Business New Haven newspaper honored Yale as the 1997 Corporate Citizen of the Year in its Jan. 27 issue for the University's "active, coherent and public strategy" for revitalizing the city.
Noting that New Haven has been Yale's "home town" for nearly 300 years, the Business New Haven editors described the University's recent town-gown initiatives as "a work in progress." They added that the Corporate Citizenship award pays tribute to "the three-years-and-counting tenure of university President Richartd C. Levin -- during which Yale pursued an active, coherent and public strategy aimed at bettering the economic and social underpinnings of the surrounding community. It's a promising first step, and it has changed the lives of some individuals for the better."
This is the second year that the newspaper has presented Business & Civic Awards for personal and corporate achievements during the previous year. An article in the Jan. 27 issue, titled "Yale University: The New True Blue," described a number of initiatives that Yale undertook or renewed in 1996. These include:
Yale's promotion of area arts and cultural activities, including its sponsorship of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas and its financial support for the Shubert Center for the Performing Arts.
The University's purchase of the long-abandoned former Jewish Community Center at 1156 Chapel St. for use as the new home of the School of Art.
The appointment of former Pfizer official Gregory E. Gardiner to head the expanded Office of Cooperative Research, which the newspaper said was "an appointment nearly unanimously hailed as a symbol of the university's new commitment to aiding technology transfer from university to marketplace."
The $300,000 U.S. Department of Education grant to support community service jobs by students.
The creation of the Institute Centers for Professional and Curricular Development, a joint initiative of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute and five city schools.
Yale's selection by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to educate 20 Community Renaissance Fellows from around the country; the effort was supported by a $650,000 grant from HUD.
The second phase of the University's Homebuyer Program, which awards Yale staff $2,000 a year for 10 years if they purchase a home in targeted city neighborhoods.
The three-year, $2.4 million HUD grant to Yale for a collaborative approach to revitalizing Dwight neighborhoods. This initiative is also supported by funds from the City of New Haven and a consortium of banks and other partners.
"One of the things you see, beyond the dollars-and-cents contributions that any corporation could make, is how we can leverage the distinctive assets of our corporation -- faculty and students -- to be contributors to the New Haven community," said Vice President and University Secretary Linda K. Lorimer in the article. "We have very bright people engaged in projects that should benefit the city."