YBAN stands for the Yale Black Alumni Network, founded by Michelle Meertens TD '92 & Chris Rabb CC '92 with the early help of a handful of fellow Black Yalies in the spring of 1996.
Some consider YBAN Yale's de facto Black alumni organization. Others believe that YBAN is merely a listserv -- an e-mail-based initiative to foster communication between alumni transcending both geographical and generational divides.
But perhaps it is easier to say what YBAN is not.
First and foremost, YBAN is not a traditional entity, nor is it conventionally structured.
Not entirely unrelated to these distinctions, it is also not affiliated with Yale University or AYA, though it has worked closely with the Afro-American Cultural Center for many years and has been a primary resource for fundraising and advocacy in its invaluable contributions to the greater Yale/New Haven communities.
Since its inception in 1996, YBAN has grown into the largest and continuously run Black Yale alumni entity. Dedicated to connecting Black alumni, YBAN's future will be determined by the organic leadership of whatever subset of our population decides to shape this humble organization into something that more fully addresses the evolving needs of its many members.
The late, best-selling author, Napoleon Hill, wrote: "Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along."
YBAN started with a deep-seeded desire to bring together a previously diffuse group of largely marginalized alumni who hitherto had no means of reconnecting after graduation. We had a few dozen email addresses at the dawn of the Internet Age (i.e., the mid-1990s). And we had a community in mind that did not yet exist in the physical world.
This collective yearning to coalesce centered on re-engaging a constituency whose diverse backgrounds and varied experiences at Yale forged a bond that we sought to recognize and build on as alumni for our own benefit and for the greater good of Yale and its stakeholders.
There was a beauty in the simplicity of this goal to re-connect (or just plain connect) Black alums that has endured for well over a decade.
In our historically solitary departure from our alma mater, many had left its bitter-sweetness within. Going forward, our experiences as students and our concerns, ideas, opportunities and aspirations as alumni now have a home in which to commune for the creation of a safe space and a productive means to reflect on what was, examine what is, and improve what will be, individually and collectively.
If you have not already signed up to become a YBAN member, please click here.
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