between patients and physicians, this time on the national scene.

On Jan. 9, Berk-Krauss, Levinsohn, Meizlish and Wang joined dozens of their peers in Washington, D.C. for one of several Days of Action organized by #POP.

In addition to delivering the “Do No Harm” petition to the offices of all 100 senators and sharing patient stories on a Facebook live video alongside Senate Democrats, the YHC representatives also met with staff members of Republican senators who had expressed concerns about ACA repeal. Meizlish said that they were taken very seriously by Republican staffers, who appeared genuinely open to their views.

As they walked through the halls of a Senate building, Wang recalled being approached by people who asked, “why are the doctors here? There must be something going on.”

“That spoke to me about the power of our position and the responsibility we have to speak out,” Wang told the News. “The message we often get in medical school is a sense of delayed gratification — someday you’ll be able to effectively take care of patients. It was empowering to hear that people cared about what medical students had to say, that trainees can make a difference right now.”

Alpern and Gifford both noted that part of being a student is defending the higher good, which happens less as people get further along in their medical training. Howell added that unlike residents, who are spread out across different specialty programs, medical students generally have more opportunities to make connections with like-minded peers.

“Let’s face it — youth do things that older people somehow are a little more hesitant to do,” Gifford said. “It’s a little embarrassing, to tell you the truth, that students are out in front on this issue. They’re standing up for what needs to be said.”

(Photo by Ellen Kan.)

At once trainees and trusted care providers, medical students occupy a unique position between community and medicine. Shahu acknowledged that some people could argue that students have less of an impact than licensed medical providers, because they lack the title that can earn a seat at the table.

But although medical students do not have as much experience as fully trained doctors, they also do not carry the baggage that comes with the profession, Berk-Krauss said. Fox added that it is not the role of medical students to make complex policy arguments, however tempting this may be. Rather, she said, the real impact of medical student activism lies in its ability to paint portraits of the real people impacted by policy, because students, alongside nurses, usually spend the most time talking to patients.

(Courtesy of #ProtectOurPatients.)

“In graduate school, you can feel very small and inconsequential,” Duffy said. “But when you call a Senate staffer and they say, ‘wow, this is awesome, we want to hear your perspective on health care,’ you make the next call.”

Psychiatry Clerkship Director Kirsten Wilkins said that the YHC regularly informs faculty members of their plans for advocacy. She pointed to the YHC’s April 18 op-ed in the well-known Academic Medicine journal as a compelling argument that has inspired her personally to become a more politically active physician.

Similarly, Ben Doolittle ’91 DIV ’94 MED ’97, who directs the Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program, said that medical students create a much-needed model of engagement with health care policy, adding that he wasn’t sure demonstrations such as the Jan. 30 rally would happen without the students.

(Courtesy of Priscilla Wang.)

“I think we all agree that things like science should not be politicized,” Shahu said. “The problem is when you have an administration that is threatening to do things like remove funding for essential research or gut something like the ACA that provides care for millions of people. While it would be ideal to practice medicine in a vacuum, the reality is that’s not possible because the legislation being approved, the executive orders being signed — they all change and affect the way we practice.”

Medical education is shifting toward a system that emphasizes value of health care over volume, said Howard Forman, a Yale professor of radiology, economics and public health. Forman said that while it may be too hard to change how current physicians practice, the up-and-coming generation of doctors will be better prepared to deliver cheaper, higher-quality and more accessible health care.

Kaminski said that he hopes to see physicians take on more leadership roles in health care and politics, which will ultimately make the medical profession a more positive force in society.

“If people just have opinions, nothing changes,” Kaminski said. “That’s why student activism — going outside on a cold day, standing in your white coat, meeting with politicians, challenging administration — is so important. You’re defining yourself based on your actions.”

(Graphic by David Hurtado.)

SUSTAINING GRASSROOTS ADVOCACY IN THE LONG TERM

Although the YHC has garnered widespread support from the medical school’s faculty and administration, a broader challenge lies in making their voices heard beyond the Elm City.

Confronted with forces far more complex than those covered in the medical curriculum, their challenge is twofold: building momentum for a national movement while sustaining this activism in the long term.

“There was a lot of alarm all over the country and a lot of motivated groups,” Wang said of the aftermath of the Nov. 8 election. “It seemed like efforts were flying out of the woodwork, which is great, but we were also worried that they would get fragmented. How do we harness that energy and combine all of our voices?”

