Editing Yale University (section)

==History==
===Early history of Yale College===
====Origins====
Yale traces its beginnings to "An Act for Liberty to Erect a Collegiate School", a would-be charter passed in [[New Haven]] by the General Court of the [[Connecticut Colony|Colony of Connecticut]] on October 9, 1701. The Act was an effort to create an institution to train ministers and lay leadership. Soon after, a group of ten [[Congregationalism in the United States|Congregational]] ministers, [[Samuel Andrew]], Thomas Buckingham, Israel Chauncy, Samuel Mather (nephew of [[Increase Mather]]), Rev. James Noyes II (son of [[James Noyes]]), [[James Pierpont (Yale founder)|James Pierpont]], [[Abraham Pierson]], [[Noadiah Russell (Yale founder)|Noadiah Russell]], Joseph Webb, and [[Timothy Woodbridge]], all [[Harvard]] [[alumni]], met in the study of Reverend [[Samuel Russell (Yale co-founder)|Samuel Russell]], in [[Branford, Connecticut|Branford]], to donate books to form the school's library.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hallett|first=Vicky C.|date=March 11, 1999|title=I'm Gonna Git YOU Sukka: Classic Stories of Revenge at Harvard|work=[[The Harvard Crimson]]|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=97832|url-status=dead|access-date=February 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060215150444/http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=97832|archive-date=February 15, 2006}}</ref> The group, led by [[James Pierpont (Yale founder)|James Pierpont]], is now known as "The Founders".<ref>{{cite web|title=Yale: A Short History – The Beginnings|url=http://www.library.yale.edu/mssa/YHO/Piersons/beginnings.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160607235603/http://www.library.yale.edu/mssa/YHO/Piersons/beginnings.html|archive-date=June 7, 2016|access-date=June 16, 2016|website=www.library.yale.edu|publisher=Yale University}}</ref>

[[File:A Front View of Yale College and the College Chapel New Haven printed by Daniel Bowen.jpg|thumb|Front view of "Yale-College" and the chapel, printed by Daniel Bowen in 1786]]

Known from its origin as the "Collegiate School", the institution opened in the home of its first [[Rector (academia)|rector]], Abraham Pierson, who is considered Yale's first president. Pierson lived in [[Killingworth, Connecticut|Killingworth]]. The school moved to [[Old Saybrook, Connecticut|Saybrook]] in 1703, when the first treasurer of Yale, Nathaniel Lynde, donated land and a building. In 1716, it moved to New Haven.

Meanwhile, there was a rift forming at Harvard between its sixth president, Increase Mather, and the rest of the Harvard clergy, whom Mather viewed as increasingly liberal, ecclesiastically lax, and overly broad in [[Ecclesiastical polity|Church polity]]. The feud caused the Mathers to champion the Collegiate School in the hope it would maintain the [[Puritan]] religious orthodoxy in a way Harvard had not.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/ah_057300_matherincrea.htm |title=Increase Mather |access-date=April 17, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060211012309/http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/ah_057300_matherincrea.htm |archive-date=February 11, 2006}}, ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition]]'', [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]</ref> Rev. [[Jason Haven]], minister at the [[First Church and Parish in Dedham]], Massachusetts, had been considered for the presidency on account of his orthodox theology and "Neatness dignity and purity of Style [which] surpass those of all that have been mentioned", but was passed over due to his "very Valetudinary and infirm State of Health".<ref>{{cite book|last=Hanson|first=Robert Brand |title=Dedham, Massachusetts, 1635–1890|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4oslAQAAMAAJ|year=1976|publisher=Dedham Historical Society|page=164}}</ref>

====Naming and development====
[[File:Yale family chrest.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Coat of arms of the family of [[Elihu Yale]], after whom the university was named in 1718]]

In 1718, at the behest of either Rector [[Samuel Andrew]] or the colony's Governor [[Gurdon Saltonstall]], [[Cotton Mather]] contacted the Boston-born businessman [[Elihu Yale]] to ask for money to construct a new building for the college. Through the persuasion of [[Jeremiah Dummer]], Yale, who had made a fortune in [[Chennai|Madras]] while working for the [[East India Company]] as the first president of [[Fort St. George]], donated nine bales of goods, which were sold for more than £560, a substantial sum of money. Cotton Mather suggested the school change its name to "Yale College".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Love |first=Henry Davison |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4506718&view=1up&seq=535&q1=yale |title=Indian Records Series Vestiges of Old Madras 1640–1800 |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |year=1913 |volume=1 |location=London |pages=491}}</ref> The name Yale is the Anglicized spelling of the [[Welsh (language)|Welsh]] name [[Iâl]], which had been used for the family estate at Plas yn Iâl, near [[Llandegla]], Wales.

Meanwhile, a Harvard graduate working in England convinced 180 prominent intellectuals to donate books to Yale. The 1714 shipment of 500 books represented the best of modern English literature, science, philosophy and theology.<ref>{{cite book |last=Oviatt |first=Edwin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JKJLAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA298 |title=The Beginnings of Yale (1701–1726) |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=1916 |location=[[New Haven]] |pages=298–302 |access-date=November 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723033400/https://books.google.com/books?id=JKJLAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA298 |archive-date=July 23, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> It had a profound effect on intellectuals at Yale. Undergraduate [[Jonathan Edwards (theologian)|Jonathan Edwards]] discovered [[John Locke]]'s works and developed his "[[new divinity]]". In 1722 the rector and six friends, who had a study group to discuss the new ideas, announced they had given up [[Calvinism]], become [[Arminianism|Arminians]], and joined the [[Church of England]]. They were ordained in England and returned to the colonies as missionaries for the [[Anglican]] faith. [[Thomas Clapp]] became president in 1745, and while he attempted to return the college to Calvinist orthodoxy, did not close the library. Other students found [[Deist]] books in the library.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Morgan|first=Edmund S.|title=American Heroes: Profiles of Men and Women Who Shaped Early America|publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]]|year=2009|isbn=978-0-393-07010-1|location=[[New York City|New York]]|pages=26–32}}</ref>

====Curriculum====
[[File:View of Connecticut Hall Old Campus Yale College New Haven Connecticut.jpg|thumb|Connecticut Hall, oldest building on the Yale campus, built between 1750 and 1753]]
[[File:Yale College diploma Nathaniel Chauncey 1702.jpg|thumb|First diploma awarded by [[Yale College]], granted to Nathaniel Chauncey in 1702]]

Yale College undergraduates follow a [[liberal arts education|liberal arts]] curriculum with departmental [[major (academic)|majors]] and is organized into a social system of [[residential colleges of Yale University|residential colleges]].

Yale was swept up by the great intellectual movements of the period—the [[Great Awakening]] and [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]—due to the religious and scientific interests of presidents [[Thomas Clap]] and [[Ezra Stiles]]. They were instrumental in developing the scientific curriculum while dealing with wars, student tumults, graffiti, "irrelevance" of curricula, desperate need for endowment and disagreements with the [[Connecticut General Assembly|Connecticut legislature]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Morgan|first=Edmunds S.|title=The Gentle Puritan: A Life of Ezra Stiles, 1727–1795|publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]]|year=1974|isbn=978-0-8078-1231-0|location=[[Chapel Hill, North Carolina|Chapel Hill]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Tucker|first=Louis Leonard|title=Puritan Protagonist: President Thomas Clap of Yale College|publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]]|year=1962|isbn=978-0-8078-0841-2|location=[[Chapel Hill, North Carolina|Chapel Hill]]}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=February 2021}}

Serious American students of theology and divinity, particularly in New England, regarded [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] as a [[classical language]], along with Greek and [[Latin]], and essential for study of the [[Old Testament]] in the original. Reverend Stiles, president from 1778 to 1795, brought with him his interest in Hebrew as a vehicle for studying ancient [[Bible|Biblical texts]] in their original language, requiring all freshmen to study Hebrew (in contrast to Harvard, where only upperclassmen were required to study it) and is responsible for the Hebrew phrase אורים ותמים ([[Urim and Thummim]]) on the Yale seal. A 1746 graduate of Yale, Stiles came to the college with experience in education, having played an integral role in founding [[Brown University]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Morgan|first=Edmund S.|title=The Gentle Puritan: A Life of Ezra Stiles, 1727–1795|publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]]|year=1974|isbn=978-0-8078-1231-0|location=[[Chapel Hill, North Carolina|Chapel Hill]]|pages=205}}</ref> Stiles' greatest challenge occurred in 1779 when British forces occupied New Haven and threatened to raze the college. However, Yale graduate [[Edmund Fanning (colonial administrator)|Edmund Fanning]], secretary to the British general in command of the occupation, intervened and the college was saved. In 1803, Fanning was granted an honorary degree [[LL.D.]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Honorary Degrees Since 1702|url=https://secretary.yale.edu/programs-services/honorary-degrees/since-1702?field_degrees_value=All&field_year_value=1803&keys=|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210223035452/https://secretary.yale.edu/programs-services/honorary-degrees/since-1702?field_degrees_value=All&field_year_value=1803&keys=|archive-date=February 23, 2021|access-date=February 23, 2021|website=Yale Office of the Secretary and Vice President for University Life|publisher=Yale University}}</ref>

====Students====
As the only college in Connecticut from 1701 to 1823, Yale educated the sons of the elite.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Daniels |first=Bruce C. |title=College Students and Puritan Society: A Quantitative Profile of Yale Graduates in Colonial America |date=1982 |journal=Connecticut History Review |issue=23 |pages=1–23 |doi=10.2307/44369191 |jstor=44369191 |s2cid=254492748|issn=0884-7177 }}{{Indent}}</ref> Punishable offenses included [[cardplaying]], tavern-going, destruction of college property, and acts of disobedience. Harvard was distinctive for the stability and maturity of its tutor corps, while Yale had youth and zeal.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Moore |first=Kathryn McDaniel |date=1978 |title=The War with the Tutors: Student-Faculty Conflict at Harvard and Yale, 1745–1771 |journal=[[History of Education Quarterly]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=115–127 |doi=10.2307/367795 |jstor=367795 |s2cid=144759290}}</ref>

The emphasis on classics gave rise to private student societies, open only by invitation, which arose as forums for discussions of scholarship, literature and politics. The first were debating societies: [[Crotonia (literary society)|Crotonia]] in 1738, [[Linonia]] in 1753 and [[Brothers in Unity]] in 1768. Linonia and Brothers in Unity continue to exist; commemorations to them can be found with names given to campus structures, like Brothers in Unity Courtyard in Branford College.

===19th century===
[[File:A View of the Buildings of Yale College at New Haven 1807.jpg|thumb|Old Brick Row in 1807]]

The [[Yale Report of 1828]] was a dogmatic defense of the Latin and Greek curriculum against critics who wanted more courses in modern languages, math and science. Unlike [[higher education in Europe]], there was no [[national curriculum]] for U.S. colleges and universities. In the competition for students and financial support, college leaders strove to keep current with demands for innovation. At the same time, they realized a significant portion of students and prospective students demanded a classical background. The report meant the classics would not be abandoned. During this period, institutions experimented with changes in the curriculum, often resulting in a dual-track curriculum. In the decentralized environment of U.S. higher education, balancing change with tradition was a common challenge.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pak|first=Michael S.|date=2008|title=The Yale Report of 1828: A New Reading and New Implications |journal=[[History of Education Quarterly]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=30–57 |doi=10.1111/j.1748-5959.2008.00125.x |jstor=20462205 |s2cid=146523521}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Urofsky |first1=Melvin I. |year=1965 |title=Reforms and Response: The Yale Report of 1828 |journal=[[History of Education Quarterly]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=53–67 |doi=10.2307/366937 |jstor=366937 |s2cid=147192155}}</ref> A group of professors at Yale and New Haven Congregationalist ministers articulated a conservative response to the changes brought by [[Victorian culture]]. They concentrated on developing a person possessed of religious values strong enough to sufficiently resist temptations from within, yet flexible enough to adjust to the '[[-ism|isms]]' ([[professionalism]], [[materialism]], [[individualism]], and [[consumerism]]) tempting them from without.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stevenson|first=Louise L.|title=Scholarly Means to Evangelical Ends: The New Haven Scholars and the Transformation of Higher Learning in America, 1830–1890|publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]]|year=1986|isbn=978-0-8018-2695-5 |location=[[Baltimore]]}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=February 2021}} [[William Graham Sumner]], professor from 1872 to 1909, taught in the emerging disciplines of economics and sociology to overflowing classrooms. Sumner bested President [[Noah Porter]], who disliked the social sciences and wanted Yale to lock into its traditions of classical education. Porter objected to Sumner's use of a textbook by [[Herbert Spencer]] that espoused agnostic materialism because it might harm students.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lee |first=Alfred McClung |date=1980 |title=The Forgotten Sumner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOVHAAAAYAAJ |journal=The Journal of the History of Sociology |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=87–106}}</ref>

