Stand Up for Yale
We are Yale alumni defending academic freedom at Yale and in higher ed.
5000+ Yalies Urge: Yale, Don’t Cave to
Trump Administration Demands
In late June, The New York Times broke the news that Yale is in the midst of settlement negotiations with the Trump administration over an investigation into its admissions policies at the college, law school, medical school, and possibly other professional schools.
This investigation is a transparent effort to chill lawful efforts to build diverse academic communities and to pressure Yale into abandoning its own academic judgment. It comes as Yale faculty report a stunning decline in their ability to freely teach, research, and speak on campus.
But the Yale community has responded in force. To date, more than 5,000 alumni and current students have signed our petition urging Yale not to settle.
Other criticism of the potential deal has come from the Yale chapter of the American Association of University Professors, the Yale College Council, Senator Richard Blumenthal, a group of Connecticut state legislators, among others.
On July 26, 2026 we held an online briefing about the status of academic freedom at Yale – both the challenges that already existed before Yale began negotiating with the DOJ, and the further degradation that would ensue should a settlement take place. This was an expansion of the panel we hosted at reunions in May. A video recording of the presentation portion of the event is now available to the entire Stand Up for Yale community.
SEE VIDEO OF THE 7/26 PRESENTATIONS
Stand Up for Yale members heard from three Yale professors and two student leaders about the challenges that they are already facing in their daily work and the current campus climate. They also shared up-to-date information about the Yale administration’s ongoing efforts to negotiate with the Trump administration. Participants were:
Alex Chen YC ’28, President of the Yale College Council
Raekwon Fuller DRA ’27, President of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate
Gregg Gonsalves YC ’11 GSAS ’17, Professor of Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health
Daniel HoSang, Professor of American Studies and Political Science at Yale University, and President of the Yale chapter of the American Association of University Professors
Amy Kapczynski YLS ’03, John Thomas Smith Professor of Law at Yale Law School
Susan Choi YC ’90, novelist and Professor in the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University, moderated.
As a follow up to this Zoom briefing, Stand Up for Yale created an online guide to help its members further understand this history and context, and to offer specific suggestions for taking action.
July 26: Zoom Event on the Status of Academic Freedom at Yale
About Stand Up for Yale
Stand Up for Yale launched in spring 2025 in response to the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against higher education. More than 7,000 alumni — spanning decades and representing every school on campus — signed letters to the administration asking them to stand up for academic freedom at Yale and beyond, which you can read here and here. The Yale Daily News also covered the outpouring of alumni support.
Since then, we have held events at Yale College Reunions in 2025 and 2026 to rally alumni support for Yale’s academic independence. We partnered with Crimson Courage to host a joint tailgate at the 2025 Harvard-Yale Game.
Stand Up for Yale is led by a small group of alumni volunteers. You can reach us at standupforyale@gmail.com.