Our Plan to bring You 

            the Yale You Deserve...

 In Depth Policy Platform Menu 

What we've already accomplished:

Wrote Yale MH&C recommendations, oversaw a testimony collection program, and worked with campus activists resulting in wait times being cut in half and clinician photos being added to the website

Wrote Leave of Absence recommendations to Dean Chun in response to COVID-19 in order to expand eligibility for leave of absences and reduce financial barriers and penalties to petitioning for one

Founded a Mental Health Consortium with the GLC  and YMHA representing the Asian American Cultural Center Wellness Team, the Good Life Center, Yale Mental Health & Counseling, the Yale College Council Senate, the Yale College Council Events, the  Sexual Harassment and Assault Response & Education (SHARE), Yale Undergraduate Mindfulness, The Yale Layer,  Disability Empowerment for Yale (DEFY), and Dwight Hall

What we plan to do:

Make sure racial trauma resources for faculty, students, and staff are easily accessible 

Utilize the Mental Health Consortium as the primary apparatus for developing recommendations for Yale Mental Health & Counseling and organizing mental health & wellness initiatives. 

Expand standard course evaluation forms to include a question on class climate and accessibility.

Offer bimonthly mental health first aid training for students

Create an updated mental health resources guide that enlists all graduate and undergraduate support systems at Yale.

Institute a complaint form on the website for students to submit any difficulties they have experienced in accessing Yale Mental Health Services in order for Yale MH&C to continue to adjust to feedback

Revise the Residential College Mental Health fellows program to offer wellness related workshops (remote) 

Model the Residential College Mental Health fellows program off of Harvard’s Let's Talk program to provide access to informal conversations with clinicians at different locations in the long term (we want to advocate for this even now so in future years, when public health guidelines permit, this program will be approved) 

Create a digital platform to allow students to schedule appointments with clinicians remotely

Provide resources for students who want to learn how to best support friends grappling with mental illness

Create a program for cultural houses, student groups, etc.. to schedule wellness workshops at their meeting site modeled off of Rice’s program. Examples include Mental Health First Aid and Assertiveness. These would be scheduled remotely and will serve as a pilot for future years

What we've already accomplished:

Served on the Title IX Advisory Committee, giving feedback and student perspectives on issues of sexual harassment and misconduct

Worked with the administration to revitalize the “It’s On You Yale” campaign to involve student groups in the vital work of campus safety

Advised and consulted with the Title IX Office on Yale’s response to the new Title IX regulations released by the U.S. Department  of Education in 2020

What we plan to do:

Complete our work revitalizing the “It’s On You Yale” campaign

Work with the Title IX Office to make joining the Title IX Advisory Committee a streamlined and accessible process

Expand standard course evaluation forms to include a question on class climate and accessibility

As per the recommendations of Connell & Coombe in "This is Not Radical,"compel Yale trustees to assign final decision-making power in UWC cases to the UWC itself, not to deans nor the provost

Endowment Justice

What we've already accomplished:

Introduced and successfully advocated a resolution for Yale College Council to join the Endowment Justice Coalition.

Endowment Justice

Co-organized an initiative to contact elected representatives encouraging them to write testimony in support of EJC members who were arrested at the Harvard Yale game protest for their case

Served as EJC members.

Endorsed Yale Forward, a campaign to elect Maggie Thomas to the Yale Board of Trustees, who is a strong proponent of Endowment Justice. We are the only  YCC representative besides Kahlil Greene listed as supporters. Aliesa is also the only candidate who has actively phonebanked for the cause

Ensured that the EJC x BSDY x New Haven Rising x SUN Disorientation Syllabus was distributed to the entire first year class

What we plan to do:

Appoint YCC liaisons to the Endowment Justice Coalition who will be responsible for facilitating YCC support of and participation in the EJC’s mission

Use our platform with the student body and administration to advocate for endowment justice.

Work with EJC to leverage YCC channels communication to support endowment justice. Specifically, the YCC President meets yearly with the Board of Trustees to discuss student efforts and concerns. The YCC will work with EJC to demand the board of trustees actively support endowment justice through individual meetings with trustees before and during this yearly meeting. This will not displace efforts to place external pressure on the board.

