Div School purists move to thwart wrecking ball

By David Altschuler

More than a month has passed since the Yale Corporation approved the recommendation of the Divinity School Review Committee, which would invest $30 million, downsize the School, and keep it at its current site. But outrage persists over the impending destruction of East Quadrangle buildings and proposed downsizing of the school, and efforts by Divinity School faculty and students, Yale alumni, and preservationists to save the historic school in its entirety continue.

The approved plan to scale down the Divinity School includes the demolition of buildings that presently contain the dining hall, common room, and Institute for Sacred Music. In addition, buildings on the school's West Quadrangle would be hollowed out, and student housing provided there would be moved to the nearby Conner Street apartments.

Scott Healy, TC '96, who lives and works in New Haven, accused the University of taking advantage of the Divinity School's lack, among other Yale programs, of financially influential alumni. "[It] was left in disrepair, so that when the idea of the Divinity School became obsolete, they could get rid of it. The whole thing is very calculated," Healy said.

Divinity School student body president Burl Salmon, DIV `97, agreed that parts of the school are in horrendous condition. "It's not healthy for the University to allow one of its schools to disintegrate," he said.

Bryan Green, an active member of the Campaign for the Preservation of the Sterling Divinity Quadrangle, is also outraged by what he calls "malicious neglect" of the Divinity School by Yale.

He also pointed to the "breach of trust" between the University and alumni donors who endowed many of the buildings slated for destruction. According to Green, a quarter million dollars collected last year went towards a building now slated for demolition. Many of these donors are currently involved in a lawsuit to get an injunction against the University.

Another matter of dispute concerns the recommendation of the review committee to downsize both the Divinity School faculty and the student body. According to Margaret Farley, Professor of Christian Ethics at the School, the review committee, which consisted of Divinity School faculty and University administration officials, had no original plans to recommend a diminution of the School.

In an effort to encourage the University to reconsider its decision to demolish parts of the Divinity School, Healy, with counsel from some Divinity School professors, authored an e-mail petition to save the East Quadrangle from demolition. The petition maintains that "these buildings, far from expendable, are irreplaceable gifts to the University which should not be compromised."

"[The University's] choice to save the prettiest section of the [East] Quad doesn't maintain its integrity," Healy said.

Complimenting Healy's petition is the Campaign for the Preservation of the Sterling Divinity Quadrangle, a two-year-old committee consisting of community members and many Divinity School professors, alumni, and students. The group, which hired an architect to bolster its cause, has been working on feasible alternatives to destruction of the Quad. "We're trying to incorporate things the University wants into the existing structure at a very low cost," Green said.

These recent efforts have provided some optimism concerning the preservation of the School. "The University has been listening, especially in recent weeks. We feel that we're really having an effect," Green said.

Healy, too, feels optimistic. As a result of his petition, he is meeting with both Divinity School Dean Richard Wood and Deputy Provost for the Arts Diana Kleiner over the next couple of weeks. If a large number of the School's students, alumni, and professors have their way, Yale's plan to downsize the Divinity School will have to be altered.

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