YDS Students and Their Passions

Yale Divinity School attracts students with a wide variety of backgrounds and interests. Many are recent college graduates, but a sizeable number are second-career students. About a quarter aim to enter the ordained or lay ministries, while others are interested in the academy, nonprofits, or the arts and communications. A majority are associated with mainline Protestantism, many are Roman Catholic or evangelical, some are of non-Christian faith traditions, and others have no formal affiliation. Mirroring this is a wide array of activities through which YDS students pursue their passions, creating palpable energy that permeates the campus on multiple levels. Activities include those that are linked to the Community Life Committee or Yale Divinity Student Government (see Student Groups and Activities, below) and those pursued in less formal ways. A few recent examples of student endeavors, past and present: extraordinary student art on display in the Divinity School’s entrance hall such as exhibits on environmental stewardship, the history and contributions of Black churches, and the role of Christianity in Black women’s struggle to forge their identities in the late nineteenth century; a student-run community garden focused on organic and sustainable growing methods that encourage a theological appreciation for creation; travel abroad to participate in globally significant religious dialogues, such as an International Women’s Day panel at the Vatican on the topic of women’s leadership in Catholicism; student-run sports and play, like the Paracleats intramural soccer team, the Divine Dribblers basketball team, and informal M.A.R. vs. M.Div. kickball games at nearby College Woods Park; and the annual student-run Graduate Conference in Religion and Ecology, a unique academic venue showcasing graduate and professional research on the intersections of environmental ethics and moral worldviews.