Run a joint University Student Council campaign that puts public pressure on universities to divest from fossil fuels, private prisons, and more!

Propose a resolution to the Senate to support candidates running for the Board of Trustees that support endowment justice, including Maggie Thomas.

What we've already accomplished:

Pursued educational equity for undergraduates in the Architecture major, working with the administration and graduate students to store leftover materials and thus reduce materials that students must purchase.

Presented student perspectives to Dean Chun in regard to Yale’s instructions for retrieving students belongings over the summer and secured extended pick up slots as well as an increased number of allowed “helpers.”

Have consistently advocated for stipends for low income students to the YAA Board of Governors

Protected jobs for students on Leave of Absence

Advocated to eliminate the penalty for moving off campus

Institutionalized the residential college disposable menstrual hygiene product initiative to make free menstrual hygiene products at every residential college.

• Secured a commitment from Dean Boyd to streamline distribution through the Community Consent Educators

• Secured storage through Pauli Murray College

Coordinated a program to deliver emergency necessary resources like safe sex supplies and first aid to residential colleges during the 14 day quarantine

Organized a headshots & hot chocolate event to make quality headshots accessible to women on campus seeking to bolster their professional presentation.

Co-founded and Launched the YCC x YFAM x Dwight Hall x YHHAP Community Table Initiative to make meals accessible over Thanksgiving Break

Co-founded and Launched the Community Cabinet Spring Break Program to make food accessible in the Dwight Hall Kitchen for meals over Spring Break

Secured a commitment from Yale Dining to expand its current meal plan by including additional meals in the Spring Break meal plan to provide students more meals for the same price.

What we plan to do:

Advocate for lowered tuition in response to the virtual semester

Advocate to eliminate the student income contribution by supporting SUN

Work to expand funding for the Safety Net Program as more students will be in need of emergency funding during this global pandemic

Expand the Safety Net program to allow requests for new technology (such as laptop) given that loaner laptops from the Community Initiative and other sources cannot be picked up by students enrolled from other states

Expand Safety Net to cover the costs of meals for those facing food insecurity

Advocate for College funds to be allocated to residential colleges to make move out less expensive

Organize a Student Workers Forum to determine and collaborate on issues facing student workers.

Continue to work with departments like Art and Architecture that require students to purchase materials and/or pay course fees to subsidize these financial burdens.

Advocate for reduced-cost or free printing and laundry.

Advocate to eliminate the course drop fee and other arbitrary fees

See our Mental Health platform here 

Task our business team with securing discounts from services ordinarily used by students

Create a database of students willing to lend their professional attire through contactless pick up now that the AACC is closed and students cannot access the Career Closet (after consulting  about how to best abide by public health guidelines)

Advocate for a more varied and affordable array of meal plans and advocate for meal plans to cover breaks at no additional costs

Create a program to subsidize cap and gown fees for first generation and/or low income students as well as create a storage space for robes and caps to be reused. Paying graduation travel expenses and accommodations plus move in is already expensive on its own

Reform Financial Aid Office Hours to allow students to see who they are scheduling an appointment with in case they want to speak with the same Financial Aid Counselor (or a different one if they had a previous negative encounter)

Make a #1 library Priority increasing the availability of digital textbooks

Collect school supplies at the end of the year to be redistributed at the beginning of the year 

Create a visible complaint form on the financial aid website to report inappropriate counseling behavior. We have hear about some very unfortunate interactions some students have had

Expand Safety Net to cover housing requests as housing insecurity is especially problematic given the number of students enrolled remotely this year

Expand the Domestic Summer Award and International Summer Award

Create a permanent stock pile of necessary resources like safe sex supplies, first aid, etc. in every residential college

Expand academic policy to authorize the use of Dean's Excuses for technical difficulties that may be especially burdensome to rural students and low income students

Make Election Day a School Holiday so working students have more flexibility to vote. In 2018, lines were hours long, which would have made it especially difficult to vote for students on a tight schedule

See our Dining & Food Insecurity plan here

What we've already accomplished:

Founded the first YCC affinity network, the Women’s Affinity Network which was structured to facilitate solidarity and leadership opportunity amongst women in YCC

Launched a year long mentorship program for women in tandem with the Women’s Leadership Initiative to connect first year women with older students willing to guide and empower them

Organized the Women’s Speed Mentorship to introduce first year women at Yale to a host of driven and compassionate students willing to act as mentors and friends

Institutionalized the residential college disposable menstrual hygiene product initiative to make free menstrual hygiene products at every residential college. 

