By Walter Yeo, Yale-NUS ’17
Walter explores both his roles as a pioneer student of Yale-NUS and the relationships between the two universities.
Whenever someone mentions the word “empire”, I instinctively think of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and almost never associate the word with universities. It is such a culturally significant term commonly associated with Roman or Han, but with branch campuses like New York University Abu Dhabi and University College London Australia springing up all over the globe, it might good to relook the definition of empires to include the universities of today. After all, their graduates exert a comparable degree of influence on the world and its processes. Therefore, it is meaningful to consider what constitutes the “Yale Empire”, if any.
The immediate consideration is the inaugural Yale-NUS College established in Singapore which is often confused as yet another branch campus. If you recall, its birth caused much debate both on the home front and in New Haven. But with regards to our affiliation, the Yale College Undergraduate Admissions page is quick to dispel any myth saying that “Yale-NUS is a fully residential liberal arts college in Singapore that is the result of a landmark collaboration between Yale University and the National University of Singapore”. The question is, do we feel excluded or offended that we are not considered an extension of Yale University? The answer for most Yale-NUS students would be a resounding: “of course not!”
Yale University is a wonderful and beautiful place to pursue all kinds of interests — the paragon of higher-level education. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed my summer at Yale especially the series by Charles Hill and John Gaddis, both of whose work I had the privilege of reading while in school. Many of us at Yale-NUS hold fond memories of Berkeley College and her rector, Dr. Marvin Chun. Not forgetting the many midnight adventures to Mamoun’s, but there is even more to look forward to in an entirely new college that is not a branch campus.
We are pioneers who have been trusted with the rare opportunity to build a college culture from the ground up. A classmate, Jared Yeo and I, calculated that every student in Yale-NUS has a 0.65 percent stake in the college. That statistic is just mind-blowing; nowhere else in the world can a student influence school policy or decide the outcome of every decision but here.
It has been a thrilling journey, forming new clubs with all sorts of truly Singaporean acronyms that compress incredibly long titles like the Yale International Relations and Political Association into YIRPA or CAMPOS which is the Committee for Appreciating and Meeting People On-Site. That is not to say, however, that we do not have our fair share of ups and downs. The most recent hurdle included a decision on which type of student government to adopt — the most popular choice currently on the table resembles a Hunger Games-style of selecting a senate to run the government, dubbed the Silverman Games. This is precisely the kind of freedom which would not have been possible in a branch campus. Make no mistake, we have the full academic rigor of any other prestigious liberal arts college, just check with our Dean of Faculty, Prof. Charles Bailyn who hails from Yale University. We are an independent college which has incorporated many of the best practices from Yale University and the National University of Singapore to create a brand of education which is uniquely ours. Not to mention, the numerous working relations between similar organization like YIRPA and YIRA. In many ways, this sums up our affiliation with both these great universities.
Another classmate of mine, Rohan Naidu quite accurately quipped — “while we feel a strong connection to Yale University, it is more like a relationship between parent and child. The parent births you and then sends you off to boarding school so there is no direct “parenting” involved but the more than occasional postcard and inherited genetics to remind you of your parentage”.
The “Yale Empire” definitely exists in other forms, possibly through its brand of education and the strength of its alumni. No one can doubt that Yale University produces batch after batch of remarkably gifted individuals who go on to achieve great things and impact positive change. From Hadden to Bush, they have all left their mark on this world and that trend is unlikely to change. The university serves as a platform for others to build on their network of talent and further their causes but I can safely say that Yale-NUS College is not one of its “colonies”. I wholeheartedly agree with the Yale College Undergraduate Admissions page when they describe as “a landmark” collaboration between Yale University and the National University of Singapore” since our establishment is certainly a turning point in history.
