Trinity College

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Trinity College
Motto	For the Church and For the Nation
Established	1823
Type	Private
Endowment	$440 million
President	James F. Jones, Jr.
Dean	Rena Fraden
Faculty	187
Students	2,188
Location	Hartford, Connecticut, United States
Campus	Urban
Sports	29 Varsity Teams [1]
Colors	Blue and Gold
Nickname	Bantams
Mascot	Bantam
Athletics	NCAA Division III
Affiliations	NESCAC NECCWA
Website	www.trincoll.edu

Trinity College is a private, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1823, it is the second oldest college in the state of Connecticut after Yale University. Trinity's purpose is to "foster critical thinking, free the mind of parochialism and prejudice, and prepare students to lead examined lives that are personally satisfying, civilly responsible, and socially useful. "

History

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Early history

Trinity was founded in the spring of 1823 as Washington College, in downtown Hartford, receiving its current name in 1845. Because of the social dominance of rival Congregationalists in Connecticut and because Trinity's founder and first president, the Rt. Rev. Thomas Brownell, was an Episcopal bishop, the college had some early difficulties obtaining its charter from the state. A condition imposed by the charter was that, despite its Episcopal roots, the college must prohibit any imposition of religious standards on students, faculty members, or other members of the college. A year after opening, Trinity moved to its first campus, which consisted of two Greek Revival-style buildings, one housing a chapel, library, and lecture rooms and the other a dormitory. Within a few years the student body grew to nearly one hundred, a size that was rarely exceeded until the 20th century.

A new campus

William Burges's original plan for the campus of Trinity College

In 1872 Trinity College was persuaded by the State of Connecticut to move from its downtown “College Hill” location (now Capitol Hill, the site of the state capitol building) to its current 100-acre (40 ha) campus a mile to the southwest. Although the college sold its land overlooking the Park River and Bushnell Park in 1872, it did not complete its move to its Gallows Hill campus until 1868. Trinity’s first plan for the Gallows Hill site proved to be too ambitious (and too expensive) to be completely built. Only one section of the proposed campus plan, the Long Walk, was completed.

Trinity in the twentieth century

Trinity ended the nineteenth century as an institution primarily serving the Hartford area. The founding of the University of Hartford in 1877, however, allowed Trinity to focus on becoming a regional institution rather than a local one. The early years of the century were primarily growth years for Trinity. Enrollment was increased to 500 men. In 1932 under President Remsen Ogilby, the Gothic chapel was completed, becoming the symbol of Trinity College. It replaced the Seabury chapel which had become too small for the student body.

In 1968 the trustees of Trinity College voted to make a commitment to enroll (with financial aid as needed) more minority students. This decision was preceded by a siege of the administrative offices in the Downes and Williams Memorial buildings during which Trinity students would not allow the president or trustees to leave until they agreed to the resolution.

Less than one year later Trinity College became co-educational and admitted its first female students, as transfers from Vassar College. Today, women make up about 50 percent of Trinity's student body.

The Hartford Campus

Trinity College Chapel, Hartford

The first buildings completed on the current campus were Seabury and Jarvis halls in 1878. Together with Northam Towers, these make up what is known as the "Long Walk". These buildings are the earliest examples of Collegiate Gothic architecture in the United States, built to plans drawn up by William Burges, with F.H. Kimball as supervising architect.

Trinity's other landmark is its distinctive chapel. The Trinity College Chapel was built in the 1930s to replace Trinity's original chapel, located in Seabury Hall (now a lecture hall). The Chapel's facade is made almost entirely of limestone and therefore blends into the adjacent Downes Memorial Clock Tower. Its primary architect was Philip Hubert Frohman, of Frohman, Robb and Little, who was also responsible for the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.

Another feature of Trinity's campus is its central green known as the Main Quad, which is bound on the west by the Long Walk, on the east by the Lower Long Walk, on the north by the Chapel, and on the south by various dormitories. While a central green is a feature of many college campuses, Trinity's is notable for its unusually large size, running the entire length of the Long Walk and with no paved or unpaved walkways traversing it. Trees on the Quad have been planted in a 'T' configuration (for Trinity) with the letter's base located at the statue of Bishop Brownell and its top running the length of the Long Walk. Tradition holds that the trees were intended to distinguish Trinity's campus from Yale's. Also located on the Quad are two cannons used on the USS Hartford, flagship of Admiral David Farragut during the American Civil War.

The whole of Trinity's campus is set out on a 100-acre (40 ha) parcel of land that is bound on the south by New Britain Avenue, on the west by Summit Street, on the east by Broad Street, and on the north by Allen Place. Trinity's former northern border, Vernon Street, has been transferred from the city of Hartford to Trinity College and closed off at one end (Broad Street), creating a cul-de-sac within Trinity's borders. Completed in 2001, and located on what was formerly an abandoned bus depot adjacent to Trinity's campus, the Learning Corridor is a collection of K-12 public magnet schools co-created by Trinity and the governments of Hartford and Connecticut.

