Update on Arab and Muslim Student Life Committee and Jewish Student Life Committee

Dear students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends,

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Yale reaffirms its commitment to fostering an inclusive environment where all can feel a sense of belonging. I write to provide an update on university actions since December 2023.

Two standing advisory committees—the Advisory Committees on Jewish Student Life and MENA and Muslim Student Life (now named the Advisory Committee on Arab and Muslim Student Life)—were convened in early 2024 to help guide the university’s continued efforts to support and enhance student life for Yale’s Arab, Jewish, and Muslim students. These committees comprise faculty leaders from Yale College and graduate and professional schools, religious and cultural leaders, and administrators in student and university services. Charles Bailyn, A. Bartlett Giamatti Professor of Astronomy and Physics and former Head of Benjamin Franklin College, co-facilitates the Jewish Student Life committee, and Fahmeed Hyder, Head of Trumbull College and Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging and of Biomedical Engineering, co-facilitates the Arab and Muslim Student Life committee, with University Chaplain Maytal Saltiel as the co-facilitator of both committees.

Throughout the spring 2024 semester, the committees met jointly and separately on a regular basis, conducting cross-sectional work in close partnership, and they met with the Jewish Student Advisory Committee and the MENA and Muslim Student Advisory Committee for input. I have met often with each committee and have received—and will continue to solicit— sound advice that would benefit multiple communities, as well as updates on community-specific needs.

The university has begun to implement responsive actions incorporating the advice from the committees and input from student, faculty, and alumni groups. This work is just beginning. We will continue to work closely with university partners and the committees to implement new programs, build resources, and offer opportunities to learn and connect in order to meet the needs of the Arab, Jewish, and Muslim student communities at Yale.

Yale remains committed to free expression. As the committees noted, we also have a mutual responsibility to one another as members of the Yale community. There is never a place at Yale for discrimination and harassment, including threats, intimidation, and coercion. Conflicts and events across the globe may have very personal and painful implications for individuals on our campus. Through challenging times, we must come together in a shared commitment to open and civil discourse, to respect for one another, and to creating and sustaining a campus climate in which all members of our university community feel connected and valued.

I extend my deep gratitude to the co-facilitators and members of the Advisory Committees on Arab and Muslim Student Life and Jewish Student Life for their work to date, and I acknowledge their dedication above and beyond their roles and responsibilities, as they have now formed various subcommittees to further advise the university on specific areas of work.

The volume of response, input, and feedback from all areas of the university is a testament to the compassion and kindness of the diverse communities we represent. I look forward to continuing and expanding existing partnerships and to hearing from all members of the university as we work together toward a more excellent Yale.

Sincerely,
Kimberly Goff-Crews
Secretary and Vice President for University Life