The Association of Yale Alumni encourages all Yale Clubs excluding the Yale Club of Singapore to welcome Yale-NUS alumni as members.
Alumni Affairs Manager Austin Shiner and President Pericles Lewis announce the AYA membership to the Class of 2017 (Xie Yihao).
“All Yale Clubs, except the Yale Club of Singapore, will accept Yale-NUS alumni as members.” We have changed the subheading to reflect that, in fact, acceptance of Yale-NUS students in all Clubs is not guaranteed.
Upon graduation, Yale-NUS College students will be international affiliates in the Association of Yale Alumni (AYA), the official alumni organization of Yale University. This was formally decided by the AYA and Yale senior leadership “over a lengthy period encompassing the opening of the College”, Yale-NUS Alumni Affairs Manager Austin Shiner said in an email interview.
The AYA will also encourage all Yale Clubs, except the Yale Club of Singapore, to welcome Yale-NUS alumni as members, Mr. Shiner said. He is also the Secretary of the Yale Club of Singapore.
Yale-NUS alumni will fall into the AYA membership category known as international affiliates. They will not have a Yale degree but are part of the Yale family in a meaningful way, Mr. Shiner said. Other international affiliates include postdoctoral researchers and Yale World Fellows.
As international affiliates, Yale-NUS alumni will be listed on and have access to the AYA Directory which contains members’ contact information, Mr. Shiner said. AYA programs and services are open to Yale-NUS alumni according to an article published in the Yale Alumni Magazine in 2012.
However, they will not be able to attend the annual AYA Assembly as delegates, or vote in the Yale Corporation elections.
Except for the Yale Club of Singapore, the AYA will encourage all Yale Clubs to welcome Yale-NUS alumni as members, Mr. Shiner said. Yale Clubs are volunteer-run, regional groups of Yale alumni, students, parents and friends that organize regular academic, volunteering and professional events for members. They are independent of the AYA and have their own membership criteria.
It was not intended for Yale-NUS alumni to “swamp” the Yale Club of Singapore, said Linda Lorimer, Governing Board member of Yale-NUS College. The Yale Club of Singapore has more than 300 members, creating a “unique situation … herein Yale-NUS alumni will soon outnumber their Yale counterparts [if they join],” Mr. Shiner said.
Yale-NUS will have enough graduates for its own alumni association in Singapore, unlike in other parts of the world, said Ms. Lorimer. Yale-NUS students can also tap on to the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) local alumni organizations, which have significantly more members, Mr. Shiner added.
The Yale Club of Singapore will not be open to Yale-NUS graduates according to Ms. Lorimer.
“In any place other than singapore, [the international affiliate status] allows you to have access to Yale Club and all of its activities,” said Ms. Lorimer.
Both Ms. Lorimer and Mr. Shiner said they believe that Yale-NUS alumni and the Yale Club of Singapore can devise alternative platforms for meaningful and friendly activities.
President Pericles Lewis said that it is highly unlikely that other Yale Clubs would deny membership to Yale-NUS graduates.
According to Ms. Lorimer, the inclusion of Yale-NUS graduates as international affiliates aims to create a “lifelong sisterhood and brotherhood with Yale” for Yale-NUS graduates. It also provides an extensive global supportive network for Yale-NUS graduates no matter where they go, she said.
Mr. Shiner said that he is hopeful that the inclusion of Yale-NUS graduates to AYA will be mutually beneficial. Currently 92% of Yale alumni live in the United States, and Yale-NUS graduates can add geographic diversity to the AYA network in the long term.
Moving forward, Yale-NUS College will work on more detailed collaboration and membership agreements with both the NUS Office of Alumni Relations and various Yale Clubs, Mr. Shiner said.