Until 1887, the legal name of the university was "The President and Fellows of Yale College, in New Haven". In 1887, under an act passed by the [[Connecticut General Assembly]], Yale was renamed "Yale University".<ref>{{cite web|date=1976|title=The Yale Corporation: Charter and Legislation|url=https://www.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/University-Charter.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140603002044/http://www.yale.edu/about/University-Charter.pdf|archive-date=June 3, 2014|access-date=February 24, 2021|website=www.yale.edu|publisher=Yale University|location=[[New Haven]]}}</ref>

====Sports and debate====
The Revolutionary War soldier [[Nathan Hale]] (Yale 1773) was the archetype of the Yale ideal in the early 19th&nbsp;century: a manly yet aristocratic scholar, well-versed in knowledge and sports, and a patriot who "regretted" that he "had but one life to lose" for his country. Western painter [[Frederic Remington]] (Yale 1900) was an artist whose heroes gloried in the combat and tests of strength in the Wild West. The fictional, turn-of-the-20th-century Yale man [[Frank Merriwell]] embodied this same heroic ideal without racial prejudice, and his fictional successor Dink Stover in the novel ''[[Stover at Yale]]'' (1912) questioned the business mentality that had become prevalent at the school. Increasingly students turned to athletic stars as their heroes, especially since winning the big game became the goal of the student body, the alumni, and the team itself.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Higgs|first=Robert J.|title=Manliness and morality: Middle-class masculinity in Britain and America, 1800–1940|publisher=[[Manchester University Press]]|year=1987|isbn=978-0-7190-2240-1|editor-last=Mangan|editor-first=J. A.|location=[[Manchester]]|pages=160–176|chapter=Yale and the heroic ideal, Götterdämmerung and palingenesis, 1865-1914|editor-last2=Walvin|editor-first2=James|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vn3pAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22Yale+and+the+heroic+ideal,+G%C3%B6tterd%C3%A4mmerung+and+palingenesis,+1865-1914%22&pg=PA160}}</ref>

[[File:Yale's four-oared crew team with 1876 Centennial Regatta trophy.jpg|thumb|left|Yale's four-oared [[Rowing (sport)|crew]] team posing with the 1876 Centennial [[Regatta]] trophy, won in [[Philadelphia|Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]]]

Along with [[Harvard]] and [[Princeton University|Princeton]], Yale students rejected British concepts about '[[amateurism]]' and constructed athletic programs that were uniquely American.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=Ronald A.|title=Sports and Freedom: The Rise of Big-Time College Athletics|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|pages=165–172|date=December 27, 1990|isbn=978-0-19-028172-4|location=[[Oxford]]}}</ref> The [[Harvard–Yale football rivalry]] began in 1875. Between 1892, when Harvard and Yale met in one of the first [[intercollegiate debates]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lamb|first=Mary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=77kwBwAAQBAJ&q=Contest(ed)+Writing:+Re-Conceptualizing+Literacy+Competitions|title=Contest(ed)+Writing:+Re-Conceptualizing+Literacy+Competitions|pages=121–122|publisher=[[Cambridge Scholars Publishing]]|year=2013|isbn=9781443845472 |location=[[Newcastle upon Tyne]]|access-date=November 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522095831/https://books.google.com/books?id=77kwBwAAQBAJ|archive-date=May 22, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> and in 1909 (year of the first Triangular Debate of Harvard/Yale/Princeton) the rhetoric, symbolism, and metaphors used in athletics were used to frame these debates. Debates were covered on front pages of [[college newspaper]]s and emphasized in [[yearbook]]s, and team members received the equivalent of [[Varsity letter|athletic letters]] for their jackets. There were rallies to send off teams to matches, but they never attained the broad appeal athletics enjoyed. One reason may be that debates do not have a clear winner, because scoring is subjective. With late 19th-century concerns about the impact of modern life on the body, athletics offered hope that neither the individual nor society was coming apart.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Park |first=Roberta J. |date=1987 |title=Muscle, Mind and "Agon": Intercollegiate Debating and Athletics at Harvard and Yale, 1892–1909 |journal=Journal of Sport History |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=263–285 |jstor=43611556}}</ref>

In 1909–10, football faced a crisis resulting from the failure of the reforms of 1905–06, which sought to solve the problem of serious injuries. There was a mood of alarm and mistrust, and, while the crisis was developing, the presidents of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton developed a project to reform the sport and forestall possible radical changes forced by government. Presidents [[Arthur Twining Hadley|Arthur Hadley]] of Yale, [[A. Lawrence Lowell]] of Harvard, and [[Woodrow Wilson]] of Princeton worked to develop moderate reforms to reduce injuries. Their attempts, however, were reduced by rebellion against the rules committee and formation of the [[Intercollegiate Athletic Association]]. While the big three had attempted to operate independently of the majority, the changes pushed did reduce injuries.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Watterson, III|first=John S.|date=1981|title=The Football Crisis of 1909–1910: The Response of the Eastern "Big Three" |journal=Journal of Sport History |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=33–49 |jstor=43611449}}</ref>

