Div Dictionary: CLC
CLC (n): the Community Life Committee, YDS’s school-sponsored social scene.

Mother Yale is great for sponsoring events, large and small. Where the Divinity School leadership sees the need to supplement this sponsorship, the CLC comes into play. The goals are wide-flung (yet connected), from concern for building a sense of community among YDS members, to serving as an outlet to spend the money that is available to spend, and trying to make sure that the more nerdy among us actually have a social life. Yale sponsors many events, which are fantastic. The ones that aren’t lectures or conferences—the parties, study breaks, movie screenings, happy hour, All School Conference, etc.—are often sponsored through the Community Life Committee. Since we love our acronyms around here, we just say “CLC.” Here’s a much better description, straight from the CLC website:

The YDS Community Life Committee (CLC) seeks to provide opportunities for fellowship, spiritual and intellectual growth, rest, celebration, and relaxation for the YDS Community. The Community Life Committee (CLC) is a Standing Committee of the General Faculty of the Divinity School comprised of faculty members, administrators, and student Representatives. The CLC allocates funding to student groups, is responsible for the annual Back-to-School Cook-out, the Christmas Party, Spring Fling, the All School Conference, Fatted Cafés, Coffee Hour, and more!

Faculty members and administrators are appointed by the Dean, with one serving as co-chair. The other co-chair is held jointly by the student co-coordinators. Other students serving on the Committee include four elected members of the student body: a first-year student, a Master of Divinity student, a Master of Arts in Religion student, and an at-large member. The Student Council President may also serve on the CLC.

On this website you can also take a gander at the impressive number of student activities YDS has going on. (Remember that we’re a mere 350-students strong, and that many of us are supposed to be spending all our time studying. In that light in particular, that’s a pretty active group of folk.) Since CLC funds student groups, most on-campus student-produced events are at least partially CLC funded. CLC also funds and produces the BIG campus events – like our end-of-semester parties: the Advent Party and Spring Fling--not to be confused with the general Yale Spring Fling. Generally, if you’re eating free food on campus or with an established group talking about an issue you care about deeply, you’re likely benefiting from CLC. If you’re drinking free beer or pop with friends on campus on a Friday afternoon, you’re almost certainly benefiting from CLC.

The CLC is headed by a faculty member and two students, who are NOT the ones listed on the website as of today. The two new people are amazing and fantastic and splendid persons, so look forward to that!


-Alex

PS: I tried to Google-image some photos from Spring Fling and the Advent Party, to no avail. (Did find, courtesy of last year's BTFO Coordinator Kate, this gem of our dear Registrar Lisa Huck)

Life off the Hill: An Apology

I'm sure some of you have been thinking to yourselves, "Gee, Josh usually posts an update on Tuesday, and now it's Thursday, and there's still nothing about exciting things to do in New Haven." This lack of an update is especially bad this week, since some of you are taking summer language classes and have no idea of what to do in New Haven to de-stress from a morning of Greek, Hebrew, or Latin.

To make a long story short, I moved across town this week, and, as is the nature of such moves, it ballooned into something much more time consuming than I initially expected. As of today, I finally have all of my stuff in my new place, and I've begun to make a dent into the sea of boxes obscuring my living room (much to my new roommate's delight, I'm sure). However, I'm flying back to Texas tomorrow for my cousin's high school graduation, so you're going to have to wait a bit longer for new updates. To make this awful week up to you, though, I'll have two new posts for you next week: one of which will cover the ins and outs of parking in New Haven! Stay tuned on Tuesday and Thursday for more exciting tidbits about life in the Elm City!

Div Dictionary: BTFO

Summer is nearly at hand. The pollen numbers are down to ‘deathly’ here in New Haven, the weather is gorgeous, and it’s that lull between spring classes and summer classes that’s better known as commencement. I've just returned from some time away, where spent a weekend in Arizona playing golf with my grandfather, and a few days at home in Nebraska meeting with my Session and Presbytery—good times. Best times: my sister competed in the Nebraska State Special Olympics and took a gold in the softball toss and a silver in the 50m walk. Leaving that joy, I've returned to a time of transitions. Tomorrow, many friends graduate. Tuesday, summer courses begin. To everything a season...luckily this is a very nice season for weather.

I realize that there are going to be many acronyms and words thrown at you in the next few months, and especially during BTFO. So I thought I'd spend a bit of time on the biggest potential question mark...what the heck is a 'BTFO'?

BTFO: (n) shorthand for 'Before the Fall Orientation', a week-long event at Yale Divinity School (aka YDS, look for the upcoming Div Dictionary on that one), which is student-driven, student-directed, and student-run (with the generous support of the amazing faculty and staff).