The first step was embracing what was demanded by the circumstances — the grassroots nature of the movement with both its uncertainties and excitement, according to YHC member Robledo-Gil.

“As medical students, we are often juggling many tasks at once. We’re used to this resetting and refocusing mentality,” Robledo-Gil said. “We were trying to figure out what to do while simultaneously learning how the political system works, to best identify ways to harness the passion and motivation of such a dynamic group of people.”

Meizlish said he believes that the “Do No Harm” petition was a key catalyst for uniting student activists across the nation and amplified their collective voice.

However, even with the extra flexibility afforded by the Yale System, organizing around so many different schedules was difficult, especially for core members pursuing research outside of New Haven or applying to residency programs. But Robledo-Gil said that due to the grassroots nature of the YHC and lack of previously defined organizational leadership structure, the students were able to choose tasks that not only worked well with their weekly schedules, but also showcased their individual strengths.

At the same time, prioritizing the grassroots nature of the YHC and #POP reflects a genuine investment in the community’s best interests, Wang said. She pointed out that when the ACA was first signed into law, some people viewed its top-down implementation in a negative light, which is part of why the act lacked substantial public support from the very beginning.

Berk-Krauss added that a broad base of community support for #POP was also important because it created a stark contrast with the dynamics in Washington, where there were only a few politicians responsible for a bill with such wide-reaching ramifications.

“Repealing [the ACA] would impact millions of people who largely didn’t have a voice,” Berk-Krauss said. “It’s important for those politicians and others across the country in power to hear not only from us, but also people at the bottom who will be most directly affected.”

The Republicans’ March 6 release of the AHCA was a sudden turn of events that forced the YHC to abandon many of their long-term tactics, such as a carefully planned op-ed campaign, and assume an “all hands on deck” response to the situation, Wang said.

Along with their peers across the country, the YHC spent their days monitoring the news and inundating Congressional offices with phone calls and tweets.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

Sens. Richard Blumenthal LAW ’73, D-Conn., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., both told the News that grassroots advocates were the most important players in the AHCA’s defeat on March 24.

“Grassroots advocacy changed the entire political dynamic because it literally brought to the fore a kind of common sense and real-world understanding of what the consequences would be for average people, about these draconian cuts in coverage that would happen under ‘Trumpcare,’” Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal also described the medical community as a force that has “tethered the political debate to science and reality and insisted that policy be fact-based.”

In an interview with the News, Murphy noted that while a lot of attention was paid to the right-wing Freedom Caucus as the main cause of the AHCA’s defeat, there were far more Republicans from swing districts who were ready to vote against the bill.

Sen. Chris Murphy.

“Republicans ultimately knew they were going to lose their seats in Congress if they voted for a bill that stripped health care from 24 million Americans and raised prices by 20 percent,” Murphy said.

The impact of the grassroots student movement is two-sided. In terms of legislative advocacy, #POP students collectively made over 3,000 calls to Congress, authored over a dozen op-eds and visited their representatives at district offices, town halls and Capitol Hill, said #POP cofounder Sidra Bonner, a fourth-year medical student at the University of California, San Francisco.

However, #POP has also made a significant impact within the medical community itself by providing students with a platform to join forces with peers and learn more about specific health policy topics. Bonner added that the YHC has been a major contributor to all stages of the #POP planning process, from developing phone banking scripts to coordinating nationwide Days of Action.

“There is inherent power in the medical community to create change in the national healthcare debate, given the generally positive public perception of health care professionals,” Bonner said. “I think that the voices of providers have been strengthening over the past several months, but [there] is still a need for continuing collaboration and coalition building across organizations and grassroots movements.”

Although House Republicans are still divided over the amended AHCA, the possibility of ACA repeal remains a stark reality, with the House voting on the AHCA as early as next week. The YHC and #POP are returning to their grassroots advocacy — phone banking and social media — to call on Congress to put patients before politics.

The silver lining, members of the YHC agree, is that Trump’s election has galvanized support for the ACA and universal health care at both the medical school and nationwide. No matter what happens to the ACA, what remains to be seen is how this new generation of physicians will carve out a role for themselves in both their medical specialties and an ever-changing political landscape.

“It’ll be fun to see how this ripples throughout everyone’s careers when we’re all attendings and physicians,” Duffy said. “When a young medical student approaches us and asks us if we want to participate in a health care rally they’re organizing, we’ll be ready.”