====Expansion====
Starting with the addition of the [[Yale School of Medicine]] in 1810, the college expanded gradually, establishing the [[Yale Divinity School]] in 1822, [[Yale Law School]] in 1822, the [[Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences]] in 1847, the now-defunct [[Sheffield Scientific School]] in 1847,{{efn|name="NoteA"|Sheffield was originally named Yale Scientific School; it was renamed in 1861 after a major donation from [[Joseph E. Sheffield]].}} and the [[Yale School of Art|Yale School of Fine Arts]] in 1869. In 1887, under the presidency of [[Timothy Dwight V]], Yale College was renamed to Yale University, and the former name was applied only to the [[Yale College|undergraduate college]]. The university would continue to expand into the 20th and 21st centuries, adding the [[Yale School of Music]] in 1894, the [[Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies]] in 1900, the [[Yale School of Public Health]] in 1915, the [[Yale School of Architecture]] in 1916, the [[Yale School of Nursing]] 1923, the [[Yale School of Drama]] in 1955, the [[Yale School of Management]] in 1976, and the [[Jackson School of Global Affairs]] in 2022.<ref name="The Future of Jackson">{{Cite web|title=The Future of Jackson|url=https://jackson.yale.edu/the-future-of-jackson/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821223916/https://jackson.yale.edu/the-future-of-jackson/|archive-date=August 21, 2019|access-date=August 21, 2019|website=Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs|publisher=Yale University|language=en-US}}</ref> The Sheffield Scientific School would also reorganize its relationship with the university to teach only undergraduate courses.

Expansion caused controversy about Yale's new roles. [[Noah Porter]], a moral philosopher, was president from 1871 to 1886. During an age of expansion in higher education, Porter resisted the rise of the new research university, claiming an eager embrace of its ideals would corrupt undergraduate education. Historian George Levesque argues Porter was not a simple-minded reactionary, uncritically committed to tradition, but a principled and selective conservative.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Levesque|first=George|title=Perspectives on the History of Higher Education|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2017|isbn=978-1-4128-0732-6|editor-last=Geiger|editor-first=Roger L.|volume=26|location=[[New York City|New York]]|chapter=Noah Porter Revisited|issn=0737-2698|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=czYrDwAAQBAJ&q=noah%20porter}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=February 2021}} Levesque says he did not endorse everything old or reject everything new; rather, he sought to apply long-established ethical and pedagogical principles to a changing culture. Levesque concludes, noting he may have misunderstood some of the challenges, but he correctly anticipated the enduring tensions that have accompanied the emergence of the modern university.

===20th century===
====Medicine====
[[File:Woolsey Hall Memorial Hall University Dining Hall Yale University.jpg|thumb|[[Woolsey Hall]] {{Circa|1905}}]]
Milton Winternitz led the [[Yale School of Medicine]] as its dean from 1920 to 1935. Dedicated to the new scientific medicine established in Germany, he was equally fervent about "social medicine" and the study of humans in their environment. He established the "Yale System" of teaching, with few lectures and fewer exams, and strengthened the full-time faculty system; he created the graduate-level Yale School of Nursing and the psychiatry department and built new buildings. Progress toward his plans for an Institute of Human Relations, envisioned as a refuge where social scientists would collaborate with biological scientists in a holistic study of humankind, lasted only a few years before resentful antisemitic colleagues drove him to resign.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Spiro |first1=Howard M. |last2=Norton |first2=Priscilla Waters |date=2003 |title=Dean Milton C. Winternitz at Yale |journal=[[Perspectives in Biology and Medicine]] |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=403–412 |doi=10.1353/pbm.2003.0046 |pmid=12878810 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/44820/pdf |url-access=subscription |via=Project MUSE |s2cid=19222204}}</ref>

====Faculty====
[[File:Rummell, Richard Yale University cropped.jpg|thumb|Richard Rummell's 1906 watercolor of the Yale campus facing north]]
Before [[World War II]], most elite university faculties counted among their numbers few, if any, Jews, blacks, women, or other minorities; Yale was no exception. By 1980, this condition had been altered dramatically, as numerous members of those groups held faculty positions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Palmer |first=William |date=August 6, 2007 |title=On or About 1950 or 1955 History Departments Changed: A Step in the Creation of the Modern History Department |journal=Journal of the Historical Society |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=385–405 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-5923.2007.00222.x}}</ref> Almost all members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences—and some members of other faculties—teach undergraduate courses, more than 2,000 of which are offered annually.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lu |first1=Carmen |last2=Seager |first2=Ilana |date=October 15, 2009 |title=Undergraduate Teaching Requirement A Myth |newspaper=Yale Daily News |publisher=Yale Daily News Publishing |url=http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2009/10/15/undergraduate-teaching-requirement-a-myth/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115151851/http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2009/10/15/undergraduate-teaching-requirement-a-myth/ |archive-date=January 15, 2013}}</ref>

====Women====
In 1793, [[Lucinda Foote]] passed the entrance exams for Yale College, but was rejected by the president on the basis of her gender.<ref name="bookof">{{cite book |last1=Griffin |first1=Lynne |title=The Book of Women: 300 Notable Women History Passed By |last2=McCann |first2=Kelly |publisher=Adams Media |year=1995 |isbn=978-1-55850-516-2 |location=[[Holbrook, Massachusetts|Holbrook]] |page=103}}</ref> Women studied at Yale from 1892, in graduate-level programs at the [[Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schiff |first=Judith |date=February 24, 2005 |title=A Brief History of Yale :: Resources on Yale History |url=http://www.library.yale.edu/mssa/YHO/brief_history.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120719162857/http://www.library.yale.edu/mssa/YHO/brief_history.html|archive-date=July 19, 2012|access-date=February 24, 2021|website=library.yale.edu|publisher=Yale University Library}}</ref> The first seven women to earn PhDs received their degrees in 1894: [[Elizabeth Deering Hanscom]], Cornelia H. B. Rogers, Sara Bulkley Rogers, [[Margaretta Palmer]], [[Mary Augusta Scott]], Laura Johnson Wylie, and [[Charlotte Fitch Roberts]]. There is a portrait of them in [[Sterling Memorial Library]], painted by [[Brenda Zlamany]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Castellanos-Monfil |first=Román |date=April 6, 2016 |title=Portrait of Yale's first seven women Ph.D.s unveiled |url=https://news.yale.edu/2016/04/06/portrait-yale-s-first-seven-women-phd-s-unveiled |access-date=September 19, 2022 |website=YaleNews |language=en}}</ref>

