Declaration Day 2025: Celebrating community, curiosity, and collaboration
Written by Natalie Haase '27
Yale Engineering Declaration Day brought students together on Becton Plaza to mark a major milestone in their academic journeys: declaration. The event was filled with energy, laughter, and a shared sense of pride as undergrads celebrated choosing their majors and being part of a growing engineering community at Yale.
This third annual Declaration Day was particularly meaningful as it reflected the remarkable growth Yale Engineering has experienced in recent years. With undergraduate enrollment having increased by nearly 60 percent over the past five years, the addition of two new departments - Applied & Computational Mathematics and Materials Science - and a substantial expansion of faculty, the school continues to attract students drawn to its unique blend of intellectual rigor and collaborative community. Many of the engineering majors represented at Declaration Day are now among Yale's most popular undergraduate programs.
We spoke with several students - and one professor - about what makes Yale Engineering special. A common theme? The balance between intellectual rigor and collaborative, community-driven learning. Here’s what they had to say:
“CS at Yale is very theoretical and teaches you how to think, not just how to do.”
Estelle Gerber '27
Computer Science
“I like how collaborative CS at Yale is - it’s not cutthroat like other schools, and I had so much support from professors and upperclassmen.”
- Ndiana Akpan '27, Computer Science
“I really like the Yale Engineering community. I feel like I know a lot of people - we have the same classes, go to the same office hours, and it’s not very competitive. It’s very positive and spirited.”
- Aminata Kamara '27, Mechanical Engineering (ABET)
“This summer Ndiana and I were at the same company and with Yale Engineering it’s nice to know you have a friend everywhere you go. We were in San Francisco and it was so nice to have that connection somewhere new.”
- Fatima Aw '26, Computer Science & Cognitive Science
“I like that the students are curious and interested in lots of things, not one thing, and that they are intensely interested in whatever it is they are curious about.
Mark Saltzman
Sterling Professor of Biomedical Engineering
“One thing I like about Yale Engineering is the support that students have for each other to understand problems they are stuck on, and things like that.”
- Logan Dinkins '29, Mechanical Engineering
“Engineering at Yale doesn’t teach you what to think, it teaches you how to think which is a great understanding to have going into industry.
Erika Nunez '27
Chemical Engineering
“I like that my friends here are more than engineers—like they have many interests outside of engineering. I really like going to Kayla Tillman’s (Mechanical Engineering '27) tap performances for example.
Eric Bormann '27
Chemical Engineering (with Remi Mellinghoff '27, Environmental Engineering)
Yale Engineering Declaration Day 2025
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Published Date
Sep 19, 2025