Correction, May 4: An earlier version of this story mistakenly suggested that Abbe Gluck ’96 LAW ’00 said doctors had opposed health care reform efforts in the past due to interests in personal gain. In fact, she stated that doctors had opposed past reform efforts due to other reasons.

 

UP CLOSE: ACA repeal prompts medical student advocacy

By Ellen Kan

Published on

Just past noon on Jan. 30, over 100 Yale medical students, hospital residents and faculty members congregated before the Sterling Hall of Medicine. At the top of the steps, six students stood shoulder to shoulder, wearing white lab coats over their winter clothes as they rallied the crowd with chants and neon signs.

This gathering at the heart of the Yale School of Medicine was one of nearly 50 demonstrations that took place at medical schools across the country that day. Protesting the potential repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the rallies called on members of Congress to put patients before politics and “do no harm.”

“It is important to remember that we have a special obligation when it comes to health care,” Matt Meizlish ’11 GRD ’20 MED ’20 told the crowd. “When we put on our white coats, we represent our patients. When we walk into a legislator’s office in our white coats, they know what you stand for, they know why you’re there. Let’s lend our voices everywhere they’re needed, but let’s lead when it comes to health care.”

“” (Photo by Robbie Short)

Since it was signed into law in 2010, the ACA, also known as Obamacare, has faced strong opposition from the Republican Party, including multiple attempts at repeal. However, with President Donald Trump in the White House and Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, repeal stares the nation in the face as never before.

Since the Nov. 8 presidential election, the threat of repeal has led to an upwelling of grassroots support for the act. One advocacy group born from these efforts is #ProtectOurPatients, a national campaign led by future health care providers dedicated to the ACA’s preservation and improvement. At the heart of this student movement is the Yale Healthcare Coalition, a group of medical students who have played an instrumental role in building #POP and mobilizing their peers — at Yale and nationwide.

Over the last six months, as Republicans have advanced a repeal plan that has been seven years in the making, the YHC has responded by writing op-eds, circulating petitions, leading phone banking efforts, sharing patient stories with Senate staffers and rallying in New Haven, Hartford and Washington, D.C.

In March, Republicans unveiled the American Health Care Act — an alternative health plan that would involve ACA repeal and replacement — but withdrew the bill later that month, citing disagreement within the party. The YHC joined advocacy groups around the country in celebrating this as a victory for grassroots activism.

Last week, however, Republicans revived the AHCA with a new amendment that may attract the necessary support to clear the House of Representatives, presenting a new challenge to the YHC and student health care activists nationwide. But given their limited reach, how influential can the coalition be in today’s politically charged, bitterly divided health care landscape? What is the role of medical students in this debate, and what can grassroots activism hope to achieve in the face of powerful obstacles?

CULTIVATING A STUDENT VOICE

The presidential election sent shockwaves through the country, and Yale was no exception. The week after Nov. 8, students and faculty from across campus convened at the Yale Law School to discuss the issues now at stake.

It was at this event, during a health care breakout session, that the Yale Healthcare Coalition was born. Karri Weisenthal ’09 MED ’18, a YHC leader, said she was motivated by the urgency of the moment, coupled with her firsthand observations of Obamacare’s benefits.

“All of us care about a lot of different issues that will be affected by this administration,” said Meizlish, another leader of the YHC. “We all need to offer energy and resistance where we’re best positioned to do it. We’re positioned well to have our voices heard in health care and to defend this particular group of vulnerable people — the people who will lose health insurance if the ACA is repealed.”

Following a series of informal meetings, the coalition developed from a core group of nine students, comprising Meizlish, Weisenthal, Juliana Berk-Krauss MED ’18, Eamon Duffy MED ’18 SOM ’18, Samara Fox ’09 MED ’19, Erik Levinsohn MED ’18, Talía Robledo-Gil MED ’18, Andi Shahu MED ’18 and Priscilla Wang MED ’17.

“” (Photo by Robbie Short)

Within a month, the YHC found allies in like-minded medical students across the nation, and together they began building the #ProtectOurPatients movement. By the end of December, the YHC had also written a “Do No Harm” petition , which has since garnered signatures from over 5,000 future health care professionals calling on Congress to prioritize patients over party loyalty.

As 2017 began, the YHC shifted more of its energy outward to influence swing state legislators to oppose ACA repeal. In a Jan. 12 op-ed in the Huffington Post, the group urged Republican lawmakers to put their constituents before party rhetoric. In an effort to oppose the nomination of then Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., for secretary of health and human services, the group launched a phone banking campaign.

