the value of a Yale degree

[Doug Henwood]

I'm having a bit of a flamewar with my fellow Yalies on the class of 
'75 list. A progressive black minister from New Haven, W. David Lee, 
is running for the aptly named Yale Corporation, the university's 
board of directors. Normally, the almuni association nominates a 
candidate who runs unopposed. Lee took advantage of a petition option 
and got on the ballot. Yale's unions are supporting his candidacy, 
and Lee has said he wants to represent the interests of workers and 
the New Haven community (i.e., the mostly poor people who live around 
the tax-exempt university) on the board. The university is 
distressed, and persuaded the sculptor Maya Lin to run against him as 
their official candidate. Lin, of course, is perfect, being a woman 
of Asian origins but with no particular politics other than upper 
class liberal instincts. The university and the Yale Daily News has 
been denouncing Lee as a "front for the unions," and one jerk on my 
class list pretty much said that they'd be controlling things if Lee 
won. Even though the sentiment of the class was overwhelmingly 
pro-Gore in the 2000 elections, there appears to be not a single 
pro-union voice besides mine. Just as I was working up to a frothy 
pitch of anger, I read this quote from the world's most prominent 
Yale alum, and was reminded just what a venerable institution the 
university is.


>It is clear, he said the other day, that presidents should not organize a
>summit mmeting unless they know for certain they can get a deal. "This doesn't
>have nothing to do with reputation," Mr. Bush said, according to a transcript
>released by the White House. "It has everything to do with the consequences if
>it fails."

Doug