Vassar Quarterly - Fall/Winter 2019 - 128

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A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM

PETER SALOVEY
President of Yale University

Dear Vassar Alumnae/i,

Courtesy of Yale University

So, 50 years later, you thought you were rid of Yale. Yet here I am,
the President of Yale University, gracing the pages of your alumnae/i
magazine. As a Vassar alum, you might be understandably surprised
at seeing me here. When does a college magazine publish a column
from the president of another institution? You would be forgiven for
feeling a twinge of nervousness, a frisson of suspicion.
"What's he doing here?" you may be wondering. After all, you
and I have a ... complicated ... past. At one moment in time, we
almost became one. But don't worry. This time, with 50 years
behind us, Yale comes in peace. I bring warm greetings to Vassar
on this anniversary of your momentous decision to become
coeducational. Rather than pack your bags and move to New
Haven, you boldly decided to go your own way. It was a historic
decision that turned out splendidly for both of our institutions and
the thousands of lives that they have each enriched.
Of course, to be completely honest, even agreeing now that it
was all for the best, I can't always understand your decision. I mean,
why wouldn't you want to leave your 1,000-acre campus for the Yale
Divinity School Quadrangle, where the transplanted Vassar likely
would have been housed?
I am sure you wouldn't have missed your arboretum graced by
elms, maples, beeches, a hornbeam, Russian olive trees, weeping
willows, and red, silver, sugar, and striped maples, or your iconic
Shakespeare Garden. I am equally sure the Yale Divinity School
and its faculty, students, and alumni would not have minded being
removed from their Quadrangle to make room for you. Or perhaps
you could have shared it with them? It would have been quite cozy!
I can't really understand either why you would be fearful that
Vassar would lose its independence, its singularity, its uniqueness.
Were you afraid that, in time, Vassar would simply be absorbed into
Yale? That may have happened at Harvard with Radcliffe, but-
never at Yale!
Well, breakups are not always completely logical. Or comprehensible. There is something ineffable in romantic attachments.
Marriage might seem convenient, might offer stability and security,
but sometimes, when it is not exactly the right match, when the

backgrounds and traditions differ, people with a strong sense of
their own special qualities fear that they will be subsumed in one
another and might lose their individuality.
Anyway, I must admit that all's well that ends well, as a sign in
your Shakespeare Garden might someday indicate. Yale and Vassar
have each continued to grow their own strong roots. We have each
gone on to thrive and prosper in our individual ways. We have each
grown and developed while staying true to our own histories and
traditions, while retaining respect and special affection for each
other, built on our near union.
Congratulations, Vassar! Surely our parents, Presidents Simpson
and Brewster, are looking down on us with satisfaction. Sometimes
a broken engagement allows us to go on to satisfying new lives. As
you celebrate coeducation in yours, your former intended, Yale,
toasts the life you have built and wishes you continued good fortune
as you continue on your own distinctive path into the future.

128 F a l l / W i n t e r 2 0 1 9

Vassar Quarterly - Fall/Winter 2019

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