The students also met with Dean of the School of Medicine Robert Alpern and Yale New Haven Health System President and CEO Marna Borgstrom SPH ’79, where they encouraged the administrators to take a public stand on the issue of the ACA.

To the students’ disappointment, Alpern and Borgstrom ultimately did not release a public statement on the ACA. In an interview with the News, Alpern reaffirmed his support for the students’ intentions but said that academic institutions retained a “social responsibility” to nonpartisanship, no matter the political climate.

However, Alpern underscored the difference between speaking as a representative of the medical school and as an individual. In an April 6 interview, he noted that although he and Borgstrom had canceled a planned op-ed following the March 24 AHCA defeat, they would write and publish the piece “if the bill should come alive again.”

Among other changes, the AHCA proposes a system of tax credits which would more heavily subsidize high-income recipients. In addition, it would eliminate the ACA’s individual mandate, which requires people who can afford health insurance to purchase it, punishable by tax penalties.

But according to Wang, the most troubling component of the replacement bill is its restructuring of Medicaid. The AHCA would end Medicaid expansion, which Wang said threatens some of the country’s most vulnerable populations — low-income, disabled and elderly patients.

(Photo by Robbie Short)

Duffy stressed the influence of the ACA on his medical career, noting that the act has defined medical education for his generation. He added that many medical students perceive health care as a universal human right.

“For the first time, you have medical students across the country who have been taught that because of the ACA, health care and health insurance should be accessible to everyone,” Duffy said. “I think that’s why you saw such a strong reaction by medical students. It would be as if someone came in and tried to rewrite all the rules of the human body.”

SHOULD MEDICINE BE ABOVE POLITICS?

But institutions of higher learning aside, in the current political climate, individual physicians must decide whether to silently serve as objective providers or take a stand on health care.

Over a dozen interviews with current and former Yale medical school administrators, faculty members and health law experts revealed unanimous support for public physician advocacy.

Yale School of Medicine Associate Dean of Student Affairs Nancy Angoff SPH ’81 MED ’90 said that while physicians should not advertise their political beliefs at patients’ bedsides, they do have a duty to fight for access to affordable, appropriate health care.

She recognized, however, that institutions may be worried that speaking out will cost them a seat at the political table. A response to this concern, she said, is to emphasize physicians’ right to say “we care about the wellbeing of our patients,” which is not a political statement.

Former Dean of the School of Medicine David Kessler offered a similar perspective.

“What good is it if you spend your life working on developing a new medicine, but then people can’t afford it?” said Kessler, who served as dean from 1997 to 2003. “It’s a sad reflection on our times when taking care of patients and advocating health care for all is viewed as partisan. It’s not — it’s in the public interest.”

Former Dean Leon Rosenberg, who led the Med School from 1984 to 1991, applauded the YHC for its efforts. But like Angoff, he acknowledged the difficulty of striking a balance between speaking up for individual beliefs and protecting an institution’s reputation, noting that medicine’s oldest adage — “do no harm” — is not restricted to just the hospital room.

He added that the medical profession — both institutions and private practitioners — do not tend to be politically active.

“The idea that medicine is pure, that it doesn’t want to dirty itself with the rough and tumble of partisan politics — I think that’s old-fashioned and outdated,” Rosenberg said. “[Doctors] have an enormous stake in what happens across the broad panorama of health care, so I believe it is not only OK for medical professionals to become involved, but it is necessary that they speak from what they know best.”

Abbe Gluck ’96 LAW ’00, who encouraged the YHC to write their Jan. 12 Huffington Post op-ed and directs the Yale Law School Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy, noted that historically, doctors have been health care reform’s biggest opponents due to vested interests in personal gain. However, she said that it is refreshing to see Yale students shift the narrative toward social justice and equality

For medical professor Naftali Kaminski, who participated in some of the YHC’s rallies, the students are part of an especially important movement that has given the medical profession a strong moral and ethical foundation. Kaminski received his medical training in Israel, where health care is offered to all citizens and participation in a medical insurance plan is mandatory.

He said that, from an outsider’s perspective, he has been frustrated that American physicians do not have a strong, collective position on the need for health care reform. He added that, in general, the desire to ensure access to care for all is not present in discussions about career choice, which he finds surprising.