In 1966, Yale began discussions with its [[sister school]] [[Vassar College]] about merging to foster coeducation at the undergraduate level. Vassar, then all-female and part of the [[Seven Sisters (colleges)|Seven Sisters]]—elite higher education schools that served as sister institutions to the [[Ivy League]] when nearly all Ivy League institutions still only admitted men—tentatively accepted, but then declined the invitation. Both schools introduced coeducation independently in 1969.<ref>{{cite web|date=2005|title=A History of the Curriculum 1865-1970s|url=http://vcencyclopedia.vassar.edu/index.php/A_History_of_the_Curriculum_1865-1970s|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081231193116/http://vcencyclopedia.vassar.edu/index.php/A_History_of_the_Curriculum_1865-1970s|archive-date=December 31, 2008|access-date=December 4, 2011|website=Vassar Encyclopedia|publisher=[[Vassar College]]}}</ref> Amy Solomon was the first woman to register as a Yale undergraduate;<ref>{{Cite news|date=March 23, 2001|title=Transformations brought about by Yale women |volume=29 |work=Yale Bulletin & Calendar |publisher=Yale Office of Public Affairs & Communications |issue=23 |url=https://www.yale.edu/opa/arc-ybc/v29.n23/story4.html|access-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418113034/http://www.yale.edu/opa/arc-ybc/v29.n23/story4.html|archive-date=April 18, 2009}}</ref> she was the first woman at Yale to join an undergraduate society, [[St. Anthony Hall]]. The undergraduate class of 1973 was the first to have women starting from freshman year;<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=2009|title=On the advisability and feasibility of women at Yale |url=https://yalealumnimagazine.com/articles/2583-on-the-advisability-and-feasibility-of-women-at-yale|magazine=[[Yale Alumni Magazine]] |publisher=Yale Alumni Publications|volume=LXXIII|issue=1|access-date=February 24, 2021}}</ref> all undergraduate women were housed in Vanderbilt Hall.<ref>{{cite web|title=Women at Yale: A Tour |url=http://visitorcenter.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Women_at_Yale_Tour.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118051329/http://visitorcenter.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Women_at_Yale_Tour.pdf|archive-date=January 18, 2017|access-date=February 24, 2021|website=visitorcenter.yale.edu|publisher=Yale University}}</ref>

A decade into co-education, student assault and harassment by faculty became the impetus for the trailblazing lawsuit ''[[Alexander v. Yale]]''. In the 1970s, a group of students and a faculty member sued Yale for its failure to curtail sexual harassment, especially by male faculty. The case was partly built from a 1977 report authored by plaintiff [[Ann Olivarius]], "A report to the Yale Corporation from the Yale Undergraduate Women's Caucus".<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://wff.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/1977_Report_to_the_Yale_Corporation.pdf|title=A Report to the Yale Corporation from the Yale Undergraduate Women's Caucus|date=March 1977|access-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151217235127/http://wff.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/1977_Report_to_the_Yale_Corporation.pdf|archive-date=December 17, 2015}}</ref> This case was the first to use [[Title IX]] to argue and establish that sexual harassment of female students can be considered illegal sex discrimination. The plaintiffs were Olivarius, Ronni Alexander, Margery Reifler, Pamela Price,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200527210701/https://www.pypesq.com/attorney/ Pamela Price]</ref> and Lisa E. Stone. They were joined by Yale classics professor John "Jack" J. Winkler. The lawsuit, brought partly by [[Catharine A. MacKinnon|Catharine MacKinnon]], alleged rape, fondling, and offers of higher grades for sex by faculty, including [[Keith Brion]], professor of flute and director of bands, political science professor Raymond Duvall,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cla.umn.edu/about/directory/profile/rduvall|title=Faculty & Staff Directory &#124; College of Liberal Arts &#124; University of Minnesota|date=July 19, 2020|access-date=July 23, 2020|archive-date=July 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719013517/https://cla.umn.edu/about/directory/profile/rduvall|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> English professor [[Michael George Cooke|Michael Cooke]], and coach of the field hockey team, Richard Kentwell. While unsuccessful in the courts, the legal reasoning changed the landscape of sex discrimination law and resulted in the establishment of Yale's Grievance Board and Women's Center.<ref>{{cite web|last=Allan|first=Nicole|title=To Break the Silence|url=http://www.mcolaw.com/docs/ao_tobreakthesilence_speech.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714063453/http://www.mcolaw.com/docs/ao_tobreakthesilence_speech.pdf|archive-date=July 14, 2011|access-date=December 4, 2011|website=mcolaw.com|publisher=McAllister Olivarius Law}}</ref> In 2011 a Title IX complaint was filed against Yale by students and graduates, including editors of Yale's feminist magazine ''[[Broad Recognition]]'', alleging the university had a hostile sexual climate.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Huffington|first=Christina|date=March 31, 2011|title=BREAKING NEWS: Yale Students File Title IX Suit Against University|work=[[The Yale Herald]]|url=http://yaleherald.com/topstory/breaking-news-yale-students-file-title-ix-suit-against-school/|url-status=dead|access-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110403015738/http://yaleherald.com/topstory/breaking-news-yale-students-file-title-ix-suit-against-school/ |archive-date=April 3, 2011}}</ref> In response, the university formed a Title IX steering committee to address complaints of sexual misconduct.<ref>{{cite news|date=April 7, 2011|title=Yale Forms Committee To Address Sexual Misconduct|work=[[HuffPost]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/07/yale-sexual-misconduct_n_846078.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605212844/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/07/yale-sexual-misconduct_n_846078.html|archive-date=June 5, 2014}}</ref> Afterwards, universities and colleges throughout the U.S. also established sexual harassment grievance procedures.

