Served fresh daily

I’m writing three days after winter storm Nemo, possibly the only event that could have gotten my town of Hamden, Connecticut (those famous 40 inches of snow), into the national media and even—yes—the Drudge Report. But while my family and I are still snowbound; while New Haven streets are closed to all but emergency traffic; while Yale has done the unimaginable and canceled classes for two days in a row—in the midst of all this shutdown, the Yale Alumni Magazine is going strong.

In three days there were three new blog posts: one on the storm at Yale, one on Yale’s decision to cancel classes, and one on the Yale Black Alumni Association’s Facebook tribute to Jane Matilda Bolin ’31LLB, the first African-American woman in the United States to become a judge. You can also still find, on our own Facebook page, an album of three dozen campus snow scenes—shot by our intrepid interns—from Theodore Dwight Woolsey’s statue, draped in white, to people sledding on the hill behind the Divinity School.

So you can see what I mean when I say: we aren’t just bimonthly any more.

The Yale Alumni Magazine’s new website is up. It’s a full-service, almost-24/7 digital magazine of a verve, wit, and perceptiveness to make alumni proud. It has, of course, the text and many photos from the print magazine. It has a constantly changing homepage, with new material every weekday. It has a list of upcoming Yale alumni events around the country. It has a feature we have always wanted to provide: an Obituaries page where you can enter remembrances of alumni and faculty who have died. It also has a comment function for all articles and blog posts. And to be sure: our website has the liveliest blogs on campus.

“This Just In” is our daily blog covering university news, slices of campus life, and various alumni doings, with posts every weekday and sometimes more often. The subjects range from new research and appointments to a weekly sports roundup, videos of musical flash mobs, and those evocative campus photos.

Then there is “Newsmaker,” our blog covering Yalies in the news. Every Friday, we post on an alumnus/a making headlines—for better or worse. We have had a few white-collar criminals, but the vast majority are artists, politicians, advocates, … newsmakers in almost any field you can name. A gourmet chef: “Micah Fredman ’10 became obsessed with reinventing latkes during his junior year at Yale.” A 90-year-old marathoner: “Finishing 592nd out of 593 doesn’t sound so impressive—until you realize that [Mike Fremont ’44E] was born during the Warren G. Harding administration.”

Another blog is “Memories: The Alumni Write Yale History.” This, readers, is yours to write. We are collating stories we’ve published by alumni about their time at Yale—but we’re looking forward to your submissions. We welcome your essays about days past.

And finally, we are building, for the future, a new kind of alumni notes feature. On this alumni-only section of the site, all alumni will be able to post their news and to read news from whomever they choose: those who went to the same Yale schools, who share their profession or hobby, or who are alumni of the Glee Club, the college varsity tennis team, SOM’s annual croquet match, the environment school’s mustache contest—the list goes on.

This is, after all, your magazine: produced by alumni, for alumni. The website is part and parcel of it. Join us at yalealumnimagazine.com.