An important bit of information: BTFO is scheduled to begin the afternoon of Monday, August 23rd, and conclude on Friday, August 27th. We will also likely have activities available through the weekend so that you can make the most out of your free time in New Haven before classes start on Monday. The specifics of the days are still being worked on, and will likely change many many many many times over the next few months. But the dates will not. AUGUST 23-27. Mark your calendars!

BTFO functions only as well as the students, faculty, and staff who help make it happen. Lucky you...everyone I know of is top-notch. And I think I know most everyone. During the week, we will regale you with various traditions, worship services, and speakers. Our goal is to answer SOME of the many questions you naturally should have (if you don't, goodness gracious you need to think some more!). The week is short, but we're going to try and balance a lot of info-sharing (registration, financial aid, best places to get lunch for vegan-El Salvadoran food lovers, etc) with time for you to meet informally with professors, current students, alumni, and classmates. This event has been running for a while now, and we will try to take the best from previous years. This is, in short, a week to cover the most common questions and to inform you about the players at YDS, Yale, and New Haven. It can't answer all your questions--what fun would that be anyway?--but it should answer many, and give you outlets to know how to find answers to the rest.

Most importantly, it should be fun, and we are looking forward to the joy that will come from the week. Over the course of the summer, we will pass along more details about BTFO. In the meantime, feel free to check out the Yale Divinity School public events calendar to get a sense of what's going on around the Quad. Some of you have found Josh and I on facebook, after Melissa let us find you on the YDS Admits page. Thanks for that form of communication. Contact us at btfo2010@gmail.com as well if you have a question, or post it on this blog if it's a general question. We will NOT be setting up a Twitter account, I am glad to report. To me, the notion of doing something named for a little yellow animated character is innately silly. "But Alex, you said earlier in the post 'to everything a season' so why not a season for this?" Valid question. I am caught by my own words. But I'm not going to change my stance on Tweets. Sorry.

Until next time, stay thirsty my friends.
-Alex

"Life off the Hill": Dining Down the Hill

Alex may be providing you with a steady diet of meat and potatoes, but I like to think of my feature as something more fabulous. How fabulous you ask? This fabulous. (You should eat at Miya’s at least once while you’re living in New Haven. Even if you don’t like sushi. It’s that good.)

On a similar note, the Div School’s Refectory will prevent you from going hungry by providing you a steady diet of meat-and-potatoes-esque dishes. Don’t get me wrong; I like the Refectory. It’s far from the worst cafeteria that I’ve eaten in. However, when you eat it day in and day out, it gets old. That’s where today’s feature comes in.

As a YDS student, you’re required to purchase “Eli Bucks,” Yale’s dining points system. For full-time students, the required amount is $400; for part-time, it’s $200. While you can spend all of these in a semester at the Refectory, you do have other options: namely the Hall of Graduate Studies and Yale Commons.

HGS (320 York St) operates a cafeteria for Yale’s graduate and professional student community. At $9.50 for lunch and $13 for dinner, it can be a bit pricey, but it is money that you’ve already spent (plus, you didn’t hear this from me, but people totally sneak in Tupperware). At each meal, there’s a salad bar, two soup options, at least two hot entrees, one of which is vegetarian, sides, and desert. Throughout the year, HGS runs special dinners, such as “Chocolate Fest,” where every dish contains chocolate.

Yale Commons (168 Grove St) was at one point Yale’s only dining room. That isn’t the case today, but it’s still the only dining facility open to the entire Yale Community. Plus, where else can you dine beneath pictures of former US Presidents (all of whom were Yale alumni) while watching the fascinating creatures that are Yale undergrads? Commons provides more options per meal than HGS does, although it’s only open Monday through Friday. Plus, the scenes in the Indiana Jones moves that supposedly occur in Sterling Memorial Library were all actually filmed in Commons (I’m still really impressed by that fact).

There’s also a restaurant in Bass Library, but, as the worker told me, “Divinity points? We don’t take those here.” The moral of the story here is: bring cash for snacks when you’re studying in Bass (which is open later than the Divinity Library, for the record).

"Village on a Hill": Introduction

To complement Josh's "Life off the hill" segment, we also thought it pertinent to introduce you to various aspects of the Divinity School. While he regales you with the splendors of New Haven and beyond, I stay closer to home. Imagine him as the foreign correspondent in a way, and me as your 'local attractions' person. He may be glamorous, but I'm your staunch day-to-day operator. "Life off the hill" may be like a five course meal to some, but "Village on a hill" (I hope) will be like meat and potatoes, the meatloaf that mom makes...it's filling, a stalwart.