====Class====
Yale instituted policies in the early 20th century designed to maintain the proportion of [[White Anglo-Saxon Protestants#Education|white Protestants]] from notable families in the student body (see ''[[numerus clausus]]'') and eliminated such preferences, beginning with the class of 1970.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Kabaservice|first=Geoffrey|date=December 1999|title=The Birth of a New Institution |url=http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/99_12/admissions.html|magazine=[[Yale Alumni Magazine]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100314164351/http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/99_12/admissions.html|archive-date=March 14, 2010 |access-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref>

===21st century===
In 2006, Yale and [[Peking University]] (PKU) established a Joint Undergraduate Program in Beijing, an exchange program allowing Yale students to spend a semester living and studying with PKU honor students.<ref name="Gideon-2012" /> In July 2012, the Yale University-PKU Program ended due to weak participation.<ref name="Gideon-2012">{{Cite news |last1=Gideon |first1=Gavan |last2=Sisgoreo |first2=Daniel |last3=Stephenson|first3=Tapley|date=July 27, 2012|title=With end of Yale-PKU, admins' hopes unfulfilled |work=[[Yale Daily News]] |publisher=Yale Daily News Publishing Company |url=https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2012/07/27/with-end-of-yale-pku-admins-hopes-unfulfilled/ |url-status=live|access-date=February 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120730073411/http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2012/jul/27/end-yale-pku-admins-hopes-unfulfilled/ |archive-date=July 30, 2012}}</ref>

In 2007 outgoing Yale President [[Rick Levin]] characterized Yale's institutional priorities: "First, among the nation's finest research universities, Yale is distinctively committed to excellence in undergraduate education. Second, in our graduate and professional schools, as well as in Yale College, we are committed to the education of leaders."<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Levin|first=Richard|date=December 1996 |title=Preparing for Yale's Fourth Century|url=http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/96_12/levin.html|magazine=[[Yale Alumni Magazine]]|publisher=Yale Alumni Publications, Inc.|access-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref>

In 2009, former [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[Tony Blair]] picked Yale as one location—the others being Britain's [[Durham University]] and [[Universiti Teknologi Mara]]—for the [[Tony Blair Faith Foundation]]'s United States Faith and Globalization Initiative.<ref>{{cite web|title=Seeking to Understand Faith and Globalisation |url=http://www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org/projects/faith-and-globalisation/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090902032934/http://www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org/projects/faith-and-globalisation/|archive-date=September 2, 2009|access-date=September 16, 2009|website=The Tony Blair Faith Foundation}}</ref> As of 2009, former Mexican President [[Ernesto Zedillo]] is the director of the [[Yale Center for the Study of Globalization]] and teaches an undergraduate seminar, "Debating Globalization".<ref>
{{cite web|title=Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León Biography|url=https://dev.ycsg.yale.edu/center/staff/ernesto-zedillo-ponce-de-leon-biography|access-date=February 25, 2021|website=Yale Center for the Study of Globalization}}</ref> As of 2009, former presidential candidate and DNC chair [[Howard Dean]] teaches a residential college seminar, "Understanding Politics and Politicians".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shim|first=Eileen|date=January 26, 2009|title=Howard Dean, professor?|work=[[Yale Daily News]]|publisher=Yale Daily News Publishing Company|url=https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2009/01/26/howard-dean-professor/|access-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref> Also in 2009, an alliance was formed among Yale, [[University College London]], and both schools' affiliated hospital complexes to conduct research focused on the direct improvement of patient care—a field known as [[translational medicine]]. President Richard Levin noted that Yale has hundreds of other partnerships across the world, but "no existing collaboration matches the scale of the new partnership with UCL".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Henderson|first=Drew|date=October 9, 2009|title=Yale joins research alliance|work=[[Yale Daily News]]|publisher=Yale Daily News Publishing Company|url=https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2009/10/09/yale-joins-research-alliance/|access-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref> In August 2013, a new partnership with the [[National University of Singapore]] led to the opening of [[Yale-NUS College]] in Singapore, a joint effort to create a new liberal arts college in Asia featuring a curriculum including Western and Asian traditions.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Gooch|first=Liz|date=August 27, 2012|title=With Opening Near, Yale Defends Singapore Venture (Published 2012)|language=en-US |work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/world/asia/27iht-educlede27.html|access-date=February 24, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 2017, having been suggested for decades,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Remnick|first1=Noah|date=September 11, 2015|title=Yale Grapples With Ties to Slavery in Debate Over a College's Name|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/12/nyregion/yale-in-debate-over-calhoun-college-grapples-with-ties-to-slavery.html|url-status=live|access-date=July 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418154950/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/12/nyregion/yale-in-debate-over-calhoun-college-grapples-with-ties-to-slavery.html|archive-date=April 18, 2021}}</ref> Yale University renamed Calhoun College, named for [[Slavery in the United States|slave owner]], [[anti-abolitionist]], and [[white supremacist]] Vice President [[John C. Calhoun]]. It is now Hopper College, after [[Grace Hopper]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hamid|first1=Zainab|last2=Treisman|first2=Rachel|last3=Yaffe-Bellany|first3=David|date=February 11, 2017|title=Calhoun College to be renamed for Grace Hopper|url=https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2017/02/11/calhoun-college-renamed/|website=[[Yale Daily News]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Newman|first1=Andy|last2=Wang|first2=Vivian|date=September 3, 2017 |title=Calhoun Who? Yale Drops Name of Slavery Advocate for Computer Pioneer|newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/03/nyregion/yale-calhoun-college-grace-hopper.html|url-status=live|access-date=July 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813082322/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/03/nyregion/yale-calhoun-college-grace-hopper.html|archive-date=August 13, 2021}}</ref>

