The university celebrated the founding and successful launch of the Yale Schwarzman Center (YSC) with a gathering and ceremony on November 5, 2022. Yale’s first-ever campus-wide center dedicated to student life and the arts, YSC has been open to students since fall 2021 and has already established itself as a vibrant hub of social, cultural, and community life at Yale.

President Peter Salovey ’86 PhD and his wife Marta Moret ’84 MPH hosted the event, attended by faculty leaders, students, special guest Steven A. Schwarzman ’69 and his family, alumni, friends, and other members of the Yale community who were instrumental in establishing the center. The long-anticipated celebration and formal dedication had been delayed by COVID restrictions.

In his remarks, President Salovey reflected on how the center has become a gathering place for undergraduate, graduate, and professional school students for arts, discovery, and connection. He thanked all who contributed to the planning and implementation of the center. He said, “Together, we have ensured that the aesthetic grace of what is now the beating heart of Yale’s campus is matched by the excellence of the programming that’s offered within it.”

Also speaking at the event were Mr. Schwarzman and Pericles Lewis, dean of Yale College, Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of Comparative Literature, and Professor of English. Prior to July 2022, Dean Lewis was vice president for global strategies and vice provost for academic initiatives, and he was active in planning the launch of YSC.

A transformative gift from Mr. Schwarzman, announced in 2015, funded the renovation of University Commons and three floors of Memorial Hall to house YSC. Included in the work was a 4,500 square-foot annex along the north side of Commons and a concourse extending beneath Commons, Memorial Hall, and Hewitt University Quadrangle. Since September 2021, the center has scaled up its operations to accommodate dining, gatherings of all sizes, and arts practice and performance.