Among the crowd rallying on Jan. 30 was Director of the Internal Medicine Traditional Residency Program Mark Siegel, who deemed efforts toward effective health care access a “professional responsibility.” He said that while doctors may hold contrasting opinions regarding the best method of health care delivery, they should unite against harmful health care legislation.

“I think it’s very appropriate for doctors to be involved in these conversations,” said Ben Howell, chief resident for advocacy and community health at the Department of Internal Medicine’s primary care program. “People worry about losing some of the objectivity when you start to make political statements, but I think that if you have power, you have to risk it sometimes to speak for people who don’t.”

A HOTBED OF ACTIVITY AT YALE

Although the YHC members had not previously engaged in activism on this scale, many have used previous experiences to build a foundation for their current political activity.

In 2013, for example, Meizlish and Wang helped cofound Students for a Better Healthcare System, a movement that later evolved into a national campaign aimed at educating community members about the ACA.

At the time, Wang said, there was “a lot of misinformation” surrounding the ACA, with some patients even unaware that the ACA and Obamacare were the same. She added that through SBHS, she helped raise nonpartisan awareness about the act and assist patients in signing up for coverage.

“When you strip away all these political layers, everyone cares about health care and everyone cares for their family,” Wang said. “The majority of people in our audience were surprisingly supportive of the ACA, once it was removed from a political context. This underscored to me that as doctors, our responsibility is to provide our patients with the facts about matters that impact health — and this includes legislation and policies.”

Beyond the YHC, faculty members agree that the Yale School of Medicine has a rich history of activism, although student efforts have not always played out on the national stage. Rosenberg said that during his tenure, he did not recall medical students being noticeably vocal in national politics. Students were most invested in issues involving internal change, such as modifications to the Yale System of Medical Education, he said.

Alpern, who became dean in 2004, said there has been an uptick in student activism only in the last few years. Similarly, professor Robert Gifford, who has taught at Yale since 1966 and served as dean of education at the medical school from 1985 to 2000, agreed that in the last two decades, Yale students have generally been less active on the national scale, compared with Vietnam War and civil rights-related activism from the 1960s. However, he noted that in recent years, student activism has been directed more towards New Haven public health issues.

“That is such a tremendous difference from when I went to medical school — there was very little interest in the surrounding community. That’s not true here,” Gifford said. “It’s been a hotbed of activity for whatever the major cause might be. That’s one thing that really strikes me over the years.”

Gifford pointed to the early and mid-1990s, when a rise in student recognition of New Haven poverty led to the annual Hunger and Homelessness Auction at the medical school, which now regularly raises over $20,000 every year. The AIDS epidemic also fostered awareness among medical students of people without health insurance, particularly undocumented immigrants, Gifford said, which eventually led to the establishment of the HAVEN Free Clinic in 2005.

He added that the medical school incorporates a course titled “professional responsibility,” which teaches students about medical ethics, the pharmaceutical industry and health care policy. The class begins in the first week of the first year, which acquaints students with “all of the ethical and financial issues facing medicine right from the start,” Gifford said.

According to Angoff, medical students today also receive an education that places a much more pronounced emphasis on the social determinants of health care. Rather than simply studying disease processes, students are now more aware of the ways in which access to food, housing and education affect patient health.

However, Yale student activism in the health arena is not restricted to the medical school. In 2000, first-year law student Amy Kapczynski LAW ’03 spearheaded efforts to make more widely available an important anti-AIDS drug, for which Yale held a patent that was licensed to pharmaceutical firm Bristol-Myers Squibb.

(Photo by Robbie Short)

Kapczynski, now a professor at Yale Law School and co-director of the Global Health Justice Partnership, praised medical student activism, noting that it allowed students to find their place in a critical national debate.

Many members of the YHC credit the Yale System for providing them an opportunity to get involved with student advocacy. The Yale System is a philosophy unique among medical schools that de-emphasizes grades and competition and encourages students to cultivate interests outside of the direct practice of medicine.

Meizlish said that founding SBHS would have been difficult at other medical schools, noting that he and his peers sometimes worked up to 40 hours a week on community health care education.

However, Fox noted that even with Yale’s flexibility, it is still hard to persuade peers that advocacy is worth their time. As the only second-year student in the YHC core group, Fox said that it has been especially hard to mobilize her class, although she has not found this surprising, given that the second-year students have just started their clinical rotations.

“They tell you on your first day of [Yale] med school, if you ever have the choice between hitting the books and focusing on a community group, choose the community every time,” Duffy said.

