Administrators at the helm

"This event came with no warning," Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead, BK '68, GRD '72, said on Tues., Sept. 11. "Right away you have to respond to it." After the news of the morning's catastrophic events quickly consumed students' minds, Brodhead and other University officials were immediately faced with many decisions regarding classes, security, and public relations.

At 11 a.m. Deans, Masters, and other key University officials gathered to discuss whether classes should continue as scheduled. In the end, Administrators drew on past crises for guidance. University President Richard Levin, GRD '74, sent e-mails Tuesday morning allowing professors discretion as to the best way they might conduct their classes.

"This is a moment when it's really good for people to come together in communities," Brodhead said. "The call not to cancel classes was born of out of past experience that has taught us that having some element of your routine stay in place helps." In particular, he cited the murder of Suzanne Jovin, DC '99, as University precedent. "In my 31 years at Yale, we have never cancelled classes—except one day in 1978 when the governor declared a state of emergency because of the snow," Levin said.

However, continuing classes also had a symbolic value in this case. "Normal life was what was put under assault," Brodhead explained. "Part of our burden was to recreate normal life, which isn't to say that we don't live in strange and sad times." Levin echoed Brodhead's sentiments: "We didn't cancel classes, but it wasn't business as usual."

Of the Ivies, Brown and Cornell joined Yale in not canceling classes. Columbia and Penn both officially cancelled classes, with the latter sending non-essential workers home.

Other than keeping classes in session, the Administration also struggled with other ways to help students. The idea of a candlelight vigil, for example, came together over the course of the day, and by Tuesday afternoon posters and e-mails had announced the event.

The University also worked to provide transportation to blood drives and to open the dining halls to those living off campus. Other efforts, such as a teach-in or a non-denominational service, are still being considered.

Despite the Administration's initiatives, Brodhead noted, these events just served to highlight the strength and resolve of Yalies and their residential colleges. "Nobody needed to be told to do something that hadn't already occurred to them," he said. "Everything doesn't have to be done by the institution." Brodhead said that the future remains unclear but that "we'll continue to learn how to respond."

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