Yale university, USA: The stigma of its link with past slavery will haunt it, so is the name of Elihu Yale, its benefactor!

Navrang India April 22, 2025

Elihu Yale, Scroll.in

Elihu Yale and Yale Univ  CT The News Minute


Yale Uni. stained glass windows depicting slaves. Huffington Post

Said to be  the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,  Yale University (founded in 1701),  an American private Ivy League research university in New Haven,  Connecticut  is one of the nine Colonial Colleges chartered before the American Revolution 1765–1783. Surprisingly its properties and  endowment valued at $27.2 billion as of June 2017, is the second largest endowment of any U.S. educational institution. 

Yale uni. USA shiksha.com/
This famous university  several years ago got entangled in a serious  controversy  over its  past link with  the slavery. When its dark side of the past era surfaced, besides debates and discussions,  it triggered  demonstrations and protests by students as well as by the faculty.   Many historians were of the view that 'Yale's  implication in the institution of slavery can not be ignored'. ....its link  with the scourge of slavery in the past era and can not be erased that easily. 

 An important point to ponder is  Elihu Yale, afte whom this institution was name because as he happened to be the  its benefactor. If you dig into the life of Yale,  the institution's reputation is further pushed downward. Elihu Yale was the Governor of Ft. St George of Madras (Chennai, Tamil Nadu. India) under the East India company that ripped the Indian natives of for a long time till 1857-58. 

While on duty to supplement his income on the side  he indirectly was operating a slave trading company, supplying slaves to the  foreign destinations. He was himself an active and successful slave trader in India and  is weird Yale is still carrying the same name  the man who was dismissed from the EIC's services for dishonesty. Yale gifted the school books (32), textiles ( a variety of textiles from the East Indies)  and a portrait of King George I in 1713 which were then sold in Boston for £800 (now equal to £206,000) -a huge sum in those days.  This money was used  in the construction of the Yale college. Elihu’s gift was "the largest private contribution made to the college for the next century"  On April 5, 1999, the university recognized the 350th anniversary of his birthday

In he US   the  German and Dutch Quakers (The Society of Friends known as the Quakers)   in 1688 protested against slavery and later  they cut off  their ties to slavery in the eighteenth century while building a reputation as profitable and successful merchants. They  were the first religious movement to condemn slavery and would not allow their members to own slaves.  

Unfortunately, others wanted the slavery to continue and never cared about  treating other humans  like cattle on the corral in a Texas  ranch. Nor did they come closer to realization that they were degrading fellow humans.
 Yale, was earlier known as Collegiate School at Saybrook,  and has as  many as 12 colleges under its jurisdiction;  many  prominent buildings  are named after slaveholders or slavery apologists.  They briefly seceded from the Union at the start of the Civil War because it had so many  students  from southern states.   The center of controversy at Yale is  The Calhoun College. 

Since 1960 has been in the center of heated debate as it  was named for a man who was the 7th US Vice-President, an avowed  racist. he never supported the abolition of slavery.  In 1837 Calhoun argued more vehemently than  many of 19th-century pro-slavery politicians, that slavery was neither a necessary evil nor a moral conundrum but a “positive good …,//the black race of Central Africa, from the dawn of history to the present day, attained a condition so civilized and so improved, not only physically, but morally and intellectually,”. 

In Feb 2017 Yale President Peter Salovey scrapped the name Calhoun and renamed the college  in honor of Grace Murray Hopper, a 1934 graduate and United States Navy rear admiral who made vital advances in computer science.

 Peter Salovey said in an E-mail to the College Community, "The decision to change a college’s name is not one we take lightly, but John C. Calhoun’s legacy as a white supremacist and a national leader ...... fundamentally conflicts with Yale’s mission and values," 

Numerous residents and others  greeted the positive move  "No longer will John C Calhoun’s name disgrace the city and the university.” Even his statues and portraits were removed from the university.   Grace Murray Hopper was posthumously awarded the presidential medal of freedom by Barack Obama in November, is a Yale alumnus. 

About  the name of the university itself ie, the name of the benefactor Elihu who decreed that every outbound ship from Madras would be packed with ten slaves,his name tarnishes the name of the  institution.  In Madras  as the  Governor of Fort St. George,, the EIC officials were not happy with him - he was greedy and  amassed a fortune beyond his means, cheating both his employers and the people of India. He also did the same thing in Ft. David, Cuddalore near the French settlement He had a stable boy  hanged to death.on flimsy grounds.  At last , he was removed from the covetous job in 1699  and was off to England.
 
St.Mary's Church,Madras. TN .livestories.com

Above image: Gov. Yale's wedding with Catherine Hynmers, a widow took place here in 1680 at St. Mary's church, Madras (Chennai), Tamil Nadu; first wedding ever registered at this old English Church which is within Ft. St. George. Drawn by J.W.Gantz,Vepery. 1841.........

William Wilberforce . Quote Master

Above image:  William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833), an English politician of repute was  the force behind and  passed the  the Slavery Abolition Act,  which put an end to slavery in most of the British Empire from August 1834.  
 
The 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica was in  praise of  Calhoun (former US vice President) for his 'just and kind' treatment of slaves  but showed  Gov. Elihu Yale in bad light. He had the  slaves severely punished and flogged when protested or made mistakes while at work.  Roger Kimball, editor and publisher of the New Criterion, in an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, wrote how Calhoun was just an "amateur" when compared to Elihu.

 "In the great racism sweepstakes, John Calhoun was an amateur. compared to. Elihu Yale, the philanthropist whose benefactions helped found the University. As an administrator in India, he was deeply involved in the slave trade. He always made sure that ships leaving his jurisdiction for Europe carried at least 10 slaves. When it comes to immorality and peevishness, Yale was far ahead of Calhoun.   In his well-researched book Ebony & Ivy published  recently,  author Craig discusses  that Yale is not alone in respect of links with slavery, there  many both in the north and south, who grew up unashamedly  promoting and profiting  from slavery, racism, and colonialism.
Last month, Yale University issued a formal apology for the links its early leaders and benefactors had with slavery according to BBc report March 2024.   Elihu Yale, the man after whom the Ivy League university is named is still under the lens .