<p><a href=“http://tablet.wtnh.com/r2635/a684eb58”>http://tablet.wtnh.com/r2635/a684eb58</a></p>
<p>I guess I spoke too soon! This is definitely not an area associated with high crime…I’m very shocked. Again, things like this are extremely rare here in NHV. </p>
<p>I was just at Yale for the first time in a long time yesterday morning. Driving in from the North with my 11 year old in tow, I was reminded of a catch-phrase I used to throw around about Universities, like Yale, in cities like New haven: ‘Gowns in the Hood.’</p>
<p>There are a number of great institutions, most founded a century and a half or more ago, that have seen aggressively dilapidated neighborhoods grow up around their once halcyon landscapes. Major Players like University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins come to mind, and a host of little schools across the urbanized landscapes of America. Columbia used to be a ‘Gown in the Hood’ college, but the last 25 years of Manhattan socio-geographic revolution has turned south-western end of Harlem into one of the most vibrant neighborhoods in the city.</p>
<p>The question then is, what role do these ‘hoods’ play in the life of the University? And, conversely What role does the university or college play in the life of the surrounding community? Some places truly blend and invigorate (and are invigorated by) these challenging urban environments. But those are rarities. Most universities in this situation act as walled-off islands of benighted culture and learning and do their best to lock out and carry on as if the ‘hood’ just beyond their high brick walls and pointy-wraught Iron gates didn’t exist. </p>
<p>And, in truth, that approach doesn’t seem to hurt the academic, cultural, and social experience of the students at these fine institutions. </p>
<p>Yale is a wonderful university, people are privileged to get to attend, but please, there is no candy-coating New Haven. It is a dead-end urban landscape at the confluence of two major eastern interstates (and unlike troubled neighborhoods in Major cosmopolitan metropoles, it offers few cultural upsides) and Yale has gone to great lengths to prevent that reality from bleeding into the experience of the Yale student. </p>
<p>
I’m not sure if you’re referring to ensuring safety or the spread of blight but certainly, Yale hasn’t walled off its own outreach nor the outreach of its students/faculty/employees from being a positive force in the New Haven environs. Community service into New Haven proper amongst students was never lacking when I was there – at a time of economic nadir and peak crime and violence rates. Yale’s large incentives for employees to purchase homes within New Haven has been in place for decades.</p>
<p>Does Yale ave a responsibility to ensure public safety? Of course. But to imply Yale is solely bent on a defensive posture without a real nod to town-gown relations is imbalanced and doesn’t match with the reality since I’ve known it. I grew up in a severely depressed urban center where nearby communities and regional institutions barely tolerated its sad state. I am constantly impressed at my alma mater’s outreach to New Haven. I don’t want to over-congratulate them. The job isn’t finished nor will it ever be. But Yale, to me, isn’t a walled off ivory tower in the hood.</p>
<p>@ProfessorQ </p>
<p>Dead end? Wow…that speaks volumes. </p>
<p>
I heard DS volunteered in East Haven almost every Saturday this past semester. (I do not have any idea about the nature of this volunteering though, except that I was told it is not “required work”.) To be sure, he did not volunteer (he was too busy either studying or having fun in club activities then, i.e., more like a “kid”) when he was a college student and just started to catch up with this kind of activities.</p>
<p>He and some of his friends once performed on the street. At least two of the members in that “street” event (I saw it on Google!) were from a privileged background (e.g., graduated from Andover prep school.)</p>
<p>In another time, he and his roommate went to a local church where the church members are close to 100% African Americans, and both he and his roommate are not. (They really “stood out” that day.) They welcomed them. Granted, it is not the church they went to regularly. They were there to have one-time experience only (e.g., to experience its Gospel Choir.)</p>
<p>Growing up almost exclusively in the sheltered suburban area, DS was introduced to city life because of his college’s location.</p>
<p>I heard a circle of his friends will rent a zipcar and go to a beach this memorial weekend. Hmm…is it still too cold today for a beach activity there? It is not southern California over there. Not sure which beach they will drive to though.</p>
<p>“Yale has gone to great lengths to prevent that reality from bleeding into the experience of the Yale.”</p>
<p>That is absolutely incorrect. Yale’s urban location provides many opportunities for undergrads to fill community needs. And they do just that. Here’s a listing of all the Dwight Hall (Center for Public Service) member groups.</p>
<p><a href=“http://dwighthall.org/groups/”>http://dwighthall.org/groups/</a></p>
<p>And here’s a YDN article about a cool initiative my son was involved in as an undergraduate.