Trinity's campus has no through-streets running through it. The only exception until its recent closure was Vernon Street, at the north end of the campus. Since the street was transferred to the school from the city, Trinity widened and repaved it, as well as installing light posts about every ten feet and adding granite crosswalks, curbs, benches, and fenceposts. Vernon Street is the location of most of the campus' cultural houses and Greek organizations, as well as Vernon Social Center.

Important buildings on campus

• Mather Hall – located just south of Hamlin Hall (the southern terminus of the long walk), Mather Hall is the main student center of Trinity College. The building contains the main dining hall as well as "The Cave" dining hall, a post office and student mail boxes, a coffee house, as well as meeting rooms and a large auditorium.

The Trinity College Raether Library in a December snow storm

Trinity College Life Science Center in the Summertime

• Raether Library and Information Technology Center – Trinity's main library was originally built at the southeast corner of the main quad in the 1950s to replace the library in Williams Memorial. Additional wings were constructed in the 1970s and again in 2002, at which time the building was given its present name. The Watkinson Library, which houses rare books and manuscripts, occupies an annex of the first floor. The latest renovations, which enlarged the facility to 172,000 square feet (16,000 m²) and more than 1 million volumes, include an atrium, grand reading room, three new computing centers, a multimedia development studio, a music and media center, private study rooms, and a cafe. Though a private academic library, more than 2,800 outside visitors were recorded between November, 2006 and March, 2007.
• Seabury Hall – This section of the Long Walk contains classrooms, professor offices, and four dance studios. Its recent $32.7 million renovation project was completed in 2008.
• Jarvis Hall – This section of the Long Walk contains single, double and quad dorms, primarily for freshmen and sophomores. It is rumored that the doubles were originally designed for students while the singles across the hallway were intended for their servants. In actuality, the single rooms were single bedrooms, which opened into living areas, which are currently the doubles and the hallway, and six rooms retain this layout. As of the 2008 school year, the massive Long Walk Reconstruction project has been completed, and the dorms are built in a classic style.
• Northam Towers – This central tower on the Long Walk, with its distinctive Fuller archway, connects Jarvis and Seabury Halls. It contains upperclassman housing.
• Austin Arts Center – The AAC was designed in the 1960s, and contains art exhibition spaces and a theater.
• Albert C. Jacobs Life Sciences Center – Built in 1967 in the architectural style of Brutalism, LSC was designed to be an abstract representation of the Long Walk. The building houses Trinity's departments of Biology and Psychology. It contains several classrooms, an auditorium, teaching labs, research labs, and a greenhouse.
• Math, Computing, and Engineering Center – MCEC is located on the Life Sciences Quad (named for the Life Sciences Center, which dominates the quad) it is made of brick and sandstone. It housed the computing center until it was moved to the renovated library.

Trinity College in 1909, showing the Long Walk and three attached buildings: Northam (center), Jarvis (right), Seabury(left)

Sustainability Initiatives

Trinity is aiming to enhance environmental awareness on campus and in Hartford through a variety of initiatives. Trinity is a signatory on the President’s Climate Commitment, and has worked to reduce green house gas emissions. Their progress so far can be found on the university’s sustainability website. Students are involved with programs such as Green Campus and ConnPIRG Campus Climate Challenge, and even have the opportunity to learn how to live a green lifestyle in The Treehouse, which is the green theme residence. Students also have access to ZipCar, UPass, and a bike sharing program. Trinity received a C on the College Sustainability Report Card in 2009. ^[2][3]

Academics

Selectivity

Recently the Wall Street Journal ranked Trinity as the 43rd highest "feeder school" for the top graduate school programs. Data compiled by the National Science Foundation lists Trinity as a liberal arts college that graduates disproportionately high numbers of future scientists.

Despite the fact that US News and World Report has consistently ranked Trinity among the top liberal arts colleges in the US, in August 2007 the college joined the "Annapolis Group", an organization of more than 100 of the nation's liberal arts schools, in refusing to participate in the magazine's rankings.[1]

In 2009, The Princeton Review gave Trinity a 95 (out of 100) for selectivity.

Student life

Fraternities and sororities

Officially, approximately 20% of the student body are affiliated with a Greek organization. During the late 1980s and 1990s, under pressure from the college administration, many of the single-sex fraternities and sororities merged and formed co-educational Greek organizations. Among those currently on campus are:

• Alpha Chi Rho (Crow) Alpha Chi Rho was founded at Trinity College in 1895.
• Alpha Delta Phi
• Alpha Chi Society
• Ivy Society
• Kappa Kappa Gamma Zeta Theta Chapter
• Psi Upsilon (housed in the former governor's mansion on Vernon Street.), Beta Beta chapter
• Sigma Nu, Delta Chi chapter
• Sigma Psi
• St. Anthony Hall

Several other Greek organizations, while active, are not officially affiliated with the school. They include:

• Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike). The Epsilon Alpha chapter was established in 1953, and has been unaffiliated with the school since 1993.
• Zeta Omega Eta: the Alpha chapter was founded at Trinity College in 2003.
• Theta Delta Sigma A national co-ed, multicultural Greek society was colonized in 2005.
• Alpha Kappa Alpha The first African American Women Sorority Incorporated founded in 1908.
• