Corporation endorses colleges, orders expansion studies
Two new colleges likely to be most expensive residential halls in American history
The Yale Corporation declared its support this weekend for building two new residential colleges, directing administrators to move forward with planning for the University’s largest expansion in decades.
At their meeting on Saturday, members of the Corporation, Yale’s highest governing body, commissioned two additional studies in preparation for a final vote on the expansion proposal later this year. University administrators will now devise an estimated budget for the two new colleges — which will likely be the two most expensive residence halls ever constructed in American...
I think President Levin should be commended for the thoughtful process that has gotten Yale to this stage.
- He has been talking about the desirability of expanding Yale for more than a decade but determined that Yale needed to put its existing housing in good order before turning to expansion. This resulted in construction of the swing space building and ten years (and counting) of residential college renovations.
- During this period, Levin commissioned the Framework for Campus Planning, a remarkable document that outlines many issues relating to the Yale campus, including an analysis of appropriate locations for expansion (for residential colleges and other purposes). For those interested in Yale campus issues, if you haven't read that you should. It is available on-line; go to the Yale web site and search for 'campus framework.'
- And as the college renovations move towards completion, Levin initiated a deliberate and thoughtful process of examining the issues related to expansion, should that be the judgment of the Yale Corporation. Some who weren't paying much attention seemingly thought that students were being asked to decide this issue; that wasn't the charge, as I understood it.
Whether you agree with the (tentative) conclusion or not, fair minded people should agree that the decision-making process has been appropriate.
A further question that I have is whether the Campus Framework study needs to be updated. That document was completed in 2000 and there are some considerations that bear further thought. First, you'll note that environmental issues, while considered, did not receive the same degree of attention that they would if considered today, as evidenced by the fact that they show up on p. 160 of the report and take up three pages. Second, Yale's purchase of the Bayer campus in West Haven has materially changed Yale's campus issues. For both of those reasons, it would be timely to reconsider some of the issues addressed in the Campus Framework.
This is only tangentially related to the residential college expansion but as that project is planned, Yale should be sure it has thought through all the issues appropriately. It might particularly affect how Yale addresses transit issues.