Eight minutes could shape the next chapter of a 135-year-old publication
Yale Alumni Magazine is asking its 140,000 readers a simple question: How can we do better?
This September, the magazine launches its most comprehensive reader survey to date, inviting alumni, students, faculty, and staff to weigh in on what they value, what they'd change, and how they'd like to engage with YAM in an increasingly digital world. Results will be published in a future issue.
"We can report and edit and fact-check and design with all the skill and care we possibly can," says editor Pippa Jack. "But if we don't know what you actually want, we're guessing."
Founded in 1891 by student newspaper editors to report on Yale for its graduates, the magazine has always defined its mission in terms of usefulness: to inform and inspire, to evoke Yale past and present, and to keep a far-flung community connected. The survey is an attempt to make good on that promise—and to find out whether the magazine is hitting the mark.
The survey takes about eight minutes. To thank participants for their time, YAM has assembled a raffle with prizes donated by the Yale Alumni Association, Yale University Press, The Study hotel, Yale Repertory Theatre, Elm Street Watches, and Campus Customs. Prizes include:
- A $4,000 voucher toward a Yale Alumni Academy trip
- A night in New Haven: a show at Yale Repertory Theatre, an overnight stay at The Study, and breakfast the next morning
- A special-edition Elm Street watch designed by founder Aiden Tumminello '28
- A collection of five Yale University Press bestsellers, including Amy Sherald: American Sublime
- Five special edition book bags, each comprising a canvas tote, journal, water bottle, hat, and two Yale University Press Little Histories
- Five yearlong international magazine subscriptions
The survey is open now. Take it at bit.ly/YAMreadersurvey.
