This is a walking tour of the downtown area just south of the New Haven Green. In all, participants will walk well less than a mile, never straying more than a few blocks from the hotel. The tour will conclude with a visit to Gateway Community College after quick stops at Alexion, the world’s second-most innovative company according to Forbes, the arts-focused Co-Op High and the new Southern On The Green.
Gateway Community College
Connecticut’s largest community college, Gateway takes pride in providing equal access to a high-quality education, state-of-the-art equipment and laboratories and a caring faculty and staff who provide the educational support needed to achieve. Gateway’s enrollment has risen to 8,200 students this fall semester, despite the campus relocation, adverse economic indicators, recent statewide policy changes on remediation for underprepared students, and a national trend toward lower college enrollment.
The college has been able to attract and retain a diverse student body who are often low-income and first generation college going students, including a steady stream of New Haven Promise Scholars. Gateway attributes the growth, as well, to addressing student needs and creating a “pleasant and productive” college experience along with a new green campus and smart classrooms. A new one-stop Student Success Center exists with a proactive Student Admissions and Registration and comprehensive student orientation programs.
Currently the average student age is 26 years of age. New Haven Public High School Students are able to enroll in the Gateway’s High School Partnership program, allowing high school 11th and 12th graders to access college courses and credits. According to the New Haven Register, “Gateway Community College has also received several honors and recognitions for its work on behalf of students, including the Greater New Haven Chamber’s Workplace Wellness Award and Community Partnership Award and the American Lung Association’s Leadership Board Award for becoming the state’s first smoke-free college campus.”
Alexion Pharmaceuticals
Recently tabbed as the world’s second-most innovative company by Forbes, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and delivering life-transforming therapies for patients with severe and life-threatening rare diseases. Patients with these devastating diseases often have no effective treatment options, and they and their families suffer with little hope.
Alexion was established in the U.S. in 1992 and became a public company in 1996. After initially settling in New Haven, Alexion moved its global headquarters and research operations to Cheshire, Conn., but will be returning to New Haven next year. Its new 14-story headquarters will be located on College Street.
“New Haven is the perfect environment for Alexion as we continue to develop life-transforming therapies for more patients and their families around the world,” said Dan Caron, Vice President, Site Operations & Engineering. “As the company returns to the city where it originated 22 years ago, New Haven will offer us a vibrant business and academic environment for our employees who will work there every day, as well as for those colleagues and other visitors from around the world.”
Cooperative Arts & Humanities High
Cooperative Arts and Humanities is a rigorous arts-focused, college preparatory program that awakens a diverse community of student-artists to their individual powers as creators, thinkers, and leaders for the 21st century.
Founded in 1980 as a joint urban-suburban venture of New Haven and Hamden, Co-Op entered a new era by moving to downtown New Haven in 2009. Its present College Street home, a state-of-the-art facility designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, offers proximity to Yale University, the Shubert Theatre, art galleries, performance spaces, the New Haven Green, cafes and shops, public transportation and much more. Co-op now has a 350-seat theater with fly loft and orchestra pit; black box theater; scene shop; music, dance, and television studios; science and computer labs; recording facilities; library media center and art exhibit gallery.
Today, each of Co-op’s 650 students selects an “arts major” in creative writing, dance, music, theater, or visual arts.
Southern On The Green
While the main campus of Southern Connecticut State University is about a 10-minute drive to the northwest of the famed New Haven Green, the school now services the community while overlooking the Green from high above on Chapel Street.
University President Mary Papazian wanted to reach beyond Southern’s campus and bring its programs more actively into the community. Activities at the new location focus on several areas, including admissions; financial aid and advisement; business development and community engagement; and academic programming.
The 10th-floor space also houses an advising satellite to serve Gateway students, who are a mere block away. “We see ourselves as the natural next step for the students from Gateway who are looking for their next degree,” Papazian told the New Haven Register. Students can now walk over between classes and the hope is the admissions process can soon begin downtown.
PromiseNet 2014 