By Lane Daniels
An avid student of history and writing, Yale University sophomore Adele Haeg began working at the Yale Daily News in the fall of 2025. Many students at the time were hearing rumors of a woman arrested the previous spring for posing as a Yale student and trespassing on campus. Curious about what actually happened, Haeg began investigating.
To help her pursuit of information, Haeg attended a workshop led by journalist Matt Nadel where she learned how to submit public records requests through the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). She immediately requested documents from the New Haven Police Department for arrest warrants, body camera footage and communication related to the student imposter.
The public records process, Haeg said, is empowering, as anyone can become a public informer. Many students simply “expect to be informed,” she stated, but by using the state’s FOIA, students can uncover information themselves and make once-hidden records available to all. “Having the confidence to be like, no, this is information that I am entitled to, it’s not an easy step to make.”
Once Haeg took that step, the story began to emerge. While the records were hard to read at first, Haeg said that what she found was “shocking” and the public needed to know. Using police incident reports, investigative documents and officer narratives, Haeg and her editors worked tirelessly to piece together a timeline — one that would tell a much deeper story than she had anticipated.
Culminating in Haeg’s article “Woman Was Arrested in May After ‘Posing’ as Yalie, Police Files Show,” her reporting revealed a two-year investigation into the woman by campus police. The woman entered a pub restricted to Yale students multiple times and trespassed on school property. She had received a no-trespass letter from the school in December 2023, yet she continued to go to the pub, participated in a student-only dance show, and returned to campus again before she was arrested in May 2025.
The feedback Haeg received on her story was astounding. Many people contacted her and expressed how hurt they had been by a person whom they thought was a Yale student and considered a friend. One student described feeling “violated” by the woman, and Haeg’s story made this student feel “seen.” By submitting the public records request and writing the story, Haeg provided clarity for the entire community and allowed healing for those hurt by the woman’s actions.
This arrest is just one of several similar incidents on campus: “The case is a third known example of a person identified last year by Yale students and authorities as having claimed Yale affiliation on false pretenses,” Haeg reported. The information she uncovered through public records raises larger questions of “trust and access to this institution,” Haeg said. She emphasized that she hoped it would open conversations about how the community can prevent future incidents.
This public records request also earned Haeg honors from the New England First Amendment Coalition (NEFAC) and its partners. Alongside MuckRock and the Society of Professional Journalists New England, NEFAC sponsors a monthly public records contest for student journalists.
Haeg now submits public records requests often and is comfortable with the process. Recognizing the necessity of Connecticut’s FOIA in protecting citizens’ right to access government information, she will continue to seek records and report stories that impact her community. After recently sharing the experience with her father, Haeg recalls him telling her that “it seems like you caught the FOIA bug.” As Haeg would attest, this is a bug we all can and should catch to keep each other safe and informed.
Lane Daniels is NEFAC’s 2026 First Amendment intern. She is a rising junior at Wesleyan University where she is majoring in the College of Letters (philosophy, literature and history) and theater. She plans to attend law school after graduation.