Scot X. Esdaile said of the ASCEND initiative, 'Making Yale a more powerful institution doesn’t help our community'
The president of the Connecticut NAACP criticized Yale’s initiative to partner with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), which is intended to provide HBCU students opportunities to conduct research and teach at the Ivy League institution.
Despite Yale’s efforts to rectify its past and support HBCUs, Connecticut NAACP president Scot X. Esdaile questioned the initiative, asking, "How does that help our community?"
Yale Provost Scott Strobel announced Tuesday that the Ivy League institution plans to commit $2 million annually over the next five years to the initiative.
The partnership, titled "Alliance for Scholarship, Collaboration, Engagement, Networking and Development (ASCEND)," pledges to "strengthen Yale’s partnership with HBCUs, whose missions center on the education of Black Americans."
(Despite Yale’s effort to rectify its past and support HBCUs, the Connecticut NAACP President Scot X. Esdaile questioned the initiative and accused Yale of "executing a power dynamic that benefits the institution at the expense of marginalized communities.")
ASCEND programs in collaboration with HBCU partners "commit to increasing representation and amplifying the significant contributions of HBCUs in shaping the academic landscape."
For instance, Yale will offer and fund fellowships for HBCU faculty members to conduct research projects at Yale for one semester. They added that the fellowship will "enable research collaborations, access to Yale’s collections, and engagement with other university resources."
Additionally, the ASCEND initiative will facilitate faculty collaboration grants and teaching fellowships for Yale and HBCU staff.
But the program didn't satisfy Esdaile.
"I’m not trying to disrespect, but I think that the constructive criticism should be there … by putting in $10 million for students to come back to Yale, how does that help our community?" the NAACP leader told Yale Daily News.
He continued, "… making Yale a more powerful institution doesn’t help our community. This is a step in the right direction, but I think that [Yale] has so much more that it needs to do."
Yale University president Peter Salovey speaks during the opening ceremony on day 2 of the Connecticut Open at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale on August 22, 2016, in New Haven, Connecticut. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Yale announced the partnership two weeks after Yale University President Peter Salovey and Senior Trustee of the Yale Corporation Joshua Bekenstein issued a formal apology for Yale’s ties to slavery.
In addition to the apology, the university released the findings of the institution’s connection to slavery from the Yale and Slavery Research Project and published a book "Yale and Slavery: A History."
However, Esdaile took issue with Yale taking copyright ownership over the book and said failing to mention how Yale was complicit in eugenics and excluding the matter "undermines any real efforts toward reconciliation and real justice."
Per Yale Daily News, "Esdaile also raised concerns about the book’s lack of mention of Yale’s historical connections to eugenics. The American Eugenics Society was founded on Yale’s campus at 185 Church St. in 1926 by economics professor Irving Fisher and was run largely by Yale faculty."
As far as the university taking copyright ownership of the book, Esdaile took a swipe at Yale, claiming they are "executing a power dynamic that benefits the institution at the expense of marginalized communities."
"This is a whitewashed version of the story, and I think that Black historians, Black civil rights activists, Black leaders and Black educators need to come together and tell the real story," Esdaile said.
Connecticut NAACP president Scot X. Esdaile criticized Yale’s partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). (YouTube screenshot)
When Yale officials were asked about copyright ownership of the book they told Yale Daily News "that proceeds from the book will go toward funding future projects at the Yale Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition."
A spokesperson reportedly added the book is "available online for free and that the University has also donated copies of the book to local libraries."
According to the Yale announcement, 5 HBCUs have committed to the partnership so far; Hampton University, North Carolina A&T State University, Claflin University, Morgan State University, and Tuskegee University. The Ivy League school added that more schools will join in the coming months.
Yale officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Joshua Q. Nelson is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
Joshua focuses on politics, education policy ranging from the local to the federal level, and the parental uprising in education.
Joining Fox News Digital in 2019, he previously graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Political Science and is an alum of the National Journalism Center and the Heritage Foundation's Young Leaders Program.
Story tips can be sent to