Organized a headshots & hot chocolate event to make quality headshots accessible to women on campus seeking to bolster their professional presentation

Coordinated a program to deliver emergency necessary resources like safe sex supplies, medicine, and menstrual hygiene products to residential colleges during the 14 day quarantine

Worked with the administration to identify and begin implementing feminist self defense classes available to all undergraduates.

What we plan to do:

Advocate for the collection and publication of faculty demographic data by department in order to identify departments that have failed to advance diversity and inclusion in their hiring efforts.

• According to public Faculty Demographics data, 70% of ladder (tenure, tenure-track, and continuing) faculty at Yale College are men while only 30% are women. These numbers are unacceptable. 

Expand standard course evaluation forms to include a question on class climate and accessibility.

Host a yearly summit for women in leadership at Yale in tandem with other gender-minority-led organizations to learn more about gender disparities and barriers in extracurricular life

Compel the administration to include more student input in its Faculty Excellence and Diversity Initiative

Partner with the Office of Career strategy to hold wage negotiation workshops and other trainings to equip women with the skills to combat discriminatory or unfair hiring practices

Work with Intramural Sports in order to be more inclusive of transgender, gender non conforming, and other gender minorities

Continue our work on offered feminist self-defense classes to all undergraduates.

See our platform on sexual misconduct here

What we've already accomplished:

Co-founded and led the Inaugural YCC x YSEC Climate Summit with Steven Orientale and Katie Schlick

Co-founded the YCC x YSEC monthly climate pledge initiative

Worked with the administration and graduate students to store leftover Architecture course materials for use by the next year of students, reducing the amount of waste produced and materials consumed

Worked with YSEC to make available portable solar powered laptop chargers in Bass

Co-facilitated the “Sustainability Guide for Green Quarenteens” to teach students about environmentally friendly practices and resources to utilize in quarantine

Install more bike racks and bike pumps around campus in order to encourage more sustainable modes of transportation

Expand the YBike Shuttle program to incorporate students who need affordable and sustainable transit options.

Secure solar powered charging stations in common green spaces.

Task the business team with supporting and incubating innovative ideas developed by students to advance sustainability efforts

Install vending misers on all vending machines to ensure all equipment is turned off when not in use

See our platform on endowment justice here

Publicize the existence of community gardens and facilitate informational seminars about how to best use them.

Partner with the Yale Graduate Student Assembly and Yale Graduate School to create peer to peer learning experiences about advancing sustainability within different fields of industry. Harvard Business School, for example, offers seminars about sustainability in business.

Collect school supplies at the end of the year to be redistributed at the beginning of the year 

What we plan to do: 

What we've already accomplished:

Spearheaded the Yale New Haven Mayoral Forum to introduce students in the New Haven political landscape and to register students to vote in New Haven

Organized an event featuring Secretary of State Denise Merill to talk to students about massive barriers to voting in New Haven and her plan to dismantle them.

Hosted events on behalf of Yale College Democrats to introduce students to diverse leaders in the political sphere such as the first Hispanic woman to lead a presidential campaign Patti Solis Doyle, the first Asian American White House Chief of Staff in U.S. history Pete Rouse, Emmy award winning CNN producer Rachael Shackelford, and Executive Director of the Women’s Campaign School Patti Russo. Also hosted Locke is the first governor in the continental United States of East Asian descent, the only Chinese American ever to have served as a governor of any state, and the first Chinese American to serve as the U.S. ambassador to China.

Developed a policy report for Yale Votes to authorize Dean's Excuses for voting and serving as Poll Workers

Co led efforts with Henry Smith (the Dems Voter Engagement Coordinator to make Election Day a School Holiday

What we plan to do:

Prioritize accessibility of voting information and resources in light of the COVID19 crisis and the altered semester.

Continue YCC’s active participation in the Yale Votes Coalition.