The Div School and life on the hill is my comfort food, and hopefully it will be yours as well. It's my job to introduce you to the people, the places, the concepts, and some of the myriad activities that take place in our lovely locale. I will bring you a weekly update, including interviews with deans and professors, introductions to terms, and other information that will hopefully prepare you for your time here. If you come across anything in letters or on websites that you want to know more about, else you get to know what I think is important!

"Life off the Hill": Housing

In about three months, most of you will be living in New Haven. A lucky few of you will live in the Div School Apartments (which are just about the easiest places arrange housing when you’re not living in New Haven). If you’re in this category, you’re probably thinking: Why are we talking about housing in “Life off the Hill?” Well, unfortunately, this entire post doesn’t apply to you, since housing is part of your life on the hill (I’m sorry; we’re not trying to be exclusive. There will be plenty of information on your lovely apartment in Curtis or Fisher or Bellamy later. Plus, when you decide to move off the hill, maybe you’ll remember some of this.) The rest of you are about to begin (or have already begun) searching for new places to live. This post is for you.

First off, remember to breathe. I know it seems like you needed to sign a lease yesterday; I certainly felt that way when I was in your place. If it makes you feel better, I didn’t sign a lease until mid-June, and I know plenty of people who didn’t manage to find housing until later. The good news is that you will find a place to live. YDS is a very friendly place, and Melissa is amazing; she’s going to keep giving you information about wonderful places to live throughout the summer.

Now, on to the nitty-gritty info about finding places to live in New Haven.

1. Let me plug Melissa Pucci again. She is amazing. She’s going to be feeding you housing info all summer. Current students let Melissa know if they need new roommates, and students who are moving on to other things give Melissa info about the places they’re moving out of. New Haven landlords tend to love Div Students (we make good tenants, I’m told), so they’ll also send ads to Melissa. I’ve also heard rumors that she will go take pictures of apartments for you if you can’t make it to New Haven.
2. Yale owns lots of properties around New Haven that graduate and professional students (that’s you) can live in. You might want to start by checking the Grad Student Housing Office which can set you up with dorm-style housing at either the Hall of Graduate Studies, located in the middle of Yale’s main campus (and which has an excellent dining hall), or 276 Prospect Street, which is located a short distance from the Div School. I’ve got several friends who, at one point or another, lived in these dorms and loved them.
3. For those of you who don’t want to live in a dorm (I was one of you), Yale has still more options for you. Yale also has several apartment-style options for graduate and professional students, many of which are located close to the Div School. A note of caution: These properties fill up amazingly fast. I applied in late March and got waitlisted. I’m not saying that you can’t get into one of these, but you should definitely have other options, even if this is your first choice.
4. Yale also runs The Yale Off-Campus Properties Database, which is more or less a Yale-specific Craigslist. They also provide this website, which has some good information about renting in New Haven.
5. Finally, there’s always Craigslist. Seriously. I, for one, always thought that Craigslist was kinda sketchy (which it is in some areas), but it’s one of the best ways to find a rental property in New Haven. New Haven lacks an apartment-finding service with good listings (the closest you’re going to come is Seabury Rentals). While you’re on Craigslist, I’d recommend looking for apartments in East Rock or Mansfield, since those will be closest to the Div School.

I’m sure a lot of you are wondering about price or are trying to come up with a budget to determine how much you want to take out in loans. I’m currently renting a five-bedroom house for $2600/month. I’ve got four roommates, so that works out to $520/person. That’s on the low end of average for New Haven; you’ll probably end up paying somewhere between $500-$750/month before utilities. We split our utilities (which included cable and internet) five ways; the most I paid was $135 one month during the winter. Heating will be your biggest expense. That’s a fact of life.

Some of you can’t afford to make a trip up to New Haven this summer. I couldn’t. My advice is to begin networking now. I found a roommate through the Facebook group, and I then got in contact with some current students whom I met when I came up for admitted students day. Originally, they were going to look at apartments for me, but we ended up becoming roommates. Finding current students who need more roommates is probably the best bet. It worked out great for me; I ended up with a great house and didn’t have to deal with the stress of apartment hunting.

Finally, remember to breathe. I know that’s where I started this post, but it’s important to keep reminding yourself that. Trying to find a place to live in New Haven while you’re halfway across the country can be scary and overwhelming at times, but you can do it. It’s all going to be okay. Jesus may have claimed that the Son of Man had no place to lay his head, but divinity students fall into the same category as birds and foxes. (Don't worry; that will be funny and/or reassuring in about a semester).

