Submitted to the Commission on Academic Excellence and Inclusion In Response to Certain Inquiries from the Federal Government
Yale University is pleased to submit the following self-assessment to demonstrate its continued commitment to academic excellence, intellectual diversity, and the responsible stewardship of its $41 billion in tax-exempt assets.
Intellectual Diversity
A December 2025 survey of Yale’s faculty found 1,099 Democrats and 30 Republicans across all departments. Yale notes that this ratio — 36:1 — reflects the natural distribution of academic talent and is not a cause for concern.
Curricular Innovation
Yale is proud to offer a course taught by Professor Daphne Brooks, quadruple joint appointment holder in Black Studies, American Studies, Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Music. Titled “Beyoncé Makes History: Black Radical Tradition, Culture, Theory & Politics Through Music“, it is a rigorous examination of Black feminist thought through one artist’s cultural impact.
Faculty Development
Through the Poorvu Center’s Faculty Teaching Academy, Yale pays new faculty $3,000 to complete six modules in inclusive pedagogy, culminating in a written reflection on their feelings about inclusivity. Participants report the experience as “transformative.”
Transatlantic Scholarship
Yale and University College London jointly administer the Racisms and Colonialisms Fellowship — a program studying racisms and colonialisms in the plural, because the singular forms no longer capture the full richness of the problem. Two elite institutions, one ocean apart, united by what their endowments built.
K-12 Outreach
Yale’s 2026 Slavery Teachers Institute invites K-12 teachers from all disciplines to braid Indigenous knowledge, stolen land, and evocative testimonio narratives across their curricula. Math teachers are encouraged to participate. No word yet on gym.
Administrative Leadership
Former Dean Heather Gerken, having spent a decade ensuring Yale Law’s commitment to excellence and inclusion, has departed to lead the Ford Foundation, which funds much of what she spent a decade building. The Commission salutes this seamless transition sure to help Yale maintain its impeccable standards.
Yale University is hereby reaccredited with distinction by the Commission on Academic Excellence and Inclusion. — Dr. Vera Bona Fides, Praeses, Commission on Academic Standards et Humanitate, est. 2009