Dear Class of 2026,
 
On Wednesday, June 22nd , at noon EDT, you can click HERE to find out your residential college assignment! The assignments include a welcome from your new college and an introduction to some of the people in the college you will get to know over the next few years like your Head of College (HoC) and Residential College Dean (RCD). Your college will both provide you with an immediate community when you arrive on campus and serve as a launch pad for you as you begin to explore the larger Yale community.
 
Each residential college is big enough to find people with shared interests and experiences, but small enough to feel like home. Each comes with a set of unique traditions – which you will soon be introduced to. Your college will connect you to events happening in the wider Yale community, like arts performances, athletic competitions—varsity, club, and intramural, and research presentations. Your peers love to be cheered on by friends from their college!  
 
Your college will also connect you with two groups of peer advisors who work specifically with first-year students: First-Year Counselors and Peer Liaisons. Additionally, first-years will have the opportunity to work with the Communication and Consent Educators (CCEs). They are a select group of students, trained to reimagine and to foster a more a positive campus culture.  
 
First-Year Counselors (FroCos)

The First-Year Counselors, or FroCos, are seniors from your college selected to help you in your transition to Yale. When you find out your residential college assignment, you will also find out who your FroCo is. Each FroCo is assigned a small group of first-years for the year. You will attend orientation events with your FroCo and small group and begin to plan your academic path with their support as well. Think of your FroCo as your first stop for getting your questions answered during the year. They are likely to know the answer, but if they don’t, they can certainly connect you with someone who does. You are bound to have countless questions now, but rest assured that many of them will be answered later this summer.
 
Peer Liaisons (PLs)

The Peer Liaison Program, now in its thirteenth year, was created to provide an additional layer of mentoring through a wealth of events and initiatives that aim to support first-year students through their transition to Yale College, especially those who belong to systematically minoritized groups.  Peer Liaisons, or PLs, are a select group of trained, caring upper-class student leaders affiliated with the residential colleges and one of these eight centers/offices: Afro-American Cultural Center, Asian American Cultural Center, Chaplain’s Office, La Casa Cultural: Latinx Cultural Center, Native American Cultural Center, Office of International Students & Scholars, Office of LGBTQ Resources, Student Accessibility Services.  
 
In addition to serving as a bridge to resources offered through their respective center/office and residential college, PLs actively advocate for first-year students to seek academic, social, and personal support from departments across campus.  They also work collaboratively with your FroCo, HoC and, and residential college dean to ensure first-years feel a sense of belonging on-campus.  If you’re interested in having a PL assigned to you, please submit your request using the Peer Liaison Request Form once you have received your residential college assignment.
 
Recognizing the multifaceted nature of how each of you identify, the PL request form is set up so that you may request a PL from more than one center/office as it aligns with your salient identities.  After you submit your form, you can expect to hear from your PL via email sometime in mid-August before classes begin.  If for some reason you forget to submit your PL request form, there will be opportunities during Camp Yale and throughout the academic year to opt in by just letting a PL know.  

Communication and Consent Educators (CCEs)

The Communication and Consent Educators (CCEs) are a large, diverse group of undergraduates working together to foster a more positive sexual and social climate on campus. The CCEs aim to create a campus culture where respect, mutuality, and mindfulness are the norms. The work of the CCEs takes many different forms, one of which is running workshops for incoming students during orientation. This will be a great chance for you to meet the CCEs, but you can also find the current list of CCEs on the CCE website. Now, and at any point during your time at Yale, please feel welcome to reach out to any CCE, or to the Office of Gender and Campus Culture at gcc@yale.edu.
 
 The colleges, FroCos, PLs, and CCEs cannot wait to welcome you all to Yale!
 
Warmly,
Dean Peck and Dean Hawthorne  
 
Hannah Rose Peck
Dean of First-Year Affairs
Assistant Dean of Student Affairs
Yale College Dean's Office
(she/her)
 
Tasha M. Hawthorne, PhD
Interim Assistant Dean of Student Affairs
Yale College Dean's Office
(she/her)


 

This week’s important dates and reminders include:

June 18th - Students may begin to waive parts of health coverage
June 30th - Family Information Cards due
June 30th - Deadline to upload Photo ID for identification card
July 1st - Summer online placement exams begin
July 1st - Fall-term fees available for payment
July 15th - Yale Health Care form due
July 15th - Foot and/or Harvest health forms due 

 
Please go to New Student Dates and Deadlines for a full list of deadlines.
 
Please go to New Student Forms & Tasks for first steps and important resources.
 
Once again, residential college, housing, and First-Year Counselor (FroCo) assignments will be available on Wednesday, June 22, 2022.
 
Camp Yale Program placements will be available by the end of June.
 


 

Joliana Yee, Ph.D.
Assistant Dean of Yale College
Director of American Cultural Center & Peer Liaison Program

Apa khabar?  I am Dr. Joliana Yee and I have the pleasure of currently serving as an Assistant Dean for the Yale College Dean’s Office as well as Director of Yale’s Asian American Cultural Center (AACC), the third oldest of its kind on a college campus.  I was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (shout out to all my fellow Southeast Asians!) and came to the United States as an international student over a decade ago.  As a first generation college student having to navigate the U.S. higher education system for the first time thousands of miles away from home, I learned and grew in more ways than expected while receiving a B.A. in economics and political science.  I chose to double major because economics was my compromise to my parents who did not understand what I would do with a political science degree post-graduation!  

My on-campus involvement as a student leader changed my life trajectory when it led to my discovery of higher education and student affairs as a career.  This prompted me to pursue a M.S.Ed. in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Indiana University.  Thereafter I worked at the University of Connecticut in the Residential Life for four years before returning to the Midwest to pursue my Ph.D. in Higher Education from Loyola University in Chicago, which I completed in March 2020 while simultaneously serving in my current roles at Yale since January 2018.  So, be deliberate and thoughtful about your curricular and extracurricular choices because you never know what it could lead you to learn and discover about yourself as well as those around you.  As the late American civil rights activist, Yuri Kochiyama once said, “Life is not what you alone make it. Life is the input of everyone who touched your life and every experience that entered it. We are all part of one another.”  

I am where I am today because of all who have gone before me and so many precious souls whom I have had the pleasure of crossing paths with.  Resultantly, I am a passionate scholar-practitioner dedicated to a lifelong pursuit of racial justice, social equity, and our collective liberations from systemic oppression both within the higher education institutional setting and beyond.  Outside of Yale and work, I am usually hanging out with my partner, Nick, exploring the outdoors and good eats.  I look forward to seeing you at the AACC or somewhere in New Haven this Fall!