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Life at Yale

Yale Public Safety and Security

Yale Public Safety and Security is made up of police, security and emergency management. These three units are bound together by core values and principles, which form the ethical basis for all decision-making.

The Yale Police Department has primary responsibility for patrolling the Yale campus and also serves in a supportive role to the New Haven Police Department as an extended patrol area. View the campus boundary map. (If an accessible version of the map is required please contact safe@yale.edu.)

Make sure you download the LiveSafe App to have direct access to the real-time shuttle map, walking escort services, sell safe information, and more. LiveSafe is an app that gives students, staff, and faculty on campus an effective way to communicate with Yale Police (YPD) via a mobile device. With LiveSafe, you can use your smart phone as a personal security device to provide the YPD with accurate information about yourself and your GPS location. Your location and information is ONLY shared with YPD when you use the Emergency Options button or the Report Tips button within the app.

 

Addressing Discrimination and Harassment at Yale

Yale is a community committed to fostering an environment of diversity, mutual respect, and intellectual discovery in which all students can thrive.

Acts of discrimination and harassment are contrary to the community standards and ideals of our university. If you have experienced discrimination or harassment, been witness to a situation, or just need to talk, we encourage you to seek support. The resources, offices, and individuals highlighted on this site are available to provide guidance and to help you through informal or formal complaint procedures.

See below for additional resources:

 

Preventing & Responding to Sexual Misconduct at Yale

Preventing and Responding to Sexual Misconduct is required annual training that outlines and explains Yale’s policies and definitions, campus resources, reporting mechanisms, and general strategies for prevention and response. Please put aside 15-20 minutes to watch Yale's Preventing and Responding to Sexual Misconduct video and to complete a short quiz.

 

Drug and Alcohol Prevention at Yale

The Drug-Free School and Communities Act Amendments of 1989 require institutions of higher education to certify that they have adopted and implemented a program to prevent unlawful possession, use, or distribution of illegal drugs and alcohol by students and employees. Please take a few moments to read through Yale’s Drug and Alcohol Prevention Policy.

 

SHARE Center

The SHARE Center is available to all members of the Yale community who are dealing with sexual misconduct of any kind, including sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, intimate partner violence, and more. SHARE provides crisis support, advocacy, and referral to on-going care for all members of the Yale community. 

Below are some SHARE Center Informational Brochures

Yale Student Services Departments

Student Accessibility Services

Student Accessibility Services (SAS) at Yale is committed to promoting equitable access to education and student life for students with disabilities, and to fostering a campus environment of belonging, inclusion, and respect. SAS determines reasonable accommodations for all students with disabilities, and works collaboratively with Yale faculty, staff, and students to provide accessible and equitable educational access. 

SAS works with all Yale students, including those in Yale College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and all Professional Schools. Registering with Student Accessibility Services is a required first step for students who wish to request a disability-related accommodation or service. In order to take advantage of the resources available to you, please begin the registration process with the SAS office.

 

Poorvu Center for Teaching & Learning

The Poorvu Center, located in the Sterling Memorial Library, supports graduate students, professional school students and postdocs through a range of programming that aims to improve the learning experience for Yale undergraduates, while also offering professional development to future faculty that will serve them well in their job search and teaching careers. 

In addition to the work of two staff members, the Poorvu Center’s support for these populations is offered by a team of 20 Teaching Fellows, who are graduate students from a range of departments and disciplines. They are selected through an application process based on their commitment to teaching and their readiness to stretch beyond their own discipline. These Fellows gain valuable professional development in pedagogy training and peer mentoring, while giving back to the community they have learned from.

Yale Health

Yale Health promotes the health and well-being of every member of the Yale community, so that each individual can achieve his or her highest goals and aspirations. Providing consistently outstanding care, compassionate, patient-centered service and innovative practices is our promise to our members and Yale University. The state-of-the-art facility at 55 Lock Street, built in 2010, is where our members receive most of their care. It is a 144,000 square-foot medical facility with over 90 exam rooms; a 24/7 Acute Care Department staffed by a physician and registered nurses; a 17-bed inpatient facility with two negative pressure rooms; a diagnostic imaging suite including MRI, CT scan, x-ray, and ultrasound; and a full-service retail pharmacy. It houses our 150+ providers, including 111 primary and consulting physicians.

Student Wellness Resources

Keeping our community members healthy on every level is a high priority at Yale. We promote health and well-being through our fitness and wellness programs and medical centers; mental health through counseling services and support groups; and spiritual health through our Chaplain’s Office, which welcomes people of every faith.

 

Yale Well

Yale Well is the student wellness program at Yale University.  Whether you are looking to find clinical resources, boost your overall well-being, learn stress management skills, or find a community to engage with, Yale has resources to support students during their time here. Your well-being is an essential component of your life. Use this site to navigate the services and opportunities throughout the Yale and New Haven community that can help you stay healthy or find help when you need it. This site will change and grow based on student input and the developments of Yale Well. 

 

The Good Life Center

Born out of a growing awareness and enthusiasm for wellness on campus, the Good Life Center is a cultivated space to inspire, teach, and practice living the good life. All Yale students are extended a warm welcome to explore the spaces and attend events.