In 2020, in the wake of the [[George Floyd protests]], the #CancelYale tag was used on social media to demand that Elihu Yale's name be removed from Yale University. Much of the support originated from right-wing pundits such as [[Mike Cernovich]] and [[Ann Coulter]], who intended to satirize what they perceived as the excesses of [[cancel culture]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=June 21, 2020|title=#CancelYale: University Founder Called Out for Being a Racist Slave Trader in East India Company|work=[[News18]]|url=https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/cancelyale-university-founder-called-out-for-being-a-racist-slave-trader-in-east-india-company-2679853.html|access-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref> Yale spent most of his professional career in the employ of the [[East India Company]] (EIC), serving as the [[List of colonial governors and presidents of Madras Presidency|governor]] of the [[Madras Presidency|Presidency of Fort St. George]] in modern-day [[Chennai]]. The EIC, including Yale himself, was involved in the [[Indian Ocean slave trade]], though the extent of Yale's involvement in slavery remains debated.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Goyal|first=Yugank|date=February 17, 2017|title=The Ivy League's dark history shows it is not easy to reject charity that involves dirty money|work=[[Quartz (publication)|Quartz]] India|publisher=Quartz Media, Inc. |url=https://qz.com/india/913438/yale-university-the-ivy-leagues-dark-history-shows-it-is-not-easy-to-reject-charity-that-involves-dirty-money/|url-access=limited|access-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref>
His singularly large donation led critics to argue Yale University relied on money derived from slavery for its first scholarships and endowments.<ref>{{cite web|title=Yale University's The History of Elihu |url=https://doyouelihu.yale.edu/history-elihu#:~:text=Although%20Elihu%20Yale%20was%20born,of%20Madras%20(in%20India).|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200704232715/https://doyouelihu.yale.edu/history-elihu|archive-date=July 4, 2020|access-date=July 4, 2020|website=doyouelihu.yale.edu|publisher=Yale University}}</ref><ref name="Digital Histories At Yale">{{cite web |last1=Joseph |first1=Yannielli |date=November 1, 2014 |title=Elihu Yale Was a Slave Trader |url=http://histi3.commons.yale.edu/2014/11/01/elihu-yale-was-a-slave-trader/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108031612/http://histi3.commons.yale.edu/2014/11/01/elihu-yale-was-a-slave-trader/|archive-date=November 8, 2014|access-date=June 21, 2020|website=Digital Histories At Yale}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Zernike|first=Kate|date=August 13, 2001|title=Slave Traders In Yale's Past Fuel Debate On Restitution|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/13/nyregion/slave-traders-in-yale-s-past-fuel-debate-on-restitution.html|access-date=February 25, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=February 13, 2017|title=An astounding tale of slavery and deceit: Yale University's Madras connection|work=[[The News Minute]]|url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/astounding-tale-slavery-and-deceit-yale-universitys-madras-connection-57228|access-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref>

In 2020, the U.S. [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] sued Yale for alleged discrimination against Asian and white candidates, through affirmative action admission policies.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Shortell |first1=David |last2=Romine |first2=Taylor |date=August 13, 2020 |title=Justice Department accuses Yale of discriminating against Asian American and White applicants |work=[[CNN]] |publisher=[[WarnerMedia|Warner Media Company]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/13/politics/justice-department-yale-discrimination/index.html|access-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref> In 2021, under the new Biden administration, the Justice Department withdrew the lawsuit. The group, [[Students for Fair Admissions]], later won a similar [[Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College|lawsuit against Harvard]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hartocollis |first=Anemona |date=February 3, 2021|title=Justice Department Drops Suit Claiming Yale Discriminated in Admissions |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/03/us/yale-admissions-affirmative-action.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/03/us/yale-admissions-affirmative-action.html |archive-date=December 28, 2021 |url-access=limited|url-status=live|access-date=February 16, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In April 2024, Yale students joined [[List of pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses in the United States in 2024|other campuses across the United States]] in protests against the [[Gaza war]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reiff |first=Ben |date=2024-04-26 |title=Campus protests for Gaza are proliferating — and so is the repression |url=https://www.972mag.com/campus-protests-gaza-us-students/ |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=+972 Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Yolanda |date=2024-05-19 |title=Mass pro-Palestine protests in support of divestment shake campus during spring semester |url=https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2024/05/19/mass-pro-palestine-protests-in-support-of-divestment-shake-campus-during-spring-semester/ |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=Yale Daily News |language=en}}</ref> The student protestors demanded that Yale University [[Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions|divest from military weapons companies with ties to Israel]]'s war on Gaza.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zaretsky |first=Mark |date=April 24, 2024 |title=Yale protests fueled by refusal to divest from companies making weapons for Israel's Gaza offensive |url=http://www.nhregister.com/news/article/yale-protests-divestment-refusal-issrael-gaza-19419623.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424202425/http://www.nhregister.com/news/article/yale-protests-divestment-refusal-issrael-gaza-19419623.php |archive-date=April 24, 2024 |access-date=2024-09-12 |work=New Haven Register}}</ref> Over 50 people were arrested at protests in and around [[Hewitt Quadrangle|Beinecke Plaza]], and protests continued during the summer and in the new academic year starting September 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Lily Belle Poling, Yolanda |date=2024-08-30 |title=Looking back: A year of protests on Israel and Palestine at Yale |url=https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2024/08/30/looking-back-a-year-of-protests-on-israel-and-palestine-at-yale/ |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=Yale Daily News |language=en}}</ref> Undergraduate students "overwhelmingly" voted in a December referendum to call for divestment.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moses |first=Nora |date=2024-12-08 |title=Yale students overwhelmingly pass divestment referendum |url=https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2024/12/08/yale-students-overwhelmingly-pass-divestment-referendum/ |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=Yale Daily News |language=en}}</ref> 

