Dwight Hall 2023 Year in Review

MISSION
Dwight Hall at Yale nurtures
and inspires students as
leaders of social change
and advances justice and
service in New Haven and
around the world.
LETTER FROM THE BOARD CHAIR AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Dear Friend,
At a time when the world suffers from natural disasters, armed conflict in multiple locations, social
disintegration, and environmental devastation, Dwight Hall remains a place that brings together people
who are inspired by visions of a better future and are working to bring it into reality.
The Hall continues to adapt to the needs and interests of Yale students and communities in New Haven
and beyond, while retaining its student-led mission, vision, and values. In the 2022-2023 academic year,
• Dwight Hall advanced student service and leadership through 74 student-led member groups and
saw student interest in in-person service opportunities continue to grow;
• The Summer Fellows program provided pre-professional opportunities for 20 students serving
organizations and agencies in the New Haven and nationwide communities, including a cohort of
“Dwight Hall in DC” Fellows;
• The Yale Prison Education Initiative held its inaugural commencement ceremony, awarding
associate degrees to incarcerated students at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution,
and celebrated one year of offering programming to women at Danbury Federal Correctional
Institution;
Founded by undergraduates in 1886, Dwight Hall at Yale is an independent, nonsectarian
umbrella organization—the largest campus-based, student-led public service entity in the
country.
ENGAGE
Forging trusted partnerships with New Haven neighborhoods, organizations, and agencies
through community-engaged service.
In 2023, Dwight Hall’s FOCUS on New Haven Camp Yale orientation program introduced 284 students to
community organizations in New Haven via multi-day service projects and engagement with neighborhood
landmarks and community leaders. The 2023 Student Executive Committee hosted the first Dwight Hall Day
of Service since 2019.
GROW
Developing students’ intellectual, moral, civic, and creative capacities to the fullest with
experiential learning, internships, fellowships, mentorships, and trainings.
Dwight Hall expanded fellowship offerings to 165 term-time and summer fellows, and hosted receptions
connecting students with alumni working in social impact careers in New Haven, Washington, DC,
San Francisco, Boston, and New York City.
• The Muslim Leadership Lab hosted its annual Dr. Betty Shabazz and Malcolm X lecture with
activist and former NBA star Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, featuring a presentation on faith, sports, and
the necessity of protest;
• The Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II was honored as the 2023 Jane & William E. Curran ’49
Distinguished Mentor and gave a rousing public address on the importance of youth-led
movements for social justice;
• The Alumni Mentorship & Career Development Task Force hosted alumni panels and networking
events in partnership with the Yale Office of Career Strategy to illuminate pathways to public
service careers.
As you discover the diverse programs in this report and reflect upon your own community service
and social justice efforts, you are invited to email peter.crumlish@yale.edu or visit the Hall. Alumni
and friends are encouraged to play an active role in expanding equity-centered community service
opportunities, growing term-time and summer fellowship offerings, and exposing more Yalies to
clearer pathways to public sector careers.
Dwight Hall believes a better and more just future lies in the hands of people across generations and
life experiences working to create solutions that allow humanity and our planet to thrive. We present
this vision and opportunities for demonstrable action to offer hope in difficult times.
Yours in Service,
ADVANCE
Supporting intergenerational community-building collaborative projects and
incubating innovative solutions that bring about lasting change in New Haven and around the world.
Full Citizens Coalition, a Dwight Hall Emerging Project, advocated for the rights of currently and formerly
incarcerated individuals and pushed the state of Connecticut to reexamine a decade and a half of policing and
prosecuting that resulted in an exorbitant amount of wrongful convictions. The Hall also supported studentled
humanitarian fundraisers for disaster relief in Morocco, Hawaii, and Afghanistan.
Bradford Williams ’10
Board Chair
Peter Crumlish ’09 m.a.r.
Executive Director & General Secretary
2 DWIGHT HALL AT YALE
CHANGE HAPPENS HERE | DWIGHTHALL.ORG 3