YDS races toward finish line in fundraising campaign to support students

Over the four-plus years of the “We Are Called” campaign for Yale Divinity School, donors have come together to meet—and in some cases exceed—fundraising goals for priorities including full-tuition scholarships for all students with demonstrated need, a new professorship in environmental ethics, and the Living Village residential complex.

But the work is not yet finished. Between now and the end of the campaign on June 30, the Divinity School community is rallying to raise the remainder of the funds needed to meet specific unmet targets within the $140 million campaign goal. 

Among those final steps: funds for social-justice initiatives including the Black Church Studies program and additional scholarship dollars to provide more support for aid-qualified students’ living costs and to help offset the impending eight percent federal endowment tax. 

“The greater YDS community has accomplished something that no one would have thought possible when the campaign began,” Dean Greg Sterling said. “This has transformed the School and exponentially raised our ability to support students at a pivotal moment. At the end of this campaign, YDS will stand more prepared than ever to shine as a beacon of truth and light in a fractured world —and to do so with unwavering strength for decades to come.”

The campaign’s success over the past four-and-a-half years, said Barbara Sabia, Senior Director of Alumni Engagement and Development, “is a testament to the strength of our campaign leadership, the generosity and commitment of our Dean’s Advisory Council, and the engagement of so many other donors across the country and the world.”

‘Every inch full of intention’: Living Village raises the bar for environmental stewardship. Read more.

Over the campaign’s home stretch, YDS is attempting to expand both the amount of scholarship dollars and the number of endowed funds supporting scholarships. This is to provide more generous cost-of-living stipends to students and maintain full-tuition scholarships in the face of the new federal endowment tax. 

Alongside that, the Divinity School is working to attract gifts for social justice internship funds that allow students opportunities to translate their learning into practical application in the field. The social justice scholarships and internships are dedicated to students with demonstrated interest in work that navigates divisions and addresses the needs of diverse communities. 

Also at stake is funding for a new endowment to provide stable, long-term support for students’ attendance at the annual Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, which convenes and mobilizes Black faith communities in collaboration with civic, corporate, and philanthropic leaders to address human rights and social justice.

Finally, YDS is seeking funds for scholarships to support students in the proposed Ph.D. program, which the School hopes to launch in the fall of 2029.

Thanks to strong donor support and endowment performance, YDS reached a historic milestone in 2022: For the first time since the School began charging tuition nearly a century ago, YDS gained the ability to cover 100 percent of tuition costs for the more than 90 percent of the student population that qualifies for need-based aid. In addition, YDS began providing cost-of-living stipends to help cover some of the high cost of residing in New Haven. And with the opening of the Living Village this year, the School now provides below-market-rate housing on the campus itself.

However, more work is needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of the full-tuition scholarships and cost-of-living stipends. The challenge is heightened by the passage of a greatly increased federal endowment tax that will cost the School more than $4.4 million annually.

“Given how much full-tuition scholarships have meant to our students, we must not allow any adverse circumstances to force us to retreat on this crucial commitment,” Sterling said.

While challenges remain, those leading the campaign take heart in all that donors have accomplished, both during the campaign—the largest in YDS history—and in the years of spade work leading up to it.

“Fifteen years ago, it would have been nearly impossible to believe we could raise so much money to support our students,” said Nancy Taylor ’81 M.Div., who serves as Campaign Co-Chair along with Elijah Heyward III ’07 M.A.R. “Generous donations from so many people are wind in the sails of the Divinity School’s bold mission. While a great many theological schools are taking on water, we are out upon the high seas educating people to use religion responsibly for the healing of God’s bruised and battered world.”

As Heyward points out, the accomplishment is all the greater in light of the perception that the Divinity School is disadvantaged in fundraising because pastors, nonprofit leaders, and educators tend not to be in high-income strata. 

“We have been able to accomplish something quite extraordinary,” Heyward said, “due to the amazing support of individuals like George and Carol Bauer (Campaign Honorary Co-Chairs) in combination with the broad-based support of those who have given for scholarships and the Annual Fund for many years. It is encouraging to witness such a groundswell of support from individuals who see great meaning and purpose in the work we are doing, at such a consequential time for the world we serve.”

Supporters are encouraged to visit the “We Are Called” website and contact the Alumni Engagement and Development Office to ask a question or make a gift.