Divinity school

School Notes: Yale Divinity School
March/April 2022

Gregory E. Sterling | http://divinity.yale.edu

Groundbreaking set for Yale Divinity School’s Living Village

Following fundraising success and project approval by the Yale Corporation, Yale Divinity School is moving ahead with design and construction of its history-making Living Village residential complex. The school will break ground in 2023 on the first phase of the unprecedented off-the-grid student housing, with the facility to open in 2024. Touted as the largest residential-living building project in the education sector, the Divinity School’s Living Village will house approximately 150 students once all phases are complete. Designed to meet the rigorous standards of the Living Building Challenge, the facility will derive all its energy from the sun and geothermal wells and all its water from local precipitation, while processing waste on site. “After years of planning and seeking support,” Dean Greg Sterling said, “we are thrilled that the Living Village is becoming a reality.” 

YDS acknowledges racial injustice in school’s history

Dean Greg Sterling has issued an unprecedented acknowledgment of Yale Divinity School’s historic complicity in slavery and racism and has announced a series of actions to make YDS a more just and inclusive community. “We ask God for forgiveness. We ask those against whom we have sinned for forgiveness,” Sterling said in a statement to the Divinity School community. “We do not ask for forgiveness without working to change our institution.” Among other actions, Sterling said the Divinity School is allocating $20 million in endowment to fund ten social justice scholarships each year for incoming students who are dedicated to social justice work. The scholarships will cover all tuition and fees for each recipient and provide a $10,000 annual stipend to help meet living expenses. This follows a series of other actions in recent years that have seen a three-fold increase in professors of color and a doubling of students and staff of color.

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