Create incentives for Yale organizations to get their members registered to vote and to vote

Advocate for Election Day to be a school holiday in order to make voting accessible and to free up time for students to serve as poll workers in their communities. This is especially important during COVID-19 when elderly individuals, who make up a large percentage of poll workers normally, will not be able to serve due to health concerns Brown has an upcoming faculty vote to classic election day as a school holiday that already has senior administrative approval

Include in the First Year Counselor curriculum a module about voting absentee and voter registration changes, so students know where to mail their absentee ballots, how to change their registration, election dates, and other important information.

Create In Person Voter Services for students, faculty, and staff can access 1-on-1 support during drop-in hours, via Zoom or in-person; this will be modeled on Northwestern’s Civic Engagement Program.

Create Voter Services Stations (modeled of Northwestern) to register to vote, check or update your registration, request an absentee ballot, access other resources like printing, copying, mailing, and get answers to all of your voting questions. This will depend on public health guidelines, and we will of course consult with relevant authorities to determine how this can be done safely.

Integrate voter registration into SIS and other Yale virtual platforms. University of Minnesota Twin Cities, recognized for highest voter turnout among largest U.S. colleges, became the first public university in the country to integrate voter registration into the same online system students use to register for classes and pay tuition. Over 1,000 students registered to vote using this online platform this year, and officials are aiming to use this tool to push voter registration even higher in 2020.

Work with every college council student government to ensure that there is a voter engagement committee in every residential college that will work with Yale Votes

Provide educational resources to students about New Haven’s local government and the state legislature to inform students about how to best advocate for their needs. This will be modeled off of UCLA’s training program.

Have Yale join the Connecticut General Assembly Legislative Internship program

Work with Dwight Hall and political organizations on campus to support the New Haven Planning Department in phone get the word out about the Census.

What we've already accomplished:

Spearheaded the Yale New Haven Mayoral Forum to introduce students in the New Haven political landscape and to register students to vote in New Haven

Interned at the office of the New Haven Public Defender's office.

Established the position of Community Engagement Coordinator within the Executive Board of Sophomore Class Council to connect members to volunteering opportunities within the New Haven community.

Worked with Dwight Hall to incentivize residential colleges to send volunteers to participate in the First Year Day of Service through First Year Olympics points

Supported BSDY teach-ins to disband the Yale Police Department

Co-organized the Yale Together Hour of Action event featuring Yale Alum Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee to encourage students to advocate for Yale to dismantle the YPD and pay its fair share to New Haven

Lead first years on volunteer trips through the FOCUS on New Haven pre orientation program

Co Organized Yale Together Fundraiser which raised $50,000 to support nonprofits committed to combating racial injustice

What we plan to do:

Advocate for the reallocation of YPD funds to New Haven organizations

Appoint and work with the YCC City Director to ensure that YCC is responsibly conducting city engagement

Educate the undergraduate community about the toll COVID has taken on New Haven and work with the Public Health Coordinators to limit student behaviors that may lead to an outbreak.

Advocate for Yale to pay its fair share to New Haven  by supporting the Fair Share Coalition

Implement robust civic engagement initiatives that can be found in our that can be found in our platform here

Work with the Office of Career Strategy to develop a virtual Common Good & Creative Careers in New Haven fair

Partner with minority owned New Haven businesss that are being hit the hardest by COVID-19

Develop an off campus housing guide for future Yalies to navigate housing in New Haven

Work with the Graduate Student Assembly to expand their Ask-A-Lawyer  program to undergraduates in order to allow students access to legal consultation from New Haven lawyers regarding Landlord/Tenant Relations, Accident and Injury Problem, Financial Issues, Employment Matters, and other concerns

See our platform on Yale Policing in New Haven here

What we've already accomplished:

Organized the Yale Together Hour of Action event featuring Yale Alum Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee to encourage students to advocate for Yale to dismantle the YPD and pay its fair share to New Haven

Supported BSDY teach ins

Ensured that the BSDY x SUN x New Haven Rising X EJC Disorientation Syllabus was distributed to the entire first year class

Co organized the Yale Together Fundraiser which raised $50,000 to support nonprofits committed to combating racial injustice

What we plan to do:

We pledge to work with student organizations in pursuing the disarming and disbandment of the Yale Police Department. The Yale Police department is a private, unaccountable police force with multiple incidents of brutality and racial profiling in its history; there is no sufficient justification to maintain this negative force on campus

Advocate for the reallocation of YPD funds to New Haven organizations better equipped to promote public health and safety

Support Black Students for Disarmament at Yale initiatives and teach ins

Advocate against the YPD program of deploying police officers to college council meetings in order to facilitate better relationships between students and officers. This experience is deeply frightening and uncomfortable for students, as has been reported to us, and we will strongly advocate against it

Advocate against armed police officers being deployed to supervise student protests and sit-ins. We have seen both happen far too often.

