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Town
and Gown
Yale University has been in New Haven since 1701. In recent years, the
differences and divisions between the University and the city have become
more and more dramatic. Yale evolved into a global university, the third-richest
non-profit institution in the world. Meanwhile New Haven has struggled
– and continues to struggle -- with the effects of disappearing
industry, recession, poverty, and unemployment. In the past generation
it’s become one of the top-ten poorest cities in the country.
This disparity causes tension, especially considering the amount of
tax-exempt property Yale occupies and the federal funding it consumes.
In the last few years a coalition of community organizations, clergy,
elected officials, and unions has begun to sketch out a new relationship
between town and gown – a partnership that would result in mutual
prosperity instead of fixed inequalities.
The Yale Office of New Haven and State Affairs
Yale operates an Office of New Haven
and State Affairs, which manages Yale’s local contributions,
construction projects, and political connections. In theory it’s
intended to facilitate partnership and manage joint projects, but in
practice it focuses on re-developing areas near campus (especially Broadway)
and on public-relations.
Connecticut
Center for a New Economy (CCNE)
Founded in 2000, CCNE stands
at the forefront of community organizing efforts around a Social Contract
between Yale and New Haven. It’s a non-profit community organization
dedicated to improving the economic and social well-being of working
families in New Haven and Connecticut's other urban centers. CCNE is
affiliated with numerous community organizations, clergy, elected officials,
and social service providers in New Haven.
What they've won: Through their grassroots organizing,
CCNE has rapidly become a major political presence in New Haven. Along with mobilizing hundreds of participants for marches, vigils,
and civil disobedience, CCNE also regularly publishes reports and policy briefs about economic issues in the city and state.
On
July 7, 2003, CCNE scored a major success when the Board of Aldermen
passed a resolution investigating Yale's "super-tax-exemption."
This summer CCNE revealed undisclosed millions in "free bed" funds intended to benefit low-income patients at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Combined with the uncovering of abusive, aggressive debt-collection practices, the fallout resulted in landmark debt-collection legislation passed by the Connecticut General Assembly, the stoppage of home foreclosures, and outright debt forgiveness for many.
During the strike, pressure from community leaders, workers, and elected officials caused Yale University to finally consent to a community seat at the table to discuss Yale's hiring policy in minority communities. This marks the beginning of a campaign to get jobs for Latinos at Yale and desegregate the Yale workforce.
In this fall's aldermanic elections, CCNE was able to mobilize support across the city for candidates that could stand up pressure from Yale and speak out for working families in New Haven.
What they're fighting for: CCNE's organizing focuses
the “Social Contract,” a 5-point platform that represents
a community vision for a new partnership between New Haven and Yale.
The Social Contract calls on Yale to:
1) make a "fair-share contribution" to New Haven's struggling
public schools, to cover the cost to the city of the University's tax exemption;
2) provide equitable access to jobs for all New Haven
residents, especially underrepresented Latinos;
3) respect the right to good union jobs for workers
at Yale;
4) foster home ownership by extending its homebuyer
program throughout the city, and;
5) ensure access to health care at Yale-New Haven Hospital
by disclosing free-bed funds and reforming debt-collection practices.
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