THE POWER OF THE SHORT WHITE COAT

Just as they had used the power of the short white coat — the traditional garb of a medical student — to teach the New Haven community about the ACA, the YHC is once again in a unique position to bridge the gap between patients and physicians, this time on the national scene.

On Jan. 9, Berk-Krauss, Levinsohn, Meizlish and Wang joined dozens of their peers in Washington, D.C. for one of several Days of Action organized by #POP.

In addition to delivering the “Do No Harm” petition to the offices of all 100 senators and sharing patient stories on a Facebook live video alongside Senate Democrats, the YHC representatives also met with staff members of Republican senators who had expressed concerns about ACA repeal. Meizlish said that they were taken very seriously by Republican staffers, who appeared genuinely open to their views.

As they walked through the halls of a Senate building, Wang recalled being approached by people who asked, “why are the doctors here? There must be something going on.”

“That spoke to me about the power of our position and the responsibility we have to speak out,” Wang told the News. “The message we often get in medical school is a sense of delayed gratification — someday you’ll be able to effectively take care of patients. It was empowering to hear that people cared about what medical students had to say, that trainees can make a difference right now.”

Alpern and Gifford both noted that part of being a student is defending the higher good, which happens less as people get further along in their medical training. Howell added that unlike residents, who are spread out across different specialty programs, medical students generally have more opportunities to make connections with like-minded peers.

“Let’s face it — youth do things that older people somehow are a little more hesitant to do,” Gifford said. “It’s a little embarrassing, to tell you the truth, that students are out in front on this issue. They’re standing up for what needs to be said.”

At once trainees and trusted care providers, medical students occupy a unique position between community and medicine. Shahu acknowledged that some people could argue that students have less of an impact than licensed medical providers, because they lack the title that can earn a seat at the table.

But although medical students do not have as much experience as fully trained doctors, they also do not carry the baggage that comes with the profession, Berk-Krauss said. Fox added that it is not the role of medical students to make complex policy arguments, however tempting this may be. Rather, she said, the real impact of medical student activism lies in its ability to paint portraits of the real people impacted by policy, because students, alongside nurses, usually spend the most time talking to patients.

“In graduate school, you can feel very small and inconsequential,” Duffy said. “But when you call a Senate staffer and they say, ‘wow, this is awesome, we want to hear your perspective on health care,’ you make the next call.”

Psychiatry Clerkship Director Kirsten Wilkins said that the YHC regularly informs faculty members of their plans for advocacy. She pointed to the YHC’s April 18 op-ed in the well-known Academic Medicine journal as a compelling argument that has inspired her personally to become a more politically active physician.

Similarly, Ben Doolittle ’91 DIV ’94 MED ’97, who directs the Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program, said that medical students create a much-needed model of engagement with health care policy, adding that he wasn’t sure demonstrations such as the Jan. 30 rally would happen without the students.

“I think we all agree that things like science should not be politicized,” Shahu said. “The problem is when you have an administration that is threatening to do things like remove funding for essential research or gut something like the ACA that provides care for millions of people. While it would be ideal to practice medicine in a vacuum, the reality is that’s not possible because the legislation being approved, the executive orders being signed — they all change and affect the way we practice.”

Medical education is shifting toward a system that emphasizes value of health care over volume, said Howard Forman, a Yale professor of radiology, economics and public health. Forman said that while it may be too hard to change how current physicians practice, the up-and-coming generation of doctors will be better prepared to deliver cheaper, higher-quality and more accessible health care.

Kaminski said that he hopes to see physicians take on more leadership roles in health care and politics, which will ultimately make the medical profession a more positive force in society.

“If people just have opinions, nothing changes,” Kaminski said. “That’s why student activism — going outside on a cold day, standing in your white coat, meeting with politicians, challenging administration — is so important. You’re defining yourself based on your actions.”

SUSTAINING GRASSROOTS ADVOCACY IN THE LONG TERM

Although the YHC has garnered widespread support from the medical school’s faculty and administration, a broader challenge lies in making their voices heard beyond the Elm City.

Confronted with forces far more complex than those covered in the medical curriculum, their challenge is twofold: building momentum for a national movement while sustaining this activism in the long term.

“There was a lot of alarm all over the country and a lot of motivated groups,” Wang said of the aftermath of the Nov. 8 election. “It seemed like efforts were flying out of the woodwork, which is great, but we were also worried that they would get fragmented. How do we harness that energy and combine all of our voices?”

