Citizens Thinkers Writers is a tuition-free opportunity open to rising juniors and seniors from New Haven public schools to explore fundamental moral and political questions in a college setting. Students live together in Yale housing for two weeks during the summer and continue to meet as CTW Fellows throughout the following academic year. In small discussion seminars led by professors, they gain experience in close reading, analytic writing and college-level discussion, along with support as they apply to college.

The identity for CTW is a nod to Experimental Jetset’s famous Helvetica t-shirt “John&Paul&George&Ringo”. Each year the names on the CTW shirts change to create a growing catalog of writers, thinkers and philosophers. The identity is deployed across notebooks, bookmarks, pens and pencils — all the indispensable tools for active minds.