Dear Members of the Yale Community,
It’s been nearly a month since we welcomed students to campus, and the academic year is well underway. Schedules have been finalized, lecture halls are full, dining halls are bustling, and the campus is alive with possibility.
With the semester in full swing, I want to take a moment to talk about the reason we’re all here and how it should guide our work. Whether you’re a first-year undergraduate or a fifth-year doctoral student, a longtime faculty member or a new addition to the staff that keeps Yale running, all of us share an unshakeable commitment to the pursuit of knowledge.
Advancing this pursuit is the primary purpose of a university, and for more than three centuries, Yalies have brought the fruits of it to bear on the world’s most urgent and complex challenges.
Principles and Priorities
The pursuit of knowledge doesn’t advance on its own. It’s made possible by our foundational principles: our fidelity to academic freedom; our tradition of protecting free expression; our ability to hire and admit whom we want independently and in accordance with the law; our commitment to top-flight scholarship, research, and education; and our steadfast belief that everyone in our community should be treated with dignity.
These principles are the hallmarks of any true haven of learning, and they have paved the way for generations of groundbreaking ideas and innovations.
But while principles are meant to endure the test of time, grounding our pursuit of knowledge from decade to decade, priorities must reflect the needs of the moment. They must be refreshed and refined with the input of today’s community.
That’s exactly what we’ve done over the last two years. At an inflection point for the entire landscape of higher education, my colleagues and I have engaged in countless conversations with students, faculty, staff, alumni, community leaders, and the public. We’ve listened and learned, understanding that good leadership, like good scholarship, begins with asking questions.
Four priorities emerged from these discussions—four areas through which we can advance the pursuit of knowledge and strengthen our university for a new era. While I’ve shared these priorities previously, I want to update you on our progress and the work ahead.
Advancing our essential purpose of research, scholarship, and teaching
At Yale, we’ve always believed in the value of durable human skills. The purpose of a Yale education is to learn how to think, to ask hard questions and engage with complex topics, to challenge each other and ourselves.
In April, I detailed the myriad ways we’re realizing this purpose—from our strategic review of the undergraduate experience to our reimagining of Science Hill and our bold investments in quantum research.
The rise of artificial intelligence does not diminish the value of these skills. If anything, it makes them more vital. In a world where answers seem to be a prompt away, where some skills may atrophy or never develop in the first place, society will need those with the ability to analyze and think deeply most of all.
The university officially began this conversation in 2024 by convening the Yale Task Force on Artificial Intelligence. Just two years later, the technological landscape has evolved rapidly. But the Task Force’s report raised an evergreen question: “Where does the thinking happen?” In any given class, on any assignment, where is the intellectual sweat, the exertion that builds cognitive strength and resilience?
As we consider how our university should approach the role of AI in teaching, research, and scholarship, I invite you to share your views on this challenge. What is AI’s value to the pursuit of knowledge? Are there ways it can augment the classroom experience without undermining its very purpose? How should we contend with the ethical, environmental, and socioeconomic implications of this technology? As always, your input will inform my thinking and decision-making on how we move forward.
Broadening intellectual life
Universities are not meant to be echo chambers. We are here precisely to challenge and be challenged, to wrestle with ideas old and new and to engage those who think differently with curiosity rather than contempt. In fact, it is often these disagreements that strengthen our work and spark the biggest breakthroughs.
In that spirit, Provost Scott Strobel and I formed the Committee on the Principles of Academic Freedom, a faculty-led effort to examine the historical, legal, and ethical foundations of academic freedom in higher education and to develop a forward-looking statement that articulates the principles that guide the academic freedom of faculty at Yale. The committee will deliver its findings, along with a written statement of principles, by the end of this semester.
We’ve also established a new Presidential Senior Fellowship, which will bring leaders and experts with a wide range of perspectives to campus. Last week, the inaugural fellow, David Brooks, debuted a weekly podcast that invites guests and listeners to interrogate the enduring quandaries of the human condition.
The rest of the semester is filled with equally exciting opportunities for intellectual inspiration. On November 4, we will host Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Marilynne Robinson as part of our Presidential Lecture Series. A few weeks later, before our November recess, I have the privilege of presenting the Henry E. Howland Memorial Prize to visionary conductor Gustavo Dudamel, who will join us for a weeklong residency and a concert with the Yale Philharmonia.
Investing in our students
One of the university’s greatest assets in its pursuit of knowledge is, of course, its students. That’s especially true at Yale, where our seminar rooms and lecture halls brim with the world’s brightest minds.
Last spring, we increased Yale College’s financial aid threshold to include more of those minds than ever before. Beginning this semester, students from nearly half of American households with schoolchildren will be eligible to attend Yale College at zero cost, and students from eight in ten families in the United States will qualify for free tuition.
In the coming year, we will continue to explore more ways to increase access and affordability and maximize resources for education, scholarship, and research.
Strengthening community partnerships
Sustaining the pursuit of knowledge requires a strong community around us. Yale’s relationship with New Haven is fundamental to the flourishing of both the city and our university, and every year we look for new opportunities to expand and strengthen it.
Over the summer, we launched a $4.5 million community fund to support local New Haven nonprofits—an effort that builds on our unprecedented voluntary contribution to the city of New Haven; Mayor Justin Elicker and I will announce the first recipients of the fund later this year.
Earning Trust
Advancing the pursuit of knowledge also depends on the public trusting our work and believing in our purpose. As I said when the Committee on Trust in Higher Education released its report last spring, trust is never a given. Trust must be earned, year after year. It’s not a simple on/off switch. It takes time to build. For just as the pursuit of knowledge is endless, so is the process of self-reflection and improvement.
I spent the summer working with colleagues on how we can put the trust committee’s recommendations into action; you can learn more about our progress. But the committee’s report is just the beginning of our efforts. This year, I will continue to seek feedback from students, faculty, staff, and alumni about how we can keep building trust on campus and beyond. I will also be having lunch regularly in the dining halls. Please don’t hesitate to say hello if you see me around campus, or share your thoughts through our new website.
Looking Forward
We still have plenty of work to do. But I’m deeply proud of our progress and grateful for the role every single one of you has played in it. Together, we are reaffirming the promise of higher education and all of the remarkable contributions universities like Yale make to our society.
As we get further into the semester, I hope you will hold on to the energy of these first few weeks. I hope you will remember what we share with each other and all those who came before us: an enduring belief that the pursuit of knowledge is among humanity’s worthiest endeavors.
With gratitude,
Maurie
Maurie McInnis
President
Professor of the History of Art