<a href=“In budget crunch, volunteers aid in tax refunds - Yale Daily News”>http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2013/03/06/in-budget-crunch-volunteers-aid-in-tax-refunds/</a></p>
<p>
I actually heard of this in the past: A higher percentage of Harvard’s students tend to spread out to Boston during weekend. Also, because of the pricy real estate there, the school has even more troubles to provide the ample space for student’s activities. Also, their students rarely can afford an off-campus apartment unless they are from a super rich family.</p>
<p>A generation ago, I myself attended a college in a large city. I felt that the interactions among fellow students were less frequently and there was less “campus feeling” (even though the school’s campus is quite large, e.g., a road like the High street is 10 times wider and 10 times longer) as compared to the lives of the students who attended a college in a smaller city.</p>
<p>My kid, a freshman last year, volunteered in the <a href=“http://www.mathcountsoutreach.org/”>http://www.mathcountsoutreach.org/</a> program. Once a week he and a fellow freshman traveled by city bus to a New Haven public school to teach eight graders in an after school math program in a “bad” neighborhood. This is an unpaid position. All the students were low income minorities and although they were given a suggested curriculum they quickly learned to do their own lesson planning since the students were grade levels behind in basic math knowledge and did not know their multiplication tables. Yale students are making an impact in New Haven and Yale students are exposed to real-world problems if they seek out the opportunities. </p>
<p>@keesh17 </p>
<p>Interesting program, the picture that’s within the link was taken at ESUMS. It’s an engineering and math school VERY rigorous and many kids tend to transfer out due to the schools rigor. They begin doing trig in 8th grade. I know a few kids who are there and love it! There are other very good public schools on the list, and also ones that are in the poorer neighborhoods. I wouldn’t want to say bad. It’s so repugnant.</p>
<p>I looked at the list of schools. FOOTE School is on the list. It’s an independent K-9 day school. Very exclusive. I bet it’s well over $20,000/year now. A great school and surprised that they would need volunteers in the math dept. </p>
<p>
Next time I have a chance to meet DS in person (it will be at least half a year from now), I will tell him that I did not “abuse” him by asking him to do trig in 9th grade. (Just joking.)</p>
<p>Regarding academics or the rigor of it at Yale, I still remembered that, during the move-in time for his freshman year, when I walked together with him from the hotel to the Old Campus for the last time before we headed to BDL (our family ate a brunch together on the top of the floor at Omni that morning), I told him that “you are now in a big pond and you may not be always the shining star like in high school anymore. If it turns out to be that way, it is a natural consequence by attending such a school. You do not need to be overly concerned much about it.” I am still not sure whether I should have given him such a “talk” or whether it would just result in an opposite effect (i.e., giving him more pressure instead of relieving some of his pressure) by saying so.</p>
<p>Yes, ESUMS in incredibly challenging and those kids are weeded out very quickly. It should be interesting to see how the first graduating class does. They are a fairly new school and I believe they are up to the 10th or 11th grade now. I bet the graduates go off and do amazing things with their lives. So when I see the term dead end used about NHV, I scratch my head, there are wonderful things going on here. Many kids are finding there way out of the chaos and dysfunction that they had no hand in creating. Poverty begets poverty, unless someone has the wherewithal to destroy it. And how is that done? Through education.</p>
<p>I took my dd and her prom date to a local tuxedo shop to pick out his tux for prom. I met a gentleman there while waiting, he mentioned how he has relocated back to NHV and how the street that he grew up on has changed, for the worst. He stated"it’s the kids!!" And my response to him “No, it’s the parents…” But what we must understand is that kids grow and become parents. So it’s an incredibly vicious, heartbreaking cycle </p>
<p>In my experience, this article, particularly the last sentence, does a very good job portraying Yale’s relationship with New Haven:</p>
<p><a href=“Friendship With Homeless Man One-Sided”>http://www.theonion.com/articles/friendship-with-homeless-man-onesided,1938/</a></p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, lots of people make a good-faith effort to be involved in the NH community, maybe even to make a difference. But the relationship is largely one-sided and somewhat condescending. My work with Dwight Hall last term reminded me of the (also Yale-organized) “slum tour” I went on in Cambodia last summer as part of an anthropology class. On that trip, we drove through a poor neighborhood with a rich guide who talked about poverty in Cambodia while passing a box of cool drinks down the length of the bus. Every now and then, we stopped to take particularly authentic (read: dehumanizing) pictures of poor people and talk about how sad it was that they were poor. </p>
<p>Last year, Dwight Hall awarded a $5000 summer fellowship to a student to teach an art class to homeless people. How moving. They wrote a nice, long piece in the YDN about how touching it was to see the homeless people grow through art, and how honored the author was to have the opportunity to give back to the community. </p>
<p>Coincidentally, Dwight Hall discontinued the No Closed Doors program fellowship, which has a strong track record of actually getting the homeless and umemployed back on their feet by providing help writing resumes, applying for jobs, etc. How La Bohème. </p>
<p>Note: Obviously, New Haven is not all poor, dead-end, or a slum. But Yale is interested in interacting with New Haven insofar as it provides an opportunity for students to be exposed to something that is poor and dead-end – most importantly, something that is very much distinct from the Ivory Tower. </p>
<p>The purpose of this exposure may be to let pampered students see the more gritty parts of life, to let students feel good about their altruism, or to give students a community service resume line. It is not – at least based on my experiences – to meaningfully interact with the city or give something back. </p>
<p>
If you’re still a Yale student, you might want to do a little more due diligence into what more of the Dwight Hall member organizations do. Here’s the link again: <a href=“http://dwighthall.org/groups/”>http://dwighthall.org/groups/</a></p>
<p>No pony in the race, just curious how Yale students travel back and forth between campus and Yale Bowl for football games (or to baseball games nearby). OK to walk in small groups through the neighborhoods? </p>
<p>@fenwaypark </p>
<p>They do it all the time. I live on that route & I always see hoards of students walking to and from the games. </p>
<p>Good to know. Thank you.</p>
<p>My DD works near old campus & walks alone all the time when weather & day hours permit. She has done this since the age of 16 and has never had an issue.</p>
<p>On football game days, lots of people walk, but there are also shuttle buses.</p>
<p>This is just one, unscientific, way to assess the impact of crime in a college neighborhood. From my knowledge, the trip to the football stadium is carefree at Princeton, Dartmouth, Harvard and Brown. Have been advised here the same situation exists at Yale. Don’t know about Penn, Columbia and Cornell (I would guess it is a carefree journey at Cornell)</p>