Class News

Ralph Jones ’64 reports on the YAA Assembly

November 24, 2024

Ralph Jones ’64 attended the YAA Assembly on November 14-15, 2024 as the representative of the Class of 1964. He submitted the following report, in the form of a letter to classmates.

When Tony Lavely asked if I would serve as your delegate to the Yale Alumni Association (YAA) Assembly, he explained that it required spending two days a year at Yale and writing about that experience for you all. At our reunion, many of you saw what I saw this past weekend, but here are my impressions after my second YAA go (of three).

Ralph Jones ’64

Yale is in building mode. Kroon Hall (School of Environment) led the way. Then the two new colleges opened. The restorations of the  Peabody Museum, the Yale Art Gallery and (ongoing) British Art Center amount to building anew. There are massive plans for Engineering and Applied Science, which will transform the lower Hillhouse area. See here for more about that. Perhaps the biggest ongoing project is the new Physical Sciences and Engineering Building (PSEB) on the northern part of Science Hill. More here. Presently they are drilling hundreds of geothermal wells which will heat and cool much/most/all of Science Hill. Up the street, the Divinity School has closed in on its first new residential space in decades. It will be entirely off grid and environmentally sensitive. That's why it's called "The Living Village."

YDS Dean Greg Sterling leading a YAA tour of The Living Village

There is a Zoom Pre-Assembly. This year it was Prof. David Blight discussing Yale and Slavery: A History. His talk is here. Especially worthwhile if you haven't read his book or toured the exhibit. There's a whole website about the issue here. All that made an interesting intro to the Assembly lunch. I ended up at a "geezers" table. I think all of us graduated before 1980. The gentleman to my right has worked for the Republicans in the House of Representatives for years. Very clear about the improbability of the president-elect getting elected, but still a supporter. To his right was a gent from a class in the 1950s. He was one of the very few white folks in the Selma march. Quite disgusted with both political parties, and our nation's love of war. On my left was a man who argued that the 0.6% carbon dioxide in the atmosphere just couldn't possibly be the cause of global warming. (I hadn't heard that one before. If I had, I might have asked what percentage of salt is needed to make a good dinner.) In his view, the real problem was we need more atmospheric oxygen.

Clearly though, as with the blind men and the elephant, while we each might have some partial grasp on reality, we cannot all be right. I did not expect such a wide difference in the sense of "fact" with a group formed by a common educational experience. Things that are "obvious" to me evidently are not as universal as I think they are. Steve Hoffman recently emailed me asking if I would share David Blight's insightful opinion piece in the Times. It's here, if you missed it. He argues that our universities need a reckoning — need to face their rejection by a majority of Americans. The YAA Assembly does not provide the time, the context, nor the commitment to seek meaningful reconciliation. But I do sense that the well-being of this nation requires some thoughtful structures for healing. I do wonder if this lunch would have sounded the same if the election had gone differently. We live in ambiguous times.

One highlight of every Assembly is the awarding of the Yale Medal to five outstanding alums. This year, they are: Rob Greenly ’83 MBA, Connie Royster ’72, Betsy Sullivan ’74, ’76 MA, Michael Tom ’83 MD, and William White ’73, ’78 DIV! Pictures and stories here.

President McInnes reported that Yale is doing exceptionally well. Anecdotally that's confirmed by Yale football beating both Princeton and Harvard despite a lackluster season. She is using her first year as a time of listening. She shared a link seeking insights from alumni and others.

Exploring Yale on your behalf is fun. Thank you all for this privilege.