====Alumni in politics====
The ''[[Boston Globe]]'' wrote in 2002 that "if there's one school that can lay claim to educating the nation's top national leaders over the past three decades, it's Yale".<ref name="Magazine p. 6">{{Cite magazine |title=Another Harvard Vs. Yale Game |date=2002-11-17 |magazine=[[The Boston Globe]] |last=Lehigh |first=Scot |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-another-harvard-vs-yal/137859677/ 6], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-another-harvard-vs-yal/137859849/ 7] |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> [[Yale alumni]] were represented on the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] or [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] ticket in every U.S. presidential election between 1972 and 2004.<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 29, 2004|title=Bulldogs part of presidential ticket for 32 years now|volume=33|work=Yale Bulletin & Calendar |issue=9|url=http://archives.news.yale.edu/v33.n9/story4.html|url-status=live|access-date=February 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216193211/http://archives.news.yale.edu/v33.n9/story4.html|archive-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref> Yale-educated presidents since the end of the [[Vietnam War]] include [[Gerald Ford]], [[George H. W. Bush]], [[Bill Clinton]], and [[George W. Bush]], and major-party nominees include [[Hillary Clinton]] (2016), [[John Kerry]] (2004), [[Joseph Lieberman]] (vice president, 2000), and [[Sargent Shriver]] (vice president, 1972). Other alumni who have made serious bids for the presidency include [[Amy Klobuchar]] (2020), [[Tom Steyer]] (2020), [[Ben Carson]] (2016), [[Howard Dean]] (2004), [[Gary Hart]] (1984 and 1988), [[Paul Tsongas]] (1992), [[Pat Robertson]] (1988) and [[Jerry Brown]] (1976, 1980, 1992).

Several explanations have been offered for Yale's representation since the end of the Vietnam War. Sources note the spirit of campus activism that has existed at Yale since the 1960s, and the intellectual influence of Reverend [[William Sloane Coffin]] on future candidates.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite news |title=The Ruling Class |last=Mehren |first=Elizabeth |date=2000-10-04 |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-the-ruling-class/137862239/ E1], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-yale-cont/137862291/ E3] |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |location=New Haven}}</ref> Yale President Levin attributes the run to Yale's focus on creating "a laboratory for future leaders", an institutional priority that began during the tenure of Yale Presidents [[Alfred Whitney Griswold]] and [[Kingman Brewster]].<ref name="ReferenceA" /> [[Richard H. Brodhead]], former dean of Yale College and now president of [[Duke University]], stated: "We do give very significant attention to orientation to the community in our admissions, and there is a very strong tradition of [[volunteerism]] at Yale".<ref name="Magazine p. 6" /> Yale historian [[Gaddis Smith]] notes "an ethos of organized activity" at Yale during the 20th century that led Kerry to lead the [[Yale Political Union]]'s Liberal Party, [[George Pataki]] the Conservative Party, and Lieberman to manage the ''[[Yale Daily News]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Weisman|first=Steven R.|date=August 13, 2000|title=Opinion {{!}} Editorial Observer; On Being Young, Idealistic and Politically Ambitious at Yale in the 60's|language=en-US|page=|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/13/opinion/editorial-observer-being-young-idealistic-politically-ambitious-yale-60-s.html|access-date=February 26, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> [[Camille Paglia]] points to a history of networking and elitism: "It has to do with a web of friendships and affiliations built up in school".<ref>{{cite news|last=Lehigh|first=Scot|date=August 13, 2000|title=An (Ivy) League of Their Own: Never Before Have Yale and Harvard So Clearly Dominated a Presidential Campaign |page=F.1 |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|publisher=Boston Globe Media Partners|location=Boston, Massachusetts |url=https://secure.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/405361545.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+13%2C+2000&author=LEHIGH%2C+SCOT&pub=Boston+Globe&edition=&startpage=&desc=AN+%28IVY%29+LEAGUE+OF+THEIR+OWN+NEVER+BEFORE+HAVE+YALE+AND+HARVARD+SO+CLEARLY+DOMINATED+A+PRESIDENTIAL+CAMPAIGN|url-status=dead|access-date=June 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819220418/https://secure.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/405361545.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+13%2C+2000&author=LEHIGH%2C+SCOT&pub=Boston+Globe&edition=&startpage=&desc=AN+%28IVY%29+LEAGUE+OF+THEIR+OWN+NEVER+BEFORE+HAVE+YALE+AND+HARVARD+SO+CLEARLY+DOMINATED+A+PRESIDENTIAL+CAMPAIGN|archive-date=August 19, 2016}}</ref> CNN suggests that George W. Bush benefited from preferential admissions policies for the "son and grandson of alumni", and for a "member of a politically influential family".<ref>{{cite news|last=Kinsley|first=Michael|date=January 20, 2003|title=How affirmative action helped George W. |work=CNN |publisher=[[WarnerMedia]]|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/01/20/timep.affirm.action.tm/|url-status=live|access-date=May 28, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070603215612/http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/01/20/timep.affirm.action.tm/|archive-date=June 3, 2007}}</ref> [[Elisabeth Bumiller]] and [[James Fallows]] credit the culture of community that exists between students, faculty, and administration, which downplays self-interest and reinforces commitment to others.<ref name="Goldstein-2004">{{Cite magazine|last=Goldstein|first=Warren|date=2004|title=For Country: The (Second) Great All-Blue Presidential Race|url=http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/2004_05/presidents.html|magazine=[[Yale Alumni Magazine]]|publisher=Yale Alumni Publications|volume=67|issue=5|access-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref>

During the 1988 presidential election, [[George H. W. Bush]] (Yale '48) derided [[Michael Dukakis]] for having "foreign-policy views born in Harvard Yard's boutique". When challenged on the distinction between Dukakis's Harvard connection and his Yale background, he said that, unlike Harvard, Yale's reputation was "so diffuse, there isn't a symbol, I don't think, in the Yale situation, any symbolism in it" and said Yale did not share Harvard's reputation for "liberalism and elitism".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Dowd|first=Maureen|author-link=Maureen Dowd |date=June 11, 1988|title=Bush Traces How Yale Differs From Harvard|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/11/us/bush-traces-how-yale-differs-from-harvard.html|access-date=February 26, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 2004 [[Howard Dean]] stated, "In some ways, I consider myself separate from the other three (Yale) candidates of 2004. Yale changed so much between the class of '68 and the class of '71. My class was the first class to have women in it; it was the first class to have a significant effort to recruit African Americans. It was an extraordinary time, and in that span of time is the change of an entire generation".<ref name="Goldstein-2004" />