Peter Salovey, Yale’s president, announced Thursday that he will step down in June after 11 years in the position, while he increased the university’s endowment. Student enrollment and its racial, ethnic, and economic diversity.
This month, Univ declared Its entering class was one of its largest — 22 percent of students qualified Federal Pell Grants for low-income students, and 21 percent were the first in their families to attend college. A decade ago, the number of first-generation students was 12 percent. This year, black students make up 14 percent of the class, 18 percent Latino, 42 percent white and 30 percent Asian American.
Dr. With Salovey’s last year as president, elite colleges will face a new admissions landscape.
After the Supreme Court’s ban on race-conscious admissions, they face the challenge of admitting to diverse classes while complying with the new ruling, as well as pressure to do away with legacy admissions, the preferential treatment given to children of older students. Yale University has resisted eliminating the option and about 11 percent of the class of 2027 are legacies.
Dr. Salovey said Thursday that he has asked the admissions office to develop a plan that will be announced later this year.
“The academic environment we’ve created at Yale has benefited greatly from the diversity of our students in every dimension you can imagine,” he said in an interview.
Dr. Salovey’s decision to relinquish the presidency is part of a generational shift in leadership at many top universities. Columbia, New York University, Harvard, Dartmouth, University of Pennsylvania and MIT all have new presidents.
Dr. During Salovey’s presidency, Yale’s endowment doubled to more than $40 billion. The current fundraising campaign has raised $5 billion toward a $7 billion goal.
An amateur bluegrass musician, Dr. Salovey, 65, is a renowned professor of psychology and considered an expert in the study of emotional intelligence. She said she plans to pursue teaching and writing full-time.
Josh Beckenstein, the school’s senior trustee, said Thursday that Dr. Salovey said he had fulfilled a “bold vision” he expressed when he took office — “a more integrated Yale, a more accessible Yale, a more innovative Yale.”
Mr. Beckenstein said he will lead a search committee identified Thursday for a replacement for Dr. Salovey, with plans to reach out to the Yale community for advice. Yale has never had a president of color, and its only female president, Hannah Gray, served only one year in an acting capacity.
When he assumed Yale’s leadership in 2013 as its 23rd president, Dr. Salovey, who fits the core-cast model of an Ivy League president, has been part of the university for more than 30 years, first as a graduate student, then as a department chair, dean of Yale College, and professor.
Upon taking over, he vowed to increase the school’s accessibility. In an interview Thursday, he identified it as one of his major accomplishments
“We’ve doubled the number of students who are the first in their families to go to college,” said Dr. Salovey said this was accomplished in part by expanding Yale’s size by creating two new residential colleges and increasing the college’s overall undergraduate enrollment. About 20 percent.
During his tenure, the college increased financial aid so that parents making $75,000 or less would not have to contribute anything to their children’s undergraduate education. And Yale increased financial aid in other programs. For example, its Geffen School of Drama, known for producing famous actors including Meryl Streep and Angela Bassett, is now tuition-free.
While guiding the university through the Covid pandemic, he expanded many of its graduate programs, particularly in science and engineering.
Like many universities over the past 10 years, Yale has faced many questions regarding race during Dr. Salovey’s tenure.
Under his leadership, 1804 graduate and former US Vice President John C. Yale initially resisted, but later acquiesced to, requests to rename Calhoun College, a residential college named after Calhoun.
Because of the debate, Yale developed guidelines—now widely used—for determining how to address complex legacies of historical figures. And like many universities, Yale is exploring its historical ties to slavery and the slave trade.
In 2020, Yale fought a lawsuit by the Justice Department under the Trump administration, accusing it of discriminating against Asian American and white students. The case was dropped after Mr Trump left office.
As for his goals for his final year, Dr. Salovey said, “I think it’s going to be a good year to beat Harvard in our final football game. I want to go out with a win.”
