Chauncey is a descendant of Yale College's first graduate,[2] and his father, Henry Chauncey, a graduate of Harvard University, was founder and head of the Educational Testing Service, and an important aide to James Bryant Conant, Harvard's president, 1933–1953, when that school expanded its admissions net.
Chauncey did likewise for Brewster, with R. Inslee Clark, Jr., much as his father did for Conant in recruiting and admitting incoming classes more diverse and academically able than their predecessors.
[3] Rather than the apocalyptic student riot that consumed Kent State University on May 4, 1970, Yale, under the leadership of Kingman Brewster on behalf of the faculty and Kurt Schmoke on behalf of the undergraduates, embraced and then managed the spirit of the protest.
Brewster and Chauncey had met with Archibald Cox of Harvard to discuss what went awry April 15, 1970 in Cambridge, Massachusetts at a protest organized by an offshoot of the white radical group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).
[4] The transition to a co-ed from all-male Yale undergraduate student body was managed by Chauncey.