Create Know Your Rights Info Sessions so students know what rights they have when stopped by police officers

Advocate against Yale’s purchase of military-grade weaponry

What we've already accomplished:

Founded and Launched the YCC x Yale First-Gen and/or Low-income Advocacy Movement x Dwight Hall x Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Project (YHHAP) Community Table Initiative to make meals accessible over Thanksgiving Break

Cofounded and Launched the Community Cabinet Spring Break Program to make food accessible in the Dwight Hall Kitchen for meals over Spring Break

Secured a commitment from Yale Dining to expand its current meal plan by including additional meals in the Spring Break meal plan to provide students more meals for the same price.

Served on the Yale Dining committee and advocated for cheaper meal plans

What we plan to do:

Work with Yale Dining to offer a broader range of meal plans as all current options are very similarly priced. All the meal plans should have generally also been much cheaper this year given that the quantity of food available has decreased and the dining halls are no longer open for eating.

Advocate for the installation of snack dispensers that will provide students healthy snacks after dining hours

Continue advocating to make food available over November and Spring Breaks to the portions of Winter Break that residences are open

Ensure that Grab and Go as well as delivered meals are sufficiently varied and nutritious for students with dietary restrictions

Hold events modeled off of our Sophomore Class Council initiative to have student write thank you notes to Yale employees, specifically for dining hall workers, and facilitate contact-less delivery

What we've already accomplished:

Served on the Title IX Advisory Committee, giving feedback and student perspectives on issues of sexual harassment and misconduct which disproportionately affect LGBTQ+ students, especially trans and nonbinary students. 

Worked with the administration to revitalize the “It’s On You Yale” campaign to involve student groups in the vital work of campus safety. Advised and consulted with the Title IX Office on Yale’s response to the new Title IX regulations released by the U.S. Department  of Education in 2020.

What we plan to do:

Advocate for Mental Health & Counseling to hire more LGBTQ+ clinicians

Work with Yale Mental Health & Counseling to create LGBTQ peer to peer support groups

Advocate for the collection and publication of faculty demographic data by department in order to identify departments that have failed to advance diversity and inclusion in their hiring efforts

Partner with the Yale LGBTQ Affinity Group, a Yale faculty affinity group, to launch events, advocacy initiatives, and other programming

Work with Intramural Sports Coordinators in order to be more inclusive of transgender, gender non conforming, and other gender minorities for future years

Include more student input in the Initiative for Faculty Excellence and Diversity

Expand standard course evaluation forms to include a question on class climate and accessibility

Expand standard course evaluation forms to include a question on class climate and accessibility

What we've already accomplished:

Connected campus organizations with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund to submit testimony and amicus briefs in the event the Department of Justice chooses to sue Yale to undermine affirmative action

Supported the Yale Together Hour of Action event featuring Yale Alum Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee to encourage students to advocate for Yale to dismantle the YPD and pay its fair share to New Haven.

Coorganized the Yale Together Fundraiser which raised $50,000 to support nonprofits committed to combating racial injustice

Supported BSDY teach ins

Testified before the Hamden Police Commission calling for justice for Stephanie and Paul

Co-chaired the South Asian Youth Initiative, the only national college conference for South Asian college students

What we plan to do:

Advocate for hiring more PoC Mental Health clinicians

Make racial trauma resources accessible to students

Advocate for dramatic increase of resources to the ER&M department

Create an advisory committee to compel the administration to include more diverse historical figures and alumni in its naming decisions. We personally have not seen a single statue of a woman or person of color on campus

Incorporate student representation in the Initiative for Faculty Excellence and Diversity

Continue to coordinate with the NAACP to have students submit testimony and amicus briefs to court to defend affirmative action at Yale

Expand standard course evaluation forms to include a question on class climate and accessibility

Advocate for a Middle Eastern and North African cultural center alongside MENASA, and Make sure Yale acknowledges the community as a distinct racial group with its own past and experiences.

