A semester is coming to an end at Yale University. Peter Salovey is stepping down after 11 years. Here is the story of what Saloyev has accomplished in 11 years, from increasing the accessibility of the educational institution to doubling the donations:
Yale University President Peter Salovey announced on Thursday that he will leave his post in June 2024 after 11 years. In these 11 years, Salovey has increased the university's endowments, student numbers, and racial, ethnic, and economic diversity. This month, the university announced that the introductory classroom was one of its largest ever—22 percent of students were eligible for federal low-income scholarships, and 21 percent were the first in their family to attend college. 10 years ago, the rate of the first people in their families to go to university was 12 percent. This year black students made up 14 percent of the class, Hispanics 18 percent, whites 42 percent, and Asians 30 percent.
A different system will operate in admissions
In Salovey's final year as a rector, elite universities will face a new admissions environment. After the Supreme Court outlawed racially conscious admissions, they faced pressure to remove inheritance grants, the privileged treatment given to graduates' children, as well as accepting different classes by sticking to the new ruling. Yale University has resisted removing that choice, and about 11 percent of the class of 2027 are heirs.
Peter Salovey (born February 21, 1958) is an American social psychologist and current president of Yale University. He previously served as Yale's provost, dean of Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and dean of Yale College. Salovey is one of the early pioneers in emotional intelligence.
Salovey said in a recent statement that he has asked the admissions office to develop a plan that will be announced later this year. “The diversity of our students in almost every size imaginable has greatly benefited the educational environment we have created at Yale,” Solovey said in an interview.
Salovey's decision to step down is part of a generational shift in top management at a number of elite universities. Columbia University, New York University, Harvard University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology all have new presidents.
Donations doubled during his reign.
During Salovey's presidency, Yale's donations doubled to more than $40 billion. An ongoing fundraising campaign has raised $5 billion towards the $7 billion goal. Salovey, 65, an amateur bluegrass musician, is a noted psychology professor and considered an expert in the study of emotional intelligence. Salovey said he plans to return to teaching and writing full-time.
There has never been a black president at Yale
Josh Bekenstein, the school's senior trustee, said he fulfilled Salovey's "bold vision" when he took office—a more unified Yale, a more accessible Yale, a more innovative Yale. Bekenstein said he will lead a designated research committee to find a replacement for Salovey and plans to reach out to the Yale community for advice. Yale has never had a black president, and the only female president, Hanna Gray, has served only one year.
When Salovey took office as Yale's 23rd president in 2013, he was a well-suited profile for an Ivy League school president, having been part of the university for over 30 years, first as a graduate student, then as department chair, Dean of Yale College, and provost. Salovey, who pledged to increase the school's accessibility after taking office, described it as one of his most important achievements. "We've doubled the number of first students in their family to go to college," said Salovey, in part by expanding Yale's size by building two new boarding colleges and increasing the college's overall undergraduate enrollment by nearly 20 percent.
Helping children from low-income families
During his tenure, the university also increased financial aid so that parents with an income of $75,000 or less no longer need to contribute to their children's undergraduate education. Yale has increased funding for other programs as well. For example, the Geffen School of Drama, known for training famous actors such as Meryl Streep and Angela Bassett, is now free.
Although Calhoun College persisted in its issue...
Salovey has also expanded the number of postgraduate programs, particularly in science and engineering while running the university throughout the Covid pandemic. Like many universities over the past 10 years, Yale has faced a number of questions about racism during Salovey's tenure. Under his leadership, Yale at first resisted and eventually accepted, requests to rename Calhoun College, named after John C. Calhoun, an 1804 graduate and former US Vice President who advocated slavery.
Because of the controversy, Yale developed principles that are now widely used to determine how to address the problematic legacies of historical figures. Like many other universities, Yale has scrutinized its historical relationship with slavery and the slave trade.
In 2020, Yale fought a lawsuit accused by the Justice Department under the Trump administration of discriminating against Asian-American and white students. The case was dropped after Donald Trump left office.
Regarding his final year goals, Salovey said: "I think it will be a good year to beat Harvard in our last football game. I would like to leave with a win."