Campus Clips

Local 33, Yale’s union for graduate workers, reached a tentative contract agreement with the university in December, the first since workers voted to unionize in fall 2022. PhD candidates would receive an average 30 percent increase in their annual stipend (which currently averages just over $40,000) over four and a half years, along with other new benefits. The university also agrees to recognize the union through 2031, even if the National Labor Relations Board reverses its 2021 decision that graduate workers are employees. At press time, union members were preparing to vote to ratify the proposed agreement.

An $11 million gift to the School of Nursing from an anonymous donor will be used to offer six full-tuition scholarships per year. The donation—the largest in the school’s 100-year history—will provide full support for students in the Community Scholars program, which is designed for nurses who want to work with underserved communities.

About 79 percent of grades given in Yale College in 2022–23 were A or A-minus, up from about 73 percent in 2018–19. Economics professor Ray Fair, who authored a faculty report on the subject, told the Yale Daily News that there was a sharp increase in A grades during the pandemic. He called it “the COVID effect.”

The Law School has launched a speaker series in which leaders “discuss how they bridge differences and work to understand each other.” The Ronnie F. Heyman ’72 Crossing Divides Program began on October 17 with Bob Bauer of the Obama administration and Ben Ginsberg of the Bush-Cheney campaign talking about their friendship.

A new student group called Indigenous Peoples of Oceania at Yale was organized last fall. Affiliated with the Native American Cultural Center, the group has 35 active members.