Advocate for the collection and publication of faculty demographic data by department in order to identify departments that have failed to advance diversity and inclusion in their hiring efforts. According to public Faculty Demographics data, 3.2% of ladder (tenure, tenure-track, and continuing) faculty at Yale College are Black or African American, 3.9 are Latinx or Hispanic, and .3% are Native American, Native Alaskan, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander. These numbers are unacceptable.

Create a calendar of events to encourage students to celebrate important events including Juneteenth and the Anniversary of Title IX (modeled of off Kahlil's efforts)

(Virtual for this year) Create a program for cultural houses, student groups, etc.. to schedule wellness workshops at their meeting site modeled off of Rice’s program

• examples include Mental Health First Aid and Assertiveness

Facilitate stronger relationships with cultural houses and its subsidiary groups so we know how we can be most supportive

Compel the publication of meeting minutes to the President’s Committee on Diversity and Inclusion as well as a mechanism of submitting recommendations to the committee.

See our platform on Yale's policing here

Work with departments to set up student faculty committees aimed at diversifying academic curriculums 

Partner with more New Haven small businesses rather than just large corporations like Lyft, especially with BIPOC owned New Haven businesses

Demand that Yale release admissions data disaggregated by ethnicity (as the University of California school system does), and by income, alongside cultural organizations who have been spearheading this initiative, revealing the lack of ethnic and class diversity within listed racial categories.

 Include caste in Yale’s anti-discrimination policy, following the reccomendations made my Equality Labs in their Caste in the United States Survey

Create a committee of professors and students to determine what administrative changes need to be made to make tenure more accessible for ethnic studies faculty.

What we've already accomplished:

Made Sophomore Class Council meeting minutes and budgets publicly available in order to facilitate transparency and accountability.

Held weekly office hours as a Stiles Senator in the Stiles buttery to improve student engagement with the YCC

What we plan to do:

Publish YCC Senate Meeting Minutes & YCC Eboard meetings both through our emails to the student body and the YCC website

Work with the Yale Daily News to publicize and explain the YCC budget, working towards greater community engagement with and awareness of YCC finances

Create a clearly delineated process for students to propose resolutions to the Senate. The Senate votes at most usually twice a year (this past year it was on the budget and our joining the Endowment Justice Coalition resolution). We need to give our students and senators more opportunity to deliberate about important campus issues

Continue holding town halls virtually for students to express their concerns

Incorporate a feedback form on the website that is sent out to all students at the beginning of the year

Meet with as many campus organizations leaders and community leaders to ask how we can best support their mission

The ER&M department should receive the resources to hire more TFs and hire professors to teach seminars, and prevent oversubscription. Additionally, each department (in STEM, Social Sciences, and Humanities) should receive resources to create, or expand, classes related to how that field intersects with systemic racism. 

What we've already accomplished:

Currently the only YCC representative besides Kahlil Greene listed as supporters by Yale Forward

Have attended phone banking events for Maggie Thomas

What we plan to do:

Leverage YCC’s close connection to its alumni base to increase support for the Yale Forward campaign among alumni

Lobby current Board of Trustee members to support Maggie Thomas's campaign 

Lobby to eliminate the absurd rule that prevents alumni from voting unless they have 5 years out from their graduation date

Publicize Yale Forward’s phone banking sessions and send YCC liaisons to participate

What we've already accomplished:

Presented student perspectives to Dean Chun in regard to Yale’s instructions for retrieving students belongings over the summer and secured extended pick up slots as well as an increased number of allowed “helpers.” Yale's rules on this were particularly exclusionary to students with disabilities.

