Poison Ivy: The Problem of Tax Exemption in a Deindustrializing City, Yale and New Haven, 1967–1973

Abstract

This paper addresses the question of what the role of a tax-­exempt university has been in a deindustrializing city, and how the university has conceived of its responsibilities as an “institutional/corporate citizen” when confronting the need to expand. In 1973, Yale University attempted to build two new residential colleges, but the New Haven city council vetoed construction on the grounds that such expansion would deprive the city of needed tax revenue. This fight was well recorded in Yale president Kingman Brewster’s archives, which also reveal how Yale saw its conflicting responsibilities towards the nation and towards the city.