The Good Life Center mission is two-fold: to empower students with evidence-based skills for fostering mental, physical, social, and emotional well-being, and to cultivate a campus culture that promotes wellness as a fundamental, accessible human right. We all deserve to be, feel, and do well at Yale.  We cultivate wellness by:

  • Prioritizing students’ physical and mental health in all its operations
  • Offering a space for wellness-related student meet-ups, student-run wellness study breaks, and peer-to-peer support
  • Putting into practice scientific insights about happiness
  • Providing free well-being programming, including physical and mental health education
  • Teaching and coaching healthy habits, coping mechanisms, resilience training, and mindfulness-based stress reduction
  • Working with a student advisory board to support the evolution of our spaces and programming

 

Yale Chaplain's Office

The Chaplain’s Office is committed to complementing the University in its task of educating students and expanding the boundaries of human knowledge.  We are committed to fostering respect and mutual understanding among people of different faiths and cultures as well as actively promoting dialogue within the University. We seek to bridge classroom and co-curricular discussion of religious, ethical and spiritual topics, facilitate the presence of a wide variety of religious resources and groups on campus, and encourage dialogue and partnership between religious groups and individuals for the common good. 

Yale Religious Ministries (YRM), convened and supported by the Chaplain’s Office, is a University council of professional clergy and laypersons representing the more than 30 religious and spiritual traditions that constitute an important part of Yale’s diversity.  These advisors and their groups provide valuable spiritual, moral and cultural support to Yale students. Please also see what religious spaces are available throughout Yale's campus.

Yale Community and Cultural Centers

The cultural centers at Yale serve as gathering places for communities of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The centers foster a sense of cultural identity, encourage student leadership, facilitate critical reflection, and stimulate informed action and social justice advocacy. They also act as social hubs and community bases for students, supplementing the social environment of the larger Yale community.

  • Afro-American Cultural Center
    • The Afro-American Cultural Center is a community of African American scholar-leaders committed to preserving and promoting the historical, cultural, intellectual and social movement traditions of the African Diaspora. The House supports students in their development as scholars, leaders, people of service.
  • Asian American Cultural Center
    • The Asian American Cultural Center supports the thriving Asian and Asian American presence at Yale. AACC encourages our students to take an active role in shaping their learning experiences and exploration of identity. The AACC honors the vibrant and complex cultures, histories, and experiences of the Asian and Asian American community at Yale.
  • La Casa Cultural de Julia de Burgos, the Latino Cultural Center
    • La Casa Cultural de Julia de Burgos, the Latino Cultural Center at Yale, offers Yale students and community members a rich variety of social, academic, and cultural resources in a vibrant and welcoming environment. La Casa promotes a sense of unity among Latinx people at Yale, and supports Yale students in matters of scholarship, identity exploration, leadership, and social awareness.
  • Native American Cultural Center
    • The Native American Cultural Center supports a prominent and thriving Indigenous presence at Yale College. The Center fosters a sense of community for students, one that involves encouragement, mentoring, and service. NACC cultivates student identity and leadership through such shared values as accountability, transparency, assertiveness, and honesty, and pride in culture.

 

Yale Hospitality

Yale Hospitality offers graduate and professional students a handful of on-campus dining options. At the heart of what Yale Hospitality does every day is to ensure that bodies and minds are nourished. There is so much planning and consideration behind the meals we serve every day as well as the many special events on campus related to food, culture, and its impact on people, communities, and the environment. Yet there are many aspects of the dining experience at Yale that are equally meaningful to our students. Gathering around a table in our residential colleges is a long-standing tradition for Yale undergraduates. Food becomes an opportunity to share and exchange ideas and to create lasting memories.

Hospitality operates 10+ retail venues, each with its own distinct flavor, providing quick grab-and-go items as well as a more traditional café atmosphere with hot entrées made to order, hand-crafted barista drinks, locally baked pastries, sandwiches, soups and salads. 

Locations closest to YSE:

Yale Hospitality supports the University’s global eminence as an industry leader in innovative institutional dining. From that foundation, we engage with the Yale community to help us shape the function and impact of the Yale Food System — from field to disposal. Yale Hospitality proudly participates in creating a more sustainable Yale.

 

Yale Sports & Recreation

Being part of the Yale community also means having opportunities to utilize recreation resources to support your personal wellness journey. Sports and Recreation at Yale has valuable information, including:

  • Payne Whitney Gymnasium (PWG)
    • The  Payne Whitney Gymnasium is a fitness enthusiast’s dream and an exercise fanatic’s paradise. With over 12 acres of indoor space, there is something here for everyone. 
  • Personal Training
    • Our Personal Training program is designed for participants of all levels. Personal Training offers participants the opportunity to work with one of our certified personal trainers who will provide customized guidance and instruction to help you achieve your physical fitness and wellness goals. 
  • Fitness & Wellness Classes
    • Group Fitness & Wellness Classes are designed for participants of all levels. A diverse array of classes is offered each semester including spinning, yoga, Pilates, martial arts, dance, and cardio based formats.  Classes are open to all current PWG Members (including  undergraduate and graduate students). Preregistration is required to attend all classes. 
  • Club Sports & Intramural Sports
    • The Yale Intramural program provides an outlet for athletic competition for the Yale community. All currently enrolled undergraduate students of Yale College and Yale Graduate & Professional Students are eligible for Intramural Sports (subject to some restrictions). 
    • Club Sports are open to all Yale undergraduate and graduate students (with a required ratio of 3:1 or greater); a few also accept staff, faculty, and alumni as “assistants.” And most clubs are coed.
  • Auxiliary Recreation Facilities
  • Outdoor Education Center (OEC)
  • Yale Varsity Athletics
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