Observers in
The New York Times and
The Chronicle of Higher Education see Yale's move as part of a larger movement of the globalisation of higher education.
Fareed Zakaria, a CNN host and fellow of the
Yale Corporation at the time, supported the venture, saying that "Singapore has a great deal to learn from America, and NUS has a great deal to learn from Yale."
Tommy Koh, former Singaporean ambassador to the
United Nations, called it a "timely and visionary initiative." The chairs of the faculty search committee responded, "the new college will require faculty to rethink their pedagogical assumptions and to consider such innovations as integrated and interactive approaches to science; writing across the curriculum; computation, computer simulations and interpretation of large data sets; and the honing of quantitative, communication and other skills."
Howard Bloch, a
Sterling Professor of French, said that "As a nexus between India, China and the West, Singapore’s location favors an important conceptual realignment of the humanities that will be a long time coming to the home campus in New Haven — that is, a synthesis of the ways that ideas and creative works of East and West intersect historically as well as conceptually with each other." A group of professors critical of the project characterise the endeavour of "globalizing" a "specious one," saying that the graduates "will have to be conformist, dissent-averse managers and executives who serve the global profit motive." Marvin Chun, the master of
Berkeley College and educated in South Korea, disagreed, asking "Will Yale–NUS be denied to numerous students around the world like me who lack the hyper-talent or mega-resources needed to study abroad at a place like Yale?" In response to concerns that Yale–NUS would dilute the Yale name, computer science professor
Michael Fischer argued that since Yale–NUS will not be granting Yale degrees, the value of a degree from Yale will not be diminished, and that the joint governing board does not "make Yale–NUS a part of Yale any more than does [Yale President Richard] Levin's service on the board of directors for American Express make American Express a part of Yale."
Haun Saussy stated says that "It’s in the spirit of the motto "Lux et veritas" — my light is not diminished when my neighbour lights his candle at mine, and a truth becomes more powerful, not less, when it is shared." In spring 2012, the Yale College faculty passed a resolution stating, "We urge Yale–NUS to respect, protect and further principles of non-discrimination for all, including sexual minorities and migrant workers; and to uphold civil liberty and political freedom on campus and in the broader society". In the summer, prompted by a
Wall Street Journal report that students would not be allowed to stage protests or form political parties,
Human Rights Watch stated that it disapproved such restrictions.
John Riady, an associate professor of law at the Pelita Harapan University in Indonesia, defended the venture, stating that "Singapore and Asia are in the middle of great transitions, and Yale has an opportunity to shape that process and put its stamp on a rising continent. In fact, Yale would be doing the cause of liberty a disservice by dropping the project." Since its founding Yale–NUS has hosted a number of controversial events on its campus, including screening banned documentaries and hosting conversations with activists. In 2015, Yale–NUS became the first higher education institution in Singapore to offer gender neutral housing to students. The move was in response to a push by the inaugural Yale–NUS Student Government. The project, executed by government representatives David Chappell, Jay Lusk, and Ami Firdaus Bin Mohamed Ali, used a mixture of survey data, student testimonies and statements from student organisations to advocate for the policy change. The move was greeted favourably by students interviewed by the press and in the pages of The Octant, one of the college's online student publications. The college received increased media scrutiny in response to student calls for the resignation of
Chan Heng Chee, a Yale–NUS governing board member and Singapore's ambassador-at-Large. Chan defended Section 377A of the Singaporean Penal Code, a law forbidding sodomy, at the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review in Geneva in January 2016. In February, The Octant published an op-ed by Nik Carverhill that called on Chan to either take a stand against Section 377A or relinquish her seat on the governing board. In response, Chan attended a closed door dialogue in March, hosted by the Yale–NUS Student Government and The G Spot, a gender and sexuality alliance on campus, to discuss Singapore's approach to human-rights. 87% of students surveyed by The Octant said that they did not think Chan should resign, although 62% of respondents supported the dialogue. Chan remains a member of the Yale–NUS governing board. Reports in the
Chronicle of Higher Education,
Times Higher Education,
Barron's Magazine and
Harvard Magazine on the new college, which started classes in August 2013, noted that lively discussions take place on campus. Barron's Magazine's article “Yale goes to Asia” highlighted how education experts such as Ben Nelson, CEO of the Minerva Project, particularly likes Yale–NUS’ emphasis on seminars and its requirement that all students in their first two years take pretty much the same core curriculum, including philosophy and political thought, literature and humanities, and modern social thought. In an article for The Atlantic, Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan University and author of
Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters write about how he was impressed by Yale–NUS’ decision to decline to institutionalise faculty within departments representing the academic disciplines. This has led to a reconceptualisation of majors as complements to a core curriculum, and, in turn, to the welcoming of faculty with diverse skill sets over those tethered to divisive academic specialisations. The closure of Yale–NUS, announced in 2021, has generated discussions on the future of transnational higher education, with Kevin Kinser, head of education-policy studies at
Pennsylvania State University, being among analysts who expressed surprise at the dissolution of the collaboration. ==References==