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Nathaniel Hecht, the former Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, and NYU Professor Melissa Murray clashed Tuesday over the controversial legal framework. The Beacon’s Jason Cao gives a speech in the negative. (Credit: Emily Akbar) Emily AkbarCampus Reporting Editor, The Buckley Beacon On Tuesday evening, the Yale Political Union hosted Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas, Nathan L. Hecht, and NYU professor and “Strict Scrutiny” podcast host, Melissa Murray to debate on Originalism. Murray argued in the affirmative and Hecht in the negative of the resolution, “Reject Originalism.” Originalism is defined as a theory of interpreting legal texts, especially the Constitution, as it was understood at the time of its adoption. A graduate from Yale C...

The former immigration judge and Congressional staffer defended ICE but criticized the larger immigration system. Judge Andrew 'Art' Arthur speaks to the Yale College Republicans. (Credit: Emily Akbar) Emily AkbarCampus Reporting Editor, The Buckley Beacon On Wednesday, Yale College Republicans hosted former immigration Judge Andrew “Art” Arthur to discuss the United States’ evolving immigration policy. Arthur is the Resident Fellow in Law and Policy at the Center for Immigration Studies. Arthur began his career at the Executive Office for Immigration Review, reporting to Attorney General Bill Barr under the first Bush administration. During the second Bush administration, Arthur worked in Congress and was oversight counsel for immigration on the House Judiciary...

The Yale Political Union hosted the former president of Colombia, Iván Duque, for a fireside chat on the future of relations between the United States and Latin America in the aftermath of U.S. intervention in Venezuela. President of the YPU, Mor Szepsi, left, and Iván Duque, right, at the fireside chat. (Credit: Sygne Stole) Hannah Owens PierreStaff Writer, The Buckley Beacon Last Thursday, former Colombian president Iván Duque joined the Yale Political Union for a fireside chat in Linsley-Chittenden Hall, where he discussed U.S.-Latin American Relations after the overthrow of Nicolas Maduro’s regime in Venezuela.  Duque served as the president of Colombia from 2018 to 2022 as a member of the conservative Democratic Centre Party. Duque was president during the ...

Law professors Michael Paulsen and Bruce Ackerman of Yale Law School went head to head over one of the most contentious legal issues facing America’s democracy. Professor Michael Paulsen addresses the audience. (Credit: Jason Cao) Jason CaoStaff Writer, The Buckley Beacon Last Thursday afternoon, law professors Michael Paulsen and Bruce Ackerman debated the resolution “The Executive Branch Belongs to the President” at the Buckley Institute’s second Firing Line Debate of the semester. Michael Paulsen, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, argued in the affirmative. Paulsen graduated from the Yale Law School in 1985. He served in the Department of Justice and as an attorney-advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel before becoming a professor...

The Yale Political Union hosted former Editor in Chief of the Wall Street Journal, Gerard Baker, and left-wing political commentator, Molly Jong-Fast, to debate whether journalists are to blame for Americans’ distrust of the media. Gerard Baker (left) and Molly Jong-Fast (right) address the YPU. (Credit: Sygne Stole) Lucas MillerInvestigative Reporting Editor, The Buckley Beacon On Tuesday, the Yale Political Union hosted Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerard Baker and novelist turned political commentator Molly Jong-Fast to 53 Wall Street to debate the resolution “Resolved: Journalists Are to Blame for the Loss of Public Trust.”  Baker has spent more than thirty years in journalism, including five years as the Editor in Chief of the Wall Street Journal fro...

Gloria Purvis, a Catholic activist and writer, spoke at Yale’s St. Thomas More Catholic Chapel and Center advocating for an approach to racial justice informed by Catholic Social Teaching. Gloria Purvis addresses the Saint Thomas More community on Sunday evening. (Credit: Nina Melendez at STM) Jack EhlertStaff Writer, The Buckley Beacon On February 15, Gloria Purvis, a Catholic speaker, scholar, and activist, gave a lecture entitled “Is Racial Justice Harmful?” at Saint Thomas More, Yale’s Catholic Chapel and Center.  Purvis was the inaugural Pastoral Fellow at Notre Dame’s Office of Life and Human Dignity and was recently appointed as an advisor in Providence College’s Office of Mission & Ministry. She has written for news outlets such as America: The Jesu...

An exclusive Beacon investigation reveals the experiences of Republican and Independent professors at Yale in light of the stark political imbalance amongst faculty. Branford College gate on High Street in New Haven. (Credit: Owen Tilman) Brett MellulStaff Writer, The Buckley Beacon Last December, the Buckley Institute released a report on faculty political diversity at Yale, uncovering a stark imbalance along partisan lines. Using voter registration data from thousands of professors across degree-granting undergraduate departments and two graduate schools, the School of Management and the Law School, the report found that 82.3% are registered Democrats, compared to 15.4% who are unaffiliated or independent and just 2.3% who are Republicans. Of Yale’s 43 undergra...

David Bier and Chad Wolf clashed over the hotly contested issue on Tuesday, arguing over ICE tactics and targeting, sanctuary cities, and legal immigration. David Bier (left) and Chad Wolf (right) at the debate. (Source: Jason Cao) Jason CaoStaff Writer, The Buckley Beacon On Wednesday afternoon, former Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf and Cato Institute Director of Immigration Studies David Bier debated the resolution “Mass Deportation is Necessary” at the Buckley Institute’s first ‘Firing Line Debate’ of the semester. Chad Wolf, who served as acting Homeland Security Secretary between 2019 and 2021, argued in the affirmative. During his tenure in the Department of Homeland Security, Wolf was the architect of the first Trump Administration’s cont...

The Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs hosted Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Željko Komsić, for an event titled “The World from the Periphery: Bosnia and Herzegovina in an Age of Spheres of Influence.” Željko Komsić (left) and David Simon (right) during the event on Monday. (Credit: Emily Akbar) Emily AkbarCampus Reporting Editor, The Buckley Beacon On Monday, Bosnian President Željko Komsić discussed the evolving international order and its effects on smaller states. David Simon, Yale’s Assistant Dean for Graduate Education, moderated the conversation, which was held in Horchow Hall.  Komsić is currently the Croat standing Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The country operates on a tripartite presidency, with each ...

Time Magazine partnered with Statista to release a new ranking of the world’s top 500 universities last week, placing Yale at the no. 2 spot globally.  Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University. (Credit: Owen Tilman) Jack EhlertStaff Writer, The Buckley Beacon On January 28, TIME Magazine published a new ranking of the world’s top universities. Oxford, Yale, and Stanford took the top three spots, with MIT and The University of Chicago rounding out the top five. Yale ranks higher in this list than it does in comparable rankings for 2026, including those of the U.S. News & World Report and The Wall Street Journal where Yale took the fourth and third spots, respectively. TIME’s list, created in collaboration with Statista, used a methodology that scor...