Dear Employer,
The Yale Alumni Association of Louisiana appreciates your interest in the Bulldogs in the Big Easy summer internship program. We believe students, employers, alumni, mentors and community members will benefit from the unique opportunities in Bulldogs in the Big Easy.
Gearing up for its fourth summer, Bulldogs in the Big Easy is part of the Bulldogs Across America summer internship program, originally started 13 years ago in Louisville, KY with Bulldogs in the Bluegrass. The program has since expanded to include Cleveland, San Francisco, Denver, Houston, Minneapolis, Santa Fe and St. Louis. To date, we've had over 1,060 Yale students participate in Bulldogs programs across the country, and over 85 have moved to a Bulldog city after graduation.
We have prepared this package of information for your convenience to evaluate and guide your participation in the Bulldogs in the Big Easy. The package contains:
For those of you who are new to the Bulldogs program, here is a brief history and description of some of the most significant program features for the model program in Louisville, KY:
The mission of the program is to employ hard working Yale undergraduate students in positions that increase the students’ work experiences, benefit the employers and enhance the local community as a whole. The goal is to arrange high quality job offerings from both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors of the community.
In order to introduce the students to the assets and leadership of the New Orleans community, the internship program includes numerous civic and social events. In the other Bulldog cities, these have included such programs as a “City View” day which provides an opportunity to meet various political and civic leaders in the community and to tour several area attractions. The students will also attend presentations by various Yale alumni and local community leaders as well as visit places of interest around the New Orleans area.
The students are housed together in a dorm setting for the summer. The housing will be provided by the Yale Alumni Association of Louisiana and is free of charge to the students.
Each student is paired with a mentor for the summer. The mentor serves as another interested adult in the life of the intern, and in many cases the mentor families become like second families to the students while they are in New Orleans. Some of these mentors are Yale alumni; others are members of the community with an interest in the program.
Students apply for internships electronically. The website is active on the first day the students return to Yale from the winter holidays. The students apply directly to the employers and the employers are responsible for selecting their own intern(s). The Yale Alumni Association of Louisiana does not play a direct role in the selection of interns. Once the employer has selected an intern and issued a Commitment Letter through the website, the internship position must be ratified by the Yale Alumni Association of Louisiana. The position is not finalized until the Yale Alumni Association of Louisiana has granted the position. Our hope is for Executed Commitment Letters be submitted no later than March 15 for final selection by March 31. Employers are therefore encouraged and urged to make selections in a timely manner to increase their chances of being granted a summer intern.
We look forward to working with you to make Bulldogs in the Big Easy summer internship program a success. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call.
Sincerely.
Ann Curtis 502-459-3876 ann.curtis@yale.edu