Dear Class of 2026,  

Thank you for getting your housing forms in so promptly!  

As you know, our office will be emailing you regularly to introduce you to people and resources at Yale. We will also share these emails with the family members whose email addresses you have provided, so please make sure that information is accurate. To add or change an email address for a family member, visit the Student Information System (SIS).  

This week’s email focuses on your arrival and the first-year orientation program. We are making exciting changes this year, so there are still some details to be worked out, but we can share some essential information now to help you make your August plans.  

The first change is that our orientation program now has a name, student-nominated and voted in by a landslide: “Camp Yale.” We hope it conjures up good associations for you, whether or not you’ve been a camper before. For us, “camp” evokes friends and fun, challenges faced and new skills learned, and—most of all—communities built together. We're delighted to start using this new name as we embark upon a whole new model of orientation for incoming first-year and transfer students.  

The overview:  

•    Starting this year, all new students will arrive on the same day, Sunday, August 21.   
•    You will spend your first few days of Camp Yale all together, getting to know your firstyear counselor (FroCo) and your residential college community as you participate in shared orientation activities to learn about the opportunities, expectations, and values of Yale College.  
•    Then, on Tuesday night, you will join a second community in your Camp Yale Program
(CYP). These used to be pre-orientation programs that only some students could
attend—this year, they have been folded into orientation itself, so that everyone can have one of these valuable experiences. The traditional cost of attending these programs has been eliminated.  
•    On Saturday evening, you will reconnect with your residential college community and resume shared orientation activities. Over the next three days, you will have more time to get to know your new classmates, including upper-level student leaders, as you learn more about Yale resources and prepare for classes to begin on Wednesday morning, August 31.  

More details about the Camp Yale Programs:  

•    There are five CYPs: Cultural Connections, FOCUS on New Haven, First-Year Outdoor Orientation Trips (FOOT), Harvest, and Orientation for International Students (OIS). You can read about them all on the First-Year and New Students Resources site.  

•    Next week, we will ask you to fill out the CYP preference selection form. You will have the opportunity to rank your interest in the various programs, and to indicate any accommodations you might require. Beyond that, students will be randomly assigned; there is no application process to worry about here. We are optimistic that everyone will be able to participate in one of their top choices—even if not, rest assured that they are all quite wonderful!   

•    Your CYP preference selection form will be due June 1.   

More details about moving in:  

•    All new students should arrive on Sunday August 21, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Later this summer, you will be asked to sign up for a specific move-in timeslot.   

•    Upper-level students will be here to welcome you and to help you move into your room.  

•    Other than your scheduled move-in time, the daytime Sunday events are optional. The first required meeting will be in your residential college at 8 p.m.  

•    Parents and family members with up-to-date COVID-19 vaccinations will be welcome at in-person events on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. Many events will also be live-streamed or replicated later as web-based sessions. Most families who come to campus depart by mid-afternoon on Monday, after lunch in the residential colleges.  

•    Camp Yale will keep you very busy! Avoid making any other plans for this time period.   

•    A more detailed schedule will be released later this summer, but you can put the general outline into your calendars now. 

o    Sunday, August 21-Tuesday, August 30: Camp Yale (required)  o     Wednesday, August 31-Friday, September 2: First days of class (required)  

o    Saturday, September 3-Monday, September 5: Weekend of Arts and Athletics

• (optional, but strongly encouraged—you won’t want to miss it)   

August 21 may sound far away, but the Camp Yale team is already counting down the days. We are excited to meet you, and of course we have a lot of preparations to make!  
 
Until next week,
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)
 
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.
 
Residential college, housing, and First-Year Counselor assignments will be communicated later in the summer.