The first step was embracing what was demanded by the circumstances — the grassroots nature of the movement with both its uncertainties and excitement, according to YHC member Robledo-Gil.

“As medical students, we are often juggling many tasks at once. We’re used to this resetting and refocusing mentality,” Robledo-Gil said. “We were trying to figure out what to do while simultaneously learning how the political system works, to best identify ways to harness the passion and motivation of such a dynamic group of people.”

Meizlish said he believes that the “Do No Harm” petition was a key catalyst for uniting student activists across the nation and amplified their collective voice.

However, even with the extra flexibility afforded by the Yale System, organizing around so many different schedules was difficult, especially for core members pursuing research outside of New Haven or applying to residency programs. But Robledo-Gil said that due to the grassroots nature of the YHC and lack of previously defined organizational leadership structure, the students were able to choose tasks that not only worked well with their weekly schedules, but also showcased their individual strengths.

At the same time, prioritizing the grassroots nature of the YHC and #POP reflects a genuine investment in the community’s best interests, Wang said. She pointed out that when the ACA was first signed into law, some people viewed its top-down implementation in a negative light, which is part of why the act lacked substantial public support from the very beginning.

Berk-Krauss added that a broad base of community support for #POP was also important because it created a stark contrast with the dynamics in Washington, where there were only a few politicians responsible for a bill with such wide-reaching ramifications.

“Repealing [the ACA] would impact millions of people who largely didn’t have a voice,” Berk-Krauss said. “It’s important for those politicians and others across the country in power to hear not only from us, but also people at the bottom who will be most directly affected.”

The Republicans’ March 6 release of the AHCA was a sudden turn of events that forced the YHC to abandon many of their long-term tactics, such as a carefully planned op-ed campaign, and assume an “all hands on deck” response to the situation, Wang said.

Along with their peers across the country, the YHC spent their days monitoring the news and inundating Congressional offices with phone calls and tweets.

Sens. Richard Blumenthal LAW ’73, D-Conn., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., both told the News that grassroots advocates were the most important players in the AHCA’s defeat on March 24.

“Grassroots advocacy changed the entire political dynamic because it literally brought to the fore a kind of common sense and real-world understanding of what the consequences would be for average people, about these draconian cuts in coverage that would happen under ‘Trumpcare,’” Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal also described the medical community as a force that has “tethered the political debate to science and reality and insisted that policy be fact-based.”

In an interview with the News, Murphy noted that while a lot of attention was paid to the right-wing Freedom Caucus as the main cause of the AHCA’s defeat, there were far more Republicans from swing districts who were ready to vote against the bill.

“Republicans ultimately knew they were going to lose their seats in Congress if they voted for a bill that stripped health care from 24 million Americans and raised prices by 20 percent,” Murphy said.

The impact of the grassroots student movement is two-sided. In terms of legislative advocacy, #POP students collectively made over 3,000 calls to Congress, authored over a dozen op-eds and visited their representatives at district offices, town halls and Capitol Hill, said #POP cofounder Sidra Bonner, a fourth-year medical student at the University of California, San Francisco.

However, #POP has also made a significant impact within the medical community itself by providing students with a platform to join forces with peers and learn more about specific health policy topics. Bonner added that the YHC has been a major contributor to all stages of the #POP planning process, from developing phone banking scripts to coordinating nationwide Days of Action.

“There is inherent power in the medical community to create change in the national healthcare debate, given the generally positive public perception of health care professionals,” Bonner said. “I think that the voices of providers have been strengthening over the past several months, but [there] is still a need for continuing collaboration and coalition building across organizations and grassroots movements.”

Although House Republicans are still divided over the amended AHCA, the possibility of ACA repeal remains a stark reality, with the House voting on the AHCA as early as next week. The YHC and #POP are returning to their grassroots advocacy — phone banking and social media — to call on Congress to put patients before politics.

The silver lining, members of the YHC agree, is that Trump’s election has galvanized support for the ACA and universal health care at both the medical school and nationwide. No matter what happens to the ACA, what remains to be seen is how this new generation of physicians will carve out a role for themselves in both their medical specialties and an ever-changing political landscape.

“It’ll be fun to see how this ripples throughout everyone’s careers when we’re all attendings and physicians,” Duffy said. “When a young medical student approaches us and asks us if we want to participate in a health care rally they’re organizing, we’ll be ready.”