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In Conversation with New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker
On Friday, January 23, at an all-school assembly, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker kicked off a wide-ranging Q & A session with students by sharing a story of a phone call he had during his first run for office in 2013. While fundraising for his campaign, Ellicker called a Hopkins household. A Hopkins student answered the call, and assuming Elicker was a prank caller, spoke to him entirely in Chinese.
“What they didn’t know is I speak some Chinese,” Elicker said to laughter from the crowd. “I had this lovely conversation with this [Hopkins] student who spoke really good Chinese.” Elicker shared the anecdote to show his appreciation for the caliber of the students he was addressing.
Hopkins invited Mayor Elicker as part of its 2025-2026 Speaker Series to speak about his tenure as Mayor and the six years of work he has contributed to addressing the major issues facing city of New Haven. Now at the start of his fourth term as Mayor of New Haven, Elicker fielded questions moderated by the heads of the Civic Engagement Club, Sam R. ’26 and Ryann H. ’26. The Civic Engagement Club collected questions from the Hopkins community earlier that week to incorporate into the session.
During the session, among other topics, Elicker discussed navigating New Haven through the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, such as the uptick in crime, housing disparities, and homelessness. Elicker also spoke about the current presidential administration and its impact on New Haven as a sanctuary city with both a large population of immigrants and people who receive SNAP benefits.
“It’s been a journey and it's an incredible job as you can imagine, especially in these recent years,” Elicker said of his tenure as mayor thus far.
Other questions Elicker addressed included the current state of New Haven Public Schools, the reasoning behind the city’s tax increases, and how New Haven’s trends mirror those in other cities across the nation, where he says he has a strong support system with fellow mayors.
“I have a network of mayors that I call regularly,” Elicker explained. “It’s super helpful to engage other mayors in conversations and try to find pathways together to help solve problems.”
After covering such heavy topics for a Friday morning, the last question of the forum asked whether Elicker could balance a chair on his chin.
As it turns out, he certainly can.
“Don’t try this in the classroom please,” Elicker announced before hoisting up a folding chair onto his chin for several seconds which received an enthusiastic round of applause.
Watch the full Q&A session below.
About the Speaker Series
Watch the full Q&A session below.
About the Speaker Series
The School’s 2025–2026 Speaker Series focuses on the theme of "citizens of the world." The goal of the series is simple: to bring the world to Hopkins. The lineup reflects the School’s mission to foster intellectual curiosity, civic engagement, and critical thinking.
Hopkins is a private middle school and high school for grades 7-12. Located on a campus overlooking New Haven, CT, the School takes pride in its intellectually curious students as well as its dedicated faculty and staff.
Hopkins School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.