"Life off the Hill": An Explanation

Yale Divinity School is located at the top of the Prospect Hill, which I believe is the tallest hill in New Haven (Wikipedia neither confirms nor denies this, so I'm going to go with it. Interestingly, Wikipedia also fails to mention YDS's presence in the neighborhood, which is why you should never cite it in an academic paper). My unproven claims aside, that means that we've got a great view from the Quad; it also means that we're a little isolated from the rest of Yale (some undergrads don't realize that campus extends all the way out to us).

Life on the hill is great; don't get me wrong. But there's an entire campus (literally) downtown from us, and as a YDS student, you're a part of that larger community (you can even take classes at Yale College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, or another professional school). You're also part of the larger New Haven community. With that in mind, Alex and I have decided to run a series of articles about "Life off the Hill," which we hope will begin to introduce you to those parts of Yale and New Haven that don't have anything to do directly with the Div School. Each week, I'll pick one fantastic (or at least fantastic to me) thing about Yale or New Haven to introduce to you. It's going to be fun (at least for me; I'm getting paid to research and write about this stuff, after all); I promise.

Introductions: Alex

Hello everyone! Josh was correct in his introduction that he does speak for both of us, but I'll also speak again for both of us: welcome and congrats! YDS has been a spectacular new aspect of my life, and I hope that at this time next year you will be saying the same thing.

My name is Alex Peterson, which--along with Josh Rodriguez--may be one of the more nondescript names in existence. Like Josh, I make up for the boring name by being a totally rad dude (has that vernacular become 'retro' and 'cool' again yet? If not, it just means I'm part of the vanguard bringing it back...gnarly).

I was born and raised outside of Roseland, Nebraska, population about 200. I argue that I lived life as close to the "Old Yeller" experience as is possible anymore: lived in the country, raised working on a farm, rode horse as primary means of transportation as a youth, dog as best friend, etc. I am blonde and blue, and bleed Nebraska Cornhusker red. So I truly appreciate Josh's affinity for his Rangers. Although, unlike Josh, I am not delusional. The Rangers will not make the playoffs unless Thespus comes and wreaks havoc with the acting that the Rangers claim is actual baseball, such that they mistakenly win a few games.

I went to undergrad at Trinity University in San Antonio, and am currently in one of the phases of denial about the Spurs' bow-out in the playoffs (I regress back to denial pretty regularly). I double-majored in Political Science and Religion, then joined the Peace Corps and went to Ghana. Spent 2 years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bimbagu, Northern Ghana, then extended my stay a third year to coordinate Peace Corps' national HIV/AIDS and Gender and Youth Development programs from Kumasi. Back to Nebraska managing a non-profit for youth substance abuse prevention, and then to this glorious place. I am Presbyterian, seeking ordination but not necessarily parish ministry. I am also working on a certificate in Development Studies through the International Relations department as well as a Reformed Studies Certificate, and hope perhaps to work overseas...that's as much of a concrete job plan as I have.

I enjoy candlelight dinners, the stars, and walks on the beach (all of which are true statements, although it's been a long time since I walked on any beach). I used to be a vegetarian, am decent at killing and butchering meat animals, find the Divine in sports more often than in established church, and in singing more often than in either of those. Most of all, I'm really excited to try and make BTFO a successful week, so you have only 25,000 questions leading into school instead of 47,000. Enjoy the summer, and perhaps this blog! See you in August.

Alex

Introductions: Josh

I know I speak for both Alex and myself when I say, “Welcome and congratulations.” You are a few months away from starting a new, exciting, and a little bit (okay, some days it seems very) scary chapter of your life. Take some time to pat yourself on the back; you’ve earned it. We look forward to welcoming you to YDS in person in the very near future.

I’m Josh Rodriguez, a first year M.Div. student from Lubbock, Texas. I’m an Episcopal student affiliated with Berkeley Divinity School, and I am discerning ordination in the Episcopal Diocese of Northwest Texas. I’m currently attending YDS to fulfill the academic requirements for board certification as a health care chaplain.

I attended undergrad at Lubbock Christian University, a small (okay, tiny) liberal arts college in Texas, where I majored in Biblical Languages. After undergrad, I took some time off to do a year-long residency in Clinical Pastoral Education.

I’m a huge baseball fan, and I eternally harbor hopes that the Texas Rangers are going to make the play-offs. Other than that, I enjoy learning new languages, trips to NYC, music (I’m currently on a Vampire Weekend trip, even though I do care deeply about Oxford commas), good books, and good food.

I’m also living proof that southerners can survive New England winters.

Have a wonderful summer. Alex and I will be waiting for you when you arrive here for BTFO.

Peace,

Josh