FOCUS on New Haven 2024 Engages 258 Incoming Students in Citywide Service

Yale College welcomed a bevy of incoming first-years, transfer students, and Eli Whitney students to campus earlier this month. After a rainy move-in day, these newcomers quickly engaged in the student-organized orientation programs known as Camp Yale. Among these programs was Dwight Hall’s FOCUS on New Haven, through which participants spent several days learning about New Haven and its history, supporting local community partners, and engaging in citywide service projects.

This year, 63 upper-level students served as FOCUS leaders, leading 258 participants in service projects at 18 community partner sites from August 21st to 25th. 

The program kicked off on August 21st with FOCUS leaders meeting their “FOCUS families” of approximately 10 incoming students. After a welcome dinner, these groups spent several days serving various New Haven community organizations, offering new students an introduction to the city’s public service and social justice landscape alongside seasoned Yale students. 

FOCUS Director of Community Partnerships August Rios ’26 shared his enthusiasm on behalf of the FOCUS team. “We are excited to partner with a wide array of incredible local organizations in New Haven such as IRIS, Common Ground High School, Elena’s Light, Huneebee Project, and Neighborhood Housing Services, among others. I personally am very excited about the variety of service projects that FOCUS participants will work on, ranging from canvassing to public art installation to farming to tiny home maintenance, among others,” he said.

FOCUS embodies the Engage pillar of Dwight Hall’s Engage, Grow, and Advance program delivery model, forging meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships between Yale students and New Haven community partners from as early as their first arrival on campus.

Nicole Zhou ’25, FOCUS’s Financial Coordinator, reflected on her involvement with the program: “I am starting my senior year. I have been involved with FOCUS every single year. I was a participant my first year, so this would be my third year leading FOCUS,” she explained. 

Nicole, who worked with the Eli Whitney and transfer student cohort this year, reflected on the program and how it transformed her view of New Haven. “I was really surprised going into FOCUS and having discussions about the relationship between Yale and New Haven,” she recalled.

FOCUS is guided by a mission of connecting new students with ongoing service initiatives in New Haven and educating them about the complex relationship between Yale and its host city. This understanding enables students to engage in service more meaningfully. Carrie Lange ’27, another FOCUS leader and Membership Coordinator on Dwight Hall’s 2024 Student Executive Committee, emphasized this point. Her FOCUS group worked with Habitat for Humanity during Camp Yale. 

“There is a strong relationship between Yale and New Haven. It is a great opportunity for Yale students to take advantage of that, go out into the community, and listen to these organizations about what they need from us. At the end of the day, Yale is part of New Haven, and New Haven is part of us,” Carrie said.

Administered by Dwight Hall students and staff since 1991, the program’s organization is no small feat. Nicole described some of the challenges: “There are a lot of logistics involved, and it requires months of planning and communication. The student co-directors handle most of it, and we assist them whenever needed.”

Co-directors Sovy Pham ’26 and Christian Baca ’26 took the lead in coordinating the 2024 FOCUS program, overseeing everything from initial partner outreach to the detailed scheduling of activities for more than 250 participants. Both Sovy and Christian had previously served as FOCUS leaders and were committed to connecting FOCUS with the broader community. Sovy emphasized the existence of “the Yale bubble,” and the tendency among some students to not engage with New Haven outside of Yale’s boundaries. She wanted to “help lead the FOCUS program to educate [herself] more about New Haven affairs,” noting that it was crucial to engage participants in New Haven’s atmosphere and communal spaces. 

“FOCUS is not some sort of incubator for social justice. It is a stepping stone for individuals to recognize they must understand the history and the cultural dynamics that exist in the community before any sort of social action is thought about,” emphasized Christian.

The co-directors’ hard work did not go unnoticed by participants. Sarah Anane ’28, an incoming first-year, recounted her experience working at Massaro Community Farm, a nonprofit in Woodbridge, Connecticut. Alongside her FOCUS family and co-leaders Sahra Wahedi ’27 and Shela Mensa ’27, Sarah described the “immersive experience” where her group gained hands-on exposure to farming. “We picked potatoes from the ground and met so many wormy friends. It was honestly really cute,” she said.

Community partners also extended their appreciation to FOCUS students. New Haven Reads, a local literacy organization, posted photos of FOCUS students on social media. The caption thanked the program “for helping us prep for registration and stamping loads of envelopes! We are so grateful for your help over the past two days.” Neighborhood Housing Services, a nonprofit that aims to improve and expand affordable housing in New Haven, also dedicated “​​a HUGE thank you to our Yale FOCUS volunteers and all the incredible work they did over the past few days!” on their Instragam.

In an interview with the New Haven Independent, Evelyn Massey, owner of Noir Vintage in downtown New Haven, praised the FOCUS program, which helped organize a student visit to her store for the second year in a row. She noted that “support from the Yale community has been a huge help for Noir Vintage over the course of its first year being open for business.”

Before the program ended, FOCUS participants attended a speaker event with Professor Elihu Rubin, co-creator of the 2000 documentary On Broadway: A New Haven Streetscape, a staple of the annual FOCUS programming. The 35-minute film examines the long-term effects of redeveloping the Broadway shopping district in New Haven, including its impact on local businesses and its reflection of broader trends in American urban centers.

Professor Rubin, who serves as the Henry Hart Rice Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Studies and Associate Professor of American Studies at Yale, led a discussion about his documentary and shared his perspectives on urban storytelling, particularly in New Haven. He delved into how students, as well as programs like FOCUS, strengthen the relationship between Yale and the broader community.

“I know that new students coming to Yale are sometimes introduced to geographies of safety and geographies of fear. What is great about FOCUS on New Haven is that we are breaking down the trepidation that some Yale students might feel when they are pushing the boundaries of the Yale bubble,” he said, acknowledging a core mission of the Camp Yale program.

FOCUS culminated in a community dinner held on Old Campus in front of Dwight Hall, where FOCUS families and community partners enjoyed a meal catered by local New Haven restaurants. Executive board members gave short speeches celebrating the connections made and the service work completed throughout the week. The evening was a fitting conclusion to an orientation that introduced students to service opportunities and fostered a sense of belonging within the broader New Haven community.