Yale Club of DC In-Person Event 

RESCHEDULED!

Yale Alumni Annual Picnic 2023

Saturday, October 14, 2023

1:00pm-4:00pm

Quincy Park
1021 North Quincy Street
Arlington, VA 22203

It's the most anticipated event of the year! All DC area Yale alumni, students, and families are invited to join us for the annual Yale Club Picnic! We have rented a pavilion and will supply free sandwiches and cold drinks! Please feel free to bring additional food and beverages for you and your family. You may also wish to bring a frisbee, outdoor games, beach chairs, and picnic blankets. All SIGs welcome! We will cap this event at 200 attendees, so register soon to secure your spots. 

Yale Club of DC In-Person Event 

Cirque du Soleil "ECHO"

Sunday, October 15, 2023

5:30pm-7:30pm

Big Top at Lerner Town Square

Join the Yale Club of Washington, DC for a spectacular performance of Cirque du Soleil’s “ECHO” at their Big Top at Tysons, with a special Q+A with Cirque artists afterwards. We will also have a dedicated Yale Club table in the Cirque beer garden before the show! We have tickets in three different price categories, all at a substantial discount! 

Yale Club of DC Virtual Event 
Co-Sponsored with the Columbia Alumni Association of DC

The New Science of Narrative Intelligence with Dr. August Fletcher, Ph.D.

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

6:30pm-8:00pm

Every time we think ahead, we are crafting a story. Every daily plan—and every political vision, social movement, scientific hypothesis, business proposal, and technological breakthrough—starts with “what if?” Linking causes to effects, considering hypotheticals and counterfactuals, asking how other people will react: these are the essence of narrative. So why do we keep overlooking story’s importance to intelligence in favor of logic?

In this presentation, Prof. Angus Fletcher of the Project Narrative at OSU, the world’s leading academic think-tank on the topic, explains how and why our brains think in stories. Fletcher, an expert in neuroscientific approaches to narrative, identifies this capacity as “storythinking.” He demonstrates that storythinking is fundamental to what makes us human. Artificial intelligence can perform symbolic logic, rational deduction, and mathematical calculation, but it is incapable of deliberating in narrative. Drawing on new research in neuroscience and narrative theory, Fletcher explores the nature of imagination, innovation, and creativity. He provides concise answers to big questions: How does storythinking work? Why did it evolve? How can it misfire? What problems can it solve? 

One aspect of the Yale Club’s programming has remained largely unchanged since its founding - the Club would schedule an event somewhere, and people came to it. And for a century and a half, that centralized model worked extremely well, particularly when there were few alternatives for social or professional networking.

More recently, we’ve been thinking about how to better serve our 10,000 members and bring more programming to you. We started decentralized programming with regional meetups, and during the pandemic pivoted exceptionally well to virtual programming.

The next step in that path is to deliver programming not just where it’s convenient, but also when it’s convenient. We're thrilled to announce the debut of a limited run podcast, the Boola Boola. Over the next several months, former YCWDC President and host Anant Raut be talking to Yalies doing cool things, discussing great (or “great”) moments in Yale history with alums who were there, and getting local alums who know stuff to share their expertise. (I’ve linked a form for suggestions for future episodes in the comments.) We’re going to see how this goes, listen to your feedback, and continue to adapt.

You can follow us on Apple and Spotify and other podcast platforms, and find future episodes here and on the Club’s website. 

https://theboolaboola.buzzsprout.com/2136651/12275809?fbclid=IwAR16l75YLBJW02A98ubrYByynIe9ahaKbeA_c48vu9kX-qYeL5U4j4CKwE4 

Enjoy, and thanks for being part of the Yale Club of Washington, D.C.!

 Support Your Club: Yale Club of DC T-Shirts For Sale

     

We're excited to introduce our brand new organic cotton Yale Club of Washington, DC, T-shirts. These soft, durable and fully preshrunk T-shirts are made in the United States with water-based inks. The shirts are blue with the YCWDC logo in white. Each sale supports the non-profit work of the Club, from events to mentoring and community service! 

To order, please click this form, or email Caroline Drees at [email protected] for questions or more information. 

FROM THE VICE PRESIDENT OF MEMBERSHIP

Dear fellow alumni,

For more than 146 years, members of the Yale Club of Washington, D.C. have served as the backbone of the Yale alumni community throughout the DMV.  Through this tradition of member support, the Club brings local Yale alumni together to connect, learn, socialize, and serve the communities in which we live.  We currently have 681 contributing Club members whose support allows the Club to serve the approximately 14,000 Yale degree holders, parents, and widows in the greater Washington area.  The Yale Club of Washington, D.C. is among the most vibrant of all Yale clubs across the country.  It is thanks to the financial support of our membership that we are able to do so much. 

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, Club membership has started to decline, understandable, in light of its effect on people’s professional lives and livelihoods.  If you would like to be or remain a Club member, but are unable to do so due to financial hardship, please let me know. 

For those of you who are able, we invite you to become a member, if you are not one already.  And for those of you who are members, we urge you to renew your membership, when the time comes.  Being a member directly supports Club operations and activities.  Our Club is more than just a social club.  Our community service options, under the leadership of Maria Whelan, are particularly robust.  We work closely with the Capital Area Food Bank and sponsor multiple community service fellowships a year.  In addition, we offer educational programming focused on matters of urgent public interest, as well as a variety of topics that feature the diversity and achievement of Yale alumni.

In times like these, it is important to remain connected.  We welcome DMV Alumni from Yale College and ALL Yale graduate and professional schools as part of our community!    Please do not hesitate to contact the Club with your thoughts and suggestions, which will be most welcome.  Stay well and healthy.   


FROM THE YALE CLUB OF WASHINGTON, DC PRESIDENT

Dear fellow alumni,

I write to share an update on the Club's programming plans for the fiscal year.  We will continue to host monthly lectures, virtually for now, and are excited to share plans to broaden the event topic variety offered.  We intend to do so by increasing both the number and subject area of our offerings.  In addition to educational programming, we aim to increase the number of events featuring faculty from Yale College as well as faculty from Yale graduate and professional schools.  We also plan to increase the number of panel events and see this as a key way to engage with material by highlighting the multidimensionality of the issue under discussion. It is our hope to promote valuable connections between the subject matter experts with one another, and with the audience.  One key takeaway from these past months of virtual events is our membership's strong desire to engage with each other and the content during event discussions.  To further this objective, we will host more interactive sessions and use virtual "break-out" rooms whenever feasible to foster discussion in a more intimate setting.  We see this as a way to create community, which stands as a bedrock principal of our Club's purpose and stated goals.  Our planned expansion of the variety of programming types offered will include heritage month events, professional development and Yale alumni career stories, and instructional programming.  Lastly, we are engaging with the greater Yale community to provide artistic programming content.  More information will be coming out soon on this initiative! 

Thank you for being the best part of the Yale Club of Washington, D.C.  Please reach out to me directly if you have suggestions for programming.

Hope to see you soon "virtually" in one of our programs!

Lauren Harris, '14, President


The Yale Club of Washington, D.C. is proud to receive a YAA Board of Excellence Award for our programs last fiscal year. Our Club is proud to work with such a brilliant, motivated, caring, and diverse group of alums, and we appreciate everyone who supports our community.  

Get involved with our online community on Facebook!

With more than 1500 members so far, our Facebook group is a valuable "place" for local alumni to connect.  Join us! Young alums can join us here.


  

The Yale Club of Washington, D.C. is regularly hosting webinars and virtual meetings.

Members are able to access all past recordings in our Virtual Library!