Cultural and Athletic Resources

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The Yale Peabody Museum (https://peabody.yale.edu), founded in 1866, houses more than fourteen million specimens and objects in ten curatorial divisions. The Museum’s galleries, newly renovated in 2024, display thousands of objects, including the first Brontosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Triceratops specimens ever discovered.

The Yale University Art Gallery (https://artgallery.yale.edu) is one of the largest museums in the country, holding nearly 300,000 objects and welcoming visitors from around the world. Galleries showcase artworks from ancient times to the present, including vessels from Tang-dynasty China, early Italian paintings, textiles from Borneo, treasures of American art, masks from Western Africa, modern and contemporary art, ancient sculptures, masterworks by Degas, van Gogh, and Picasso, and more.

The Yale Center for British Art (https://britishart.yale.edu) is a museum that houses the largest collection of British art outside the United Kingdom, encompassing works in a range of media from the fifteenth century to the present. 

More than five hundred musical events take place at the university during the academic year, presented by the School of Music (https://music.yale.edu/concerts), the Morris Steinert Collection of Musical Instruments (https://music.yale.edu/concerts-events-collection), and the Institute of Sacred Music (https://ism.yale.edu/events/upcoming-events), among others. 

For theatergoers, Yale offers a wide range of dramatic productions at such venues as the Yale Repertory Theatre (https://yalerep.org); the University Theater and Iseman Theater (https://drama.yale.edu/productions); and Yale Cabaret (https://www.yalecabaret.org).

The religious and spiritual resources of the university serve all students, faculty, and staff of all faiths. Additional information is available at http://chaplain.yale.edu.

The Payne Whitney Gymnasium, one of the most elaborate and extensive indoor athletic facilities in the world, is open to Yale undergraduates and graduate and professional school students at no charge throughout the year. Memberships at reasonable fees are available for faculty, employees, postdocs, visiting associates, alumni, and members of the New Haven community. Additional information is available at https://sportsandrecreation.yale.edu.

During the year, various recreational opportunities are available at the David S. Ingalls Rink, the McNay Family Sailing Center in Branford, the Yale Tennis Complex, and the Yale Golf Course. All members of the Yale community and their guests may participate at each of these venues for a modest fee. Information is available at https://myrec.yale.edu

The Yale Outdoor Education Center (OEC) in East Lyme Yale is open to students, faculty, staff, and alumni. The OEC, which consists of 1,500 acres surrounding a mile-long lake in East Lyme, Connecticut. The facility includes overnight cabins and campsites, a pavilion and dining hall available for group rental, and a waterfront area with supervised swimming, rowboats, canoes, stand-up paddleboards, and kayaks. For more information, visit https://sportsandrecreation.yale.edu/outdoor-education-center-0.

Approximately fifty club sports are offered at Yale, organized by the Office of Club Sports and Outdoor Education (https://sportsandrecreation.yale.edu/club-sports-intramural-sports/club-sports). Most of the teams are for undergraduates, but a few are available to graduate and professional school students. 

Throughout the year, Yale graduate and professional school students have the opportunity to participate in numerous intramural sports activities, including volleyball, soccer, and softball in the fall; basketball and volleyball in the winter; softball, soccer, ultimate, and volleyball in the spring; and softball in the summer. With few exceptions, all academic-year graduate-professional student sports activities are scheduled on weekends, and most sports activities are open to competitive, recreational, and coeducational teams. More information is available at https://myrec.yale.edu.