Included information about disability accommodations and the DEFY survival guide in the First Year Handbook

Worked with the former Disability Empowerment for Yale (DEFY) to  President to connect her with administartion

What we plan to do:

Ensure that grab and go meals meet the needs of more students with dietary restrictions

Make safe sex supplies (along with disposable wipes) available in every residential college in accessible locations

Work with the Student Accessibility Services office and DEFY to establish an equivalent of a cultural house or women’s center for students with disabilities

Advocate for increased resources to be allocated to the Student Accessibility Services office, which provides vital services including recruiting note-takers, proctoring tests, digitizing textbooks, funding security, and providing emotional support animals and service dogs as needed. In 2017, 900 students were registered with the SAS office, 650 of which were undergraduates; despite the many students served, however, SAS only has a few full time staff members.

Expand standard course evaluation forms to include a question on class climate and accessibility.

Make sure that for future years, YCC meetings are held in a more a more accessible location than the third floor of Phelps Hall

Circulate DEFY’s disability survival guide to the first year class

Make more clear the process for reporting Special Services Van drivers and other transportation officials that behave inappropriately on their website

Have name tags of all special service van drivers clearly visible for students

Ensure that more academic committees represent the voices of students with disabilities

Replace the current third party software that is used to track the special service van

Changing the designation of "accessible" for Yale spaces to be more reflective of the term

Create enough space for both ER&M and Student Accessibility Services to successfully serve their students 

Make SAS sure has a space that is actually accessible -- according to the former president of DEFY, the bathrooms don't even have push doors.

What we've already accomplished:

Advocated successfully for the free administration of Flu Shots in the Center for Teaching and Learning

Advocated successfully for and facilitated a Yale Health Committee.

Served on the Yale Health Committee

Advocated for free COVID-19 tests for students on a Leave of Absence in New Haven

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Created the YCC Who To Snitch to Guide

Fostered campus community awareness of how students on a Leave of Absence in New Haven can get free Yale tests

Incorporated robust instructions about arrival to campus and COVID-19 testing in the First Year Handbook

What we plan to do:

Advocate for Yale to facilitate free COVID-19 tests for students in need in other states 

Clarify prior authorization requirement for coverage of all outpatient care outside of the Yale Health Center so students know they covered before an appointment and before documentation is provided to Yale Health

As per Evan Walker-Wells & Blake Shultz's recommendations, expand Yale Health’s provider network to include preventive care and elective procedures or treatments. Other institutions including Harvard explicitly cover vaccines and routine physicals

Advocate for Yale to release a transparent plan about it intends to respond to a circumstance in which the campus must again be evacuated

Automatically send every graduating senior copies of their immunization records

See our Mental Health & Counseling platform here.

Follow Rice’s model and offer fitness discount programs on products like exercise equipment which is especially important given gyms are close

Create a peer to peer program for advice on taking a leave of absence modeled off of the peer to peer reinstatement program.

Establish communicated expectations for how they can fulfill the requirements of their withdrawal period. In the Yale Daily News’ “Constructively Occupied,” Emma Platoff discusses the challenges that student, Michaela Macdonald, faced during her withdrawal period from Yale. One of the difficulties of her experience was grappling with the ambiguous wording in Yale University policy. One of Yale’s Policies requires that Yale Students remain “constructively occupied,” during their withdrawal period in order to return to campus. Certainly, it makes sense that Yale University Policy allows for nuance, yet I can think of little less ambiguous than “constructively occupied.” The lack of clarity seems difficult to navigate and could benefit from a thoughtful revision.

Hold student-led video-camera fitness classes to foster social life and healthy living among undergraduates. We hope to have guest student instructors lead classes like “Facetime Yoga” and “Zoomba”.

Advocate for a Yale guarantee to cover the cost of flights in COVID-19 related family emergencies

What we've already accomplished:

Established the relaunch of the residential college shuttle to improve transportation options for athletes

Worked with Yale Student-Athlete Advisory Committee leaders to advocate for expanded athletic eligibility for seniors in response to COVID-19

What we plan to do:

Advocate for snack dispensers in dining halls to provide nutritious bars and snacks for students even after dining halls close

As the public health guidelines for Spring 2021 becomes solidifed, work with athletic organizations to ensure their voices are heard with the administration as decisions are made about sports seasons and events.

Clarify mechanisms for reporting inappropriate behavior from coaches at the beginning of the year.

Develop virtual fitness & nutrition courses through Payne Whitney Gym to help student athletes stay healthy

Facilitate the availability of fitness equipment available for contactless pick up if this is feasible under current public health guidelines

What we've already accomplished:

Made available solar powered laptop chargers in Bass.

Ensure the First Year Class was made aware of Technology resources through the First Year Handbook

What we plan to do:

Work with the Student Technology Cooperative to secure more loaner laptops for students who experience technical difficulties.

Make available outdoor charging stations now that so much of Yale’s social and work scene has transitioned to the outdoors

Make available portable chargers to reserve in order to encourage students to use outdoor spaces where the spread of COVID-19 is far more restricted

Make available licenses for upgraded zoom accounts for student clubs and individuals to take advantage of based on need

Advocate that, since the laptop repair service has been temporarily suspended, Yale subsidize or cover the cost of using local vendors who offer computer repair services.

What we've already accomplished:

Supported the UP movement by cosponsoring the Universal Pass resolution before the YCC Senate, penning the YCC Statement of Support of Universal Pass, advocating the for support of Universal pass within our roles in other student organizations, and supporting Residential College Support of Universal Pass 

Pursued educational equity for undergraduates in the Architecture major, working with the administration and graduate students to store leftover materials and thus reduce materials that students must purchase.

Served on the Language and Writing Academics Task Force this past Summer

Lead the charge with Comms Director Laurie Gomez on revising the first year handbook which clarifies information about academics first years need to know

Spearheaded YCC’s bluebooking event & Welcome to YCC Event

Created Academics Guides and Reminders about Shopping Period and registering for classes

What we plan to do:

Include student representation on Yale’s Initiative for Faculty Excellence and Diversity

Develop a Women & Gender Minorities in STEM mentorship program modeled off of the WLI x YCC Women’s Affinity Network

Collect student perspectives on online learning and write a report geared towards teaching faculty to improve their ability to engage students virtually

Expand standard course evaluation forms to include a question on class climate and accessibility

Advocate for minors and not just certificates in order to credit students for their academic performance and knowledge

Coordinate with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund to have students submit testimony and amicus briefs to court to defend affirmative action at Yale

Increase accessibility of voting by cancelling or rescheduling all synchronous classes on Election Day

Work with architecture, cognitive science, environmental studies, global affairs, and neuroscience departments to make these majors more accessible to students

Work with departments to set up student faculty committees aimed at diversifying academic curriculums

Advocate for departments to conduct yearly surveys of students within different majors to relay useful feedback to departments about the nature of their curriculum rather than just individual classes

Develop more joint degrees based on feedback from students to remove the burden for students to imagine their very own curriculum through designing their own major

Expand Dean’s excuses to cover technical difficulties given that students are all taking class remotely

The ER&M department should receive the resources to hire more TFs and hire professors to teach seminars, and prevent oversubscription. Additionally, each department (in STEM, Social Sciences, and Humanities) should receive resources to create, or expand, classes related to how that field intersects with systemic racism.

Include caste in Yale’s anti-discrimination policy, following the reccomendations made my Equality Labs in their Caste in the United States Survey

What we've already accomplished:

Institutionalized the residential college disposable menstrual hygiene product initiative to make free menstrual hygiene products at every residential college

• Secured a commitment from Dean Boyd to streamline distribution through the Community Consent Educators

• Secured storage through Pauli Murray College

Advocated to utilize residential colleges as satellite spots for drop in appointments with clinicians

Coordinated the community stockpile program that made essential resources such as safe sex supplies, menstrual hygiene products, and first aid available in residential colleges and move in

Lead the Ezra Stiles College Council as President

Served on the Pauli Murray Student Activities Committee.

What we plan to do:

Work with residential college councils to reimagine residential college communities in a socially-distanced Yale environment

Expanding the menstrual hygiene product distribution program to include safe sex supplies, midol, and other necessary resources.

Create a formal process to reserve events gear like dodgeballs, popcorn machines, cotton candy machines, etc.. from the YCC Storage Space. This will cut costs of purchasing this equipment individually

Help stock residential college kitchens with food and meals over the breaks as meal plans do not cover Thanksgiving or Spring Break

Advocate for a nutritious snack dispenser in or near dining halls so students have access to healthy food after dining hours

See our Dining & Food Insecurity Platform here