A Rental Apartment
The first few months of Yale were some of the most exciting times of my life, with a brand new set of friends and experiences. But gradually I began to realize that Yale felt like a rental apartment rather than an authentic home. The brochures and one liners of “Yale meets 100% of financial need,” at first, seemed true with Yale giving me a scholarship that gave me just enough money where I would could attend without going into personal debt. But as classes and stresses picked up, these one liners proved hollow.
Yale has publicly talked a lot about its commitment to diversity both racially and economically with admission programs that target low income minority communities and programs that encourage diverse faculty. While this is good work, Yale continually perpetuates a homogenizing value system, which does not encourage true diversity. As a black male at Yale I constantly feel the pressure to dress preppy and adopt white cultural values and norms in order to fit the social standard of a Yalie. I will never be white. I will never be from the east coast. I will never be from a family of old money. This makes me feel like I can never adopt Yale as my own, and consistently reminds me that I attend an institution that was not created and never intended for me to attend.
The student income contribution explicitly contributes to this system of creating a Yale that values money over passion. The student income contribution forces students to either find a summer job that pays lucratively like consulting or finance or go into personal debt, but only if they are on financial aid. This encourages many Yalies to go into fields that they are not passionate about so that they can simply stay free from debt and get an education. I need Yale to eliminate the student income contribution so that I can feel secure in my choice to go into public service.
Yale has publicly talked a lot about its commitment to diversity both racially and economically with admission programs that target low income minority communities and programs that encourage diverse faculty. While this is good work, Yale continually perpetuates a homogenizing value system, which does not encourage true diversity. As a black male at Yale I constantly feel the pressure to dress preppy and adopt white cultural values and norms in order to fit the social standard of a Yalie. I will never be white. I will never be from the east coast. I will never be from a family of old money. This makes me feel like I can never adopt Yale as my own, and consistently reminds me that I attend an institution that was not created and never intended for me to attend.
The student income contribution explicitly contributes to this system of creating a Yale that values money over passion. The student income contribution forces students to either find a summer job that pays lucratively like consulting or finance or go into personal debt, but only if they are on financial aid. This encourages many Yalies to go into fields that they are not passionate about so that they can simply stay free from debt and get an education. I need Yale to eliminate the student income contribution so that I can feel secure in my choice to go into public service.
