Canines, cupcakes, and inspiring connections highlight Oct. 12 open house

Handsome Dan XVII, the English bulldog who serves as Yale’s iconic mascot, will be part of a special welcoming committee on Saturday, Oct. 12, at 10 a.m. on Cross Campus to help kick off a day-long, campus-wide open house in conjunction with the celebration of the inauguration of Peter Salovey as Yale University’s 23^rd president.

“My colleagues and I seek to make Yale an even more accessible and unified place. The campus-wide open house on Saturday, Oct. 12, will provide a special welcome to our neighbors from New Haven and beyond to see the campus — including our museums, concert halls, and many other venues that are regularly open to all,” Salovey said. “It will also offer a chance for members of the Yale community to explore parts of campus they might not know yet and meet new people around the university. Marta and I hope that everyone who can will take part in the open house and will share the word with their friends, family, and neighbors.”

Canines on Cross Campus

Handsome Dan will be joined by many other prominent campus canines, including Portia, the “first dog of Yale,” a Havanese who resides with Salovey and his wife, Marta Moret; Maggie, a well-known presence on Wall Street at the Chaplain’s House; Monty, the “library therapy dog” from the Yale Law School; and Wilson, the West Campus Westie. Also on hand will be their four-footed “colleagues” from the residential colleges and elsewhere: Aqua, Boots, Cleo, Ellie, Finn, Folly, Harold, Jimmy Dean, Joey, Karl, Leeloo, Lily, Lyra Rogers Boyd, Mambo, Marley, Maze, Moss, Napoleon, Oreo, Pablo, Parker, Romeo, Toller, and Willie. Other dogs are cordially invited, too, provided they are well-behaved and do not mind being petted or photographed.

The brief 10 a.m. kick-off will include some songs, remarks by Salovey, photo opportunities, and a dog parade on the Cross Campus, located on College between Elm and Wall streets. This will be followed by a full day of tours, events, music, and more at dozens of venues throughout the university. “We will be showcasing the many parts of Yale that are generally open to the public, as well as spaces where access is usually limited,” according to Nancy Franco, director of the Yale Mead Visitor Center and a key organizer of the day’s program. “There will be something for everyone to see and do — whether they are long-time members of the Yale community or first-time visitors.”

“Maggie is very excited to be with Handsome Dan, Portia, Monty, and other campus canines that Saturday morning. All of them know that Yale is a wonderful place to roam and explore. That’s even more true for us humans,” said University Chaplain Sharon M.K. Kugler. “We in the Chaplaincy are delighted to offer special tours that day of some of Yale’s magnificent sacred spaces. I hope people all around the university and around town will consider joining in the day’s events to connect further with Yale and to connect anew with each other.”

The Chaplain’s Office is just one of the dozens of Yale schools, colleges, libraries, museums, and other units planning activities on Oct. 12. “We have been delighted by the immediate and enthusiastic response we received to our requests to host events for the open house,” Franco says. “People at Yale love to welcome their neighbors and to share the extraordinary things that happen here every day.”

Special tours and more

Among the opportunities on offer are special tours of campus from the visitor center – in English, as well as in Korean, Chinese, Spanish, French, Polish, Italian, and Japanese. There will also be tours of the Medical Historical Library, the gallery at the School of Architecture, the Cushing Library Brain Exhibit at the School of Medicine, the architecture of Hillhouse Avenue, Kroon Hall, the Leitner Family Observatory, Harkness Tower, the Wright Lab, Marsh Botanical Gardens, the Center for Engineering Innovation and Design, the Yale Farm, Ingalls Rink, Payne Whitney Gymnasium, the Yale Divinity School, and the Institute for Sacred Music.

Participants can get an insider’s perspective on Yale through panels and discussions hosted by the Undergraduate Admissions Office, the Office of International Students and Scholars, and the MacMillan Center, and via open houses in library venues such as Manuscripts and Archives, the Haas Family Arts Library, and the Center for Science and Social Science Information.

New Haven organizations and Yale neighbors are part of the day, too, with tours and events at the Shubert Theater, Mory’s, the New Haven Museum, and the Grove Street Cemetery planned for Oct. 12. Area restaurants and retailers are getting into the Inauguration spirit, too, with many putting together special offers for the weekend.

All of Yale’s museums and gallery spaces are part of the open house, including the Yale Peabody Museum, which will be holding its annual ¡Fiesta Latina! on Oct. 12, with free admission to all throughout the day and a series of cultural performances and other family-friendly events. The Yale University Art Gallery and Yale Center for British Art and the 32 Edgewood Gallery of the School of Art are among other venues to be showcased during the day.

Throughout the day, visitors can enjoy a sampling of Yale’s vibrant student performing arts scene, with events held all day on the Cross Campus and around lunchtime in Becton Plaza. There will be magic, dance, and song, featuring such groups as the Yale Jashan Bhangra troupe, the Yale Anti-Gravity Society, Shades of Yale, Yale Women’s Slavic Chorus, Yale Precision Marching Band, and many others. There are details online about performance time and venues.

Inside the residential colleges and Graduate School

The 12 residential colleges and the Graduate School — generally not available to the public — will all welcome guests at special open house events 2–4 p.m. The day will conclude with everyone invited back to the Cross Campus for more music, and cupcakes, at 4 p.m. A temporary exhibit of photographs shared during the day on Instagram and Twitter, using the hashtag #InspiringYale, will be on display on the Cross Campus. Everyone who uses social media is encouraged to share photos taken during the day using the #InspiringYale hashtag, and the Yale Office of Public Affairs and Communications is organizing a set of social media contests, with prizes, for the open house day. Further details will be announced soon via the Yale University Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr pages in the coming weeks.

Parking and information

Free parking will be available during the day at Lots 16 and 22 on Whitney Avenue near Humphrey Street, and at the Prospect-Sachem Garage behind Ingalls Rink. There will be a free shuttle service also available around campus. Details will be posted online at the Inauguration website. Six welcome stations will be located around campus to provide detailed information and maps – at Lots 16/22; the Yale Center for British Art at Chapel and High streets; the Yale Mead Visitor Center, 149 Elm St.; the Office of International Students and Scholars, 421 Temple St.; Becton Center on Prospect Street; and Cross Campus.

The open house on Sat., Oct. 12 is part of a series of events to celebrate the presidential inauguration. The formal inauguration ceremony will be on Sunday, Oct. 13, at 2 p.m. and can be viewed live on the Yale YouTube channel. Watch YaleNews and Yale social media sites for ongoing coverage, and check the Yale Inauguration website for detailed information and schedules.