> There’s something unsettling about Yale, about the way it operates, about its very existence.
I am a New Haven resident, have been for over a decade and spent most of my social time for the 5 years before that in the city. This analysis is quite spot on. I often say that even if you don't go to Yale, Yale comes to you. Yale New Haven Health System is actually the largest employer in the entire state of Connecticut. The University, Health System and Hospital occupy three spots of the top five employers in the city.
Yale is not a campus on its own at the outskirts of the city (like Southern CT State University, or to a lesser extent University of New Haven). Students and residents alike walk next to each other on city streets from one building to another. The University buildings are on major roads downtown. Unlike universities in large cities (NYU comes to mind), Yale doesn't suddenly get lost in a forest of other buildings. It is the city in many regards.
As a result, the Yale Police Department is deputized by the New Haven PD. They carry guns, have their own lockup, and have the ability to operate in pretty much every area of the city, whether officially "Yale" or not.
And the Yale Corporation owns a significant amount of commercial real estate as well, regularly raising rent to drive local businesses out and bring larger chains in. Small restaurants, diners, record and book stores replaced by Barnes & Noble, Urban Outfitters, Tarry Lodge and the like.
Yale doesn't pay taxes on the majority of its property. Instead, it makes a voluntary contribution to the city that is significantly less than the tax value of its properties. Meanwhile, it has a $42 billion endowment that the University proudly says had a 40.2% return on investment over the last year.
And still as the author writes, people are hungry and homeless on the New Haven Green a block away from Yale's historic buildings and fancy shops. The unions of Yale workers along with community residents have fought admirably for Yale to commit to training and hiring more workers from New Haven itself, but the University has pushed back and lied at every opportunity.
The question for many of us isn't about tearing Yale down, though. It is making Yale subservient to the City rather than the other way around. "change has been made by groups instead of individuals" absolutely rings true of every struggle we see here that directly or indirectly involves Yale. It's not about getting Yale to be better on its own - Dunson is absolutely right to suggest that's an impossible task.