The New Haven Colony Historical Society presented Yale with its highest honor, the Seal of the City, recognizing the University's programs, that have "significantly added to the quality of life, prosperity or the general improvement of the region."
"The Historical Society applauds the many significant contributions Yale University has made to the Greater New Haven community," Peter T. Lamothe, the historical society's executive director, said at the Oct. 24 award ceremony in University Commons. "Yale has been a leader and supporter of a great number of local initiatives and events, both publicly and quietly behind-the-scenes. It is with great excitement that the society presents its Seal of the City award to Yale University."
In thanking the society for honoring the University, President Richard C. Levin said: "I am honored to accept this award on behalf of the 11,000 students, 10,000 employees, and 123,000 graduates of Yale University."
"I accept this award as a 30-year resident of New Haven on behalf of a 300-year-old University that is proud to call New Haven home. Jane and I and our four children have enjoyed New Haven's neighborhoods and parks, its intimate scale, and its educational and arts resources."
The President also said it was his "profound hope" that in the years to come, "the task of urban citizenship will become so thoroughly institutionalized at Yale that there will be no looking back, that the productive partnership between the University and the city will prevail for the duration of Yale's fourth century, and that together we will continue to work for the betterment of the city that invited us here three centuries ago."
In his remarks, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. said, in part: "Hartford may indeed be the capital of government in Connecticut. But the creative capital of Connecticut -- and the capital of the new economy -- global in its reach, inter-connected by its character and competitive to the core, is New Haven. And as the new economy has emerged, so have new ways of doing things at Yale. We in New Haven understand that Yale's core mission as a national leader in academics and research is essential to the strength of all the city. ..." (See related story, below.)
First presented in 1992, the Seal of the City award is a wax impression of the original city seal, which was designed by Ezra Stiles, James Hillhouse and Josiah Meigs in 1784. Proceeds from the Seal of the City award dinner will support the New Haven Colony Historical Society's education programs for students and teachers at New Haven public schools.
Public officials congratulate Yale on Seal of City award
Several area politicians offered their congratulations to Yale for receiving the Seal of the City Award from the New Haven Colony Historical Society.
Below are excerpts from their remarks:
Letter of U.S. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman to Mayor John DeStefano Jr. and President Richard C. Levin, read at the awards ceremony on Oct. 24.
"For three centuries, Yale has been a part of New Haven and New Haven has been a part of Yale. It should be a source of pride for all of us, for example, that right now two greater New Haven students, Peter Mazza and Michael Barbaro, are, respectively, captain of the Yale football team and editor of the Yale Daily News -- among the hundreds of undergraduates from greater New Haven and throughout our state now attending Yale. New Haven and Yale are also united together by the fact that thousands of New Haveners, from President Levin on through the faculty, management, clerical, technical, service, and maintenance staff work at Yale.
"It is this interweaving of town and gown that give both New Haven and Yale their unique strength and that we celebrate this evening. I have to agree with your sentiments, Mayor DeStefano, expressed a year ago when you wrote that 'the city and the university have now forged a partnership that any mayor in the country would envy.' As I travel the country, I have come to know even more deeply how true that is, Mr. Mayor. And, President Levin, I think you, too, can say that you enjoy a partnership with your home town that any university president in the country would envy.
"So, tonight, let's remember the past, take stock of the present and its blessings, and prepare for the future that we will create together at Yale and in New Haven."
Statement of U.S. Representative Rosa L. DeLauro, presented before the U.S. House of Representatives on Oct. 19.
"Nearly three centuries ago, a group of Congregational ministers created a 'Collegiate School' where youths could be instructed in the arts and sciences and prepared for public service in both the Church and the Civil State. That commitment has been reflected in Yale's mission and role as an educator of leaders and a center for scholarship and research. Over the past several years, Yale University has played an instrumental role in the City of New Haven's efforts to revitalize Greater New Haven. Yale has forged a strong relationship with the City of New Haven, working with city administrators to ensure that the needs of our children and families are given every opportunity to build strong communities of which we can all be proud.
"Yale University has had a profound impact on our community and our nation, not only as a leading academic institution, but as a center for public policy, the arts and sciences, and medicine. Since its inception in 1701, Yale has been home to some of our country's most famous characters who have helped to shape the course of our society and our nation. Yale's alumni have been government leaders -- Presidents Taft, Ford, Bush, and Clinton; they have made major advances in medicine and science -- Eli Whitney, Samuel Morse, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Murray Gell-Mann; and they have contributed to the arts -- Sinclair Lewis, Charles Ives, Cole Porter, Paul Newman, and Meryl Streep. Over the last 300 years, Yale University has educated many of our most invigorating leaders and inspiring figureheads, bringing our nation ever forward into the future.
"As we look ahead into the new millennium, we can be assured that Yale University, its administrators, faculty and alumni will be there to help greater New Haven and our country continue to grow and flourish."
Statement of Mayor John DeStefano Jr., at the Seal of the City dinner on Oct. 24.
"Hartford may indeed be the capital of government in Connecticut. But the creative capital of Connecticut -- and the capital of the new economy -- global in its reach, inter-connected by its character and competitive to the core, is New Haven. And as the new economy has emerged, so have new ways of doing things at Yale. We in New Haven understand that Yale's core mission as a national leader in academics and research is essential to the strength of all the city. ...
"[T]onight we not only honor this great academic and research institution, but the entire community of New Haven as well -- from Woodbridge Hall to Westville, from Davenport to Dixwell, from Farnam Hall to Fair Haven, from Hillhouse Avenue to the Hill. In marking the start of the Tercentennial celebration this past Saturday, President Levin and Secretary Lorimer and the entire Yale community took this point to heart and did a marvelous job, for which I congratulate them.
And though the past is to be cherished -- and the future to be hoped for -- it is in the present that we will test ourselves and all of our city to see if we measure up. It is in the present that we can make a difference in the lives of others. It is in the present that we can exhaust intellect and body in the pursuit of becoming a whole city -- the shining city ennobled and enriched and, finally, as one. And it is there that we shall truly find satisfaction and accomplishment."
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