Noah Porter Gate

Noah Porter Gate, located at the Elm Street-facing side of Cross Campus, was built in 1912 as a memorial to Yale’s 11th president, philosopher and educator Noah Porter ’31. The gate was part of a broader transformation of the parts of Yale just beyond Old Campus as these spaces were being redeveloped into what they are today.  When it was completed, the gate marked a new ceremonial entryway into what would soon become Cross Campus—which until the early 20th century had been a mix of walkways, scattered buildings, and remnants of earlier campus plans.  Today, the gate represents a symbolic passageway for students from Old Campus to the wider University, just as it welcomes visitors within and beyond New Haven through its open gates into the heart of Yale’s more public campus.  The gate also pays tribute to how it unites Yale College with the wider University that developed later, with Yale graduates of all schools and programs proceeding through Noah Porter Gate during Commencement on their way to the New Haven Green, to Phelps Gate, and finally, to Old Campus.