Dean's Office at a loss over rule-bending groups

The Yale Banner, the Whiffenpoofs, and WYBC have recently been the topic of much discussion in the Yale College Dean's Office. "By our own definition, there are certain groups that, for various reasons, are not in compliance with our regulations," Assistant Dean and Director of Undergraduate Organizations Philip Greene said. Some of Yale's oldest groups may be violating University rules.

JULIA TIERNAN/YH With a paid staff on board, WYBC is violating a little-known Yale policy which limits leadership positions to current students.

According to the Yale College Undergraduate Regulations, "Any undergraduate organization must be initiated and controlled by currently enrolled Yale College students...all administrative, policy, and managerial decisions are to reside in the hands of enrolled undergraduates." Benefits of being a registered undergraduate organization include access to University facilities and office space, the right to apply for use of the Yale name, and the ability to apply for funds from the Undergraduate Organization Funding Committee.

Both WYBC and the Banner are registered undergraduate organizations governed by non-students. The Whiffs, though not registered with the Dean's Office, continue to use University facilities for events such as the Parents' Weekend Jam in Battell Chapel.

"Unlike many other undergraduate organizations, the Yale Broadcasting Company does have a paid core staff, none of whom are students," WYBC Program Director Emad Abdelnaby, DC '99, acknowledged. WYBC's two radio stations are managed by a five-student executive board, but the group's structure also includes a Board of Governors, director of operations, chief engineer, and director of community affairs--none of whom are Yale students. WYBC holds its meetings in WLH and runs most of its affairs out of Hendrie Hall, even though only organizations registered with the Dean's Office, according to the Undergraduate Regulations, can use "certain University facilities or properties for programs and meetings." According to Greene, the Dean's Office recognizes the discrepancy of WYBC's registration, but there is no obvious solution.

In the late '80s and early '90s, students in charge of the Banner, the oldest college yearbook in the country, began to incur increasingly large production costs. The students went to the Dean's Office for assistance and in 1994, due to debts of almost $100,000, the Association of Yale Alumni (AYA) agreed to take control of the yearbook's business. Nonetheless, the Banner has continued to register as an undergraduate organization. "I think it's important to be registered as an undergraduate organization to have people like Dean Greene and Dean [of Student Affairs Betty] Trachtenberg as advocates," former Banner editor Steven Hayhurst, DC '99, said. Sheila Cook, director of external relations for the AYA, recognizes the problem. "I am certainly aware of the students' concerns and hope to meet with them and Betty Trachtenberg to resolve their issues," she said.

While WYBC and the Banner are closely associated with the University, the Whiffenpoofs, the country's oldest all-male a cappella group, claim to have severed their ties. The group is not registered as an undergraduate organization since many members take a leave of absence from Yale in order to meet the group's demands. According to Whiffen-poofs Assistant Business Manager Max Mednick, PC '99, five members of the 12-man singing group are not enrolled undergraduates.

Although the Whiffenpoofs claim that they act independently of the University, Dean Greene said they "continue to reserve University facilities." Medwick denied this, but said, "It's important that the Whiffenpoofs and the Administration have a good relationship. We believe in the University. We've been able to operate under the guidelines they have set up for us."

The current policy was implemented in 1987 after the Dean's Office learned that Andrei Navrozov, SY '78, a former editor of The Yale Literary Magazine, continued to publish the magazine after graduating from Yale. In response, Yale rewrote its policy to require that student organizations be run by enrolled students. The University later won a lengthy and expensive legal battle to reclaim the magazine. Yale reaffirmed the policy in 1996 when The Yale Daily News petitioned the Committee of Undergraduate Organizations to permit its Editor-in-Chief to take a semester off to run the paper. In a letter written by Greene, the Committee responded that the policy was too important to compromise, stressing the importance of balance between academics and extracurriculars in a student's life.

According to Greene, "there are political issues" preventing the Dean's Office from solving this problem, since each group has a rich tradition of association with Yale. WYBC was established in 1940 and is second in the New Haven radio market. The Banner has been published since 1841. Greene claims Yale has been lenient with these groups because they comprise huge chunks of Yale's history and contribute to the prestige of the University. The Whiffs are in constant demand at alumni clubs worldwide. "Whether we're an undergraduate organization or not, we're still going to be the Whiffenpoofs," Mednick said. Attempting to cut these groups off from Yale could be disastrous.

The University, however, feels it cannot continue to make policy exceptions. On Tues., Oct. 27, Greene met with Cook and Trachtenberg to discuss the fate of the Banner. The Dean's Office still hasn't decided whether it will play hardball or rewrite the policy. A solution, Greene said, is still a "work in progress."

Back to News...