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On November 14, 2024, Dwight Hall engaged alumni participating in the Yale Alumni Association (YAA) Assembly and Yale Alumni Fund Convocation in three service opportunities, marking the first time a Yale Day of Service project was offered at the annual convening of alumni leaders.
Led by Dwight Hall staff and students, alumni volunteers built personal care kits for Community Soup Kitchen, cleared trails leading into East Rock Park for the Eli Whitney Museum and Workshop, and transplanted seedlings for Community Placemaking Engagement Network, all while reflecting on the role of service in New Haven and their home communities.
Mara Balk, Associate Director for Volunteer Engagement at the YAA, explained how “Dwight Hall’s activities are a natural fit with the YAA’s service programs–Yale Day of Service and Yale Alumni Service Corps.” She had been looking for opportunities to bring the programs together for a while.
Discussing the partnership between YAA and Dwight Hall, Johnny Scafidi ’01–Director of Community Outreach and Engagement at Dwight Hall and the organizer of the Assembly service projects–reflected on why alumni make excellent partners in service. “Alumni tend to be very engaged in their own communities, and Assembly [and Convocation] volunteers in particular promote a culture of service and volunteering by providing a service to Yale,” he noted.
The timing of the annual Assembly and Convocation–a Thursday and Friday in November–also provided an opportunity for alumni to engage directly with students. “We know from previous survey responses that alumni both want to interact with current students and engage in hands-on programming,” stated Mara.
In addition to involving Dwight Hall students and staff, Johnny intentionally designed projects that “were able to move from campus and into the community, allowing alumni to see for themselves the dynamics between the city and the university and experience firsthand the quality and thoughtfulness of our community partners.”
On the morning of November 14th, alumni convened in Dwight Hall’s Lovett Common Room before breaking into three service groups.
Dwight Hall’s personal care kits project served as a model for the Assembly and Convocation service projects, having been offered during Yale College reunions for the past three years. During this project, alumni and their families assemble kits of travel-sized health and hygiene products that are useful for people experiencing homelessness or temporary housing security. The project is intentionally organized around personal reflection, and participants are invited to write individual messages of solidarity and hope to include in the kits.
Allie Lopez ’27, Engagement Coordinator on Dwight Hall’s 2024 Student Executive Committee, facilitated the project during Assembly, leading alumni in reflection and walking with them to Community Soup Kitchen on Broadway to hand deliver the care packages.
“Thanks to the hard work of our alumni community, we assembled over 100 personal care kits,” emphasized Allie. “These kits include travel-size supplies that [we] hope will make hard times a little easier on the members of our community.”
The second service project brought alumni volunteers to the Eli Whitney Museum and Workshop, a historical site and an experimental learning workshop for students, teachers, and families. Led by Sevi Burget-Foster ’23, Programming Fellow at Dwight Hall, alumni volunteers cleared damp leaves from the outdoor trails behind the Eli Whitney Museum, which lead into East Rock Park.
“Gabe at Eli Whitney Museum was an incredible site leader, and his love for the museum was infectious,” reflected Sevi. “I think it was valuable for alumni to see firsthand some of the city outside of Yale because some were not able to explore much of the city when they were students. . . Our little group showed that it is never too late to begin community engagement, or pick up where we left off.”
The third project brought alumni to the Community Placemaking Engagement Network (CPEN), a Black-led community hub dedicated to inspiring and empowering residents to leverage community assets through initiatives like the Newhallville Learning Corridor and Urbanscapes Native Plant Nursery.
An intentional part of the project was the walk to the site, which took alumni up the Farmington Canal Trail and into Newhallville. Johnny, who led the project, paused at many points during that walk, inviting alumni to observe and reflect on the assets in the Newhallville community, which is often associated with high poverty and crime rates.
Once the volunteers arrived at CPEN, they worked to transplant seedlings that had been initially sprouted by student volunteers participating in Dwight Hall’s FOCUS on New Haven Camp Yale program. “Building off of previous work with a partner is really important in creating moments of service that are interconnected and build relationships,” explained Johnny. “Even if the participants are different each time, Dwight Hall is able to hold and honor these relationships.”
Connie Spencer ’82 M.Arch., a YAA volunteer and former regional director for Yale Day of Service who participated in the CPEN project, praised the experience: “It was great to walk through New Haven in areas I had never seen with Johnny, whom I met on a [Yale Alumni Service Corps] project in the DR, as a tour guide. Architecture students just lived in the Paul Rudolph building or our dorm rooms doing projects, and getting my hands dirty with like-minded people reminded me to get back to even more of that kind of volunteering! I met some great fellow volunteers who I will keep in touch with for future endeavors.”
Alumni who would like to further engage with service and Dwight Hall’s student and alumni network are invited to complete Dwight Hall’s Alumni Engagement Survey.
For those interested in learning more about Yale alumni service programs, Yale Day of Service is hosting a webinar on December 10th at 6 pm titled “How to Organize a Yale Day of Service Project” and Yale Alumni Service Corps (YASC) is presenting “YASC and Technology: The Importance of Coding and Robotics” on December 12 at 8 pm.
Whether alumni are curious about leading a Day of Service project, going on a YASC service trip, or getting involved in their community in other ways, Dwight Hall is always available as a resource and thought partner.
Initiatives such as the alumni service projects offered at Assembly and Convocation and Yale College reunions encompass the Engage pillar of Dwight Hall’s Engage, Grow, and Advance program delivery model, forging trusted partnerships with New Haven neighborhoods and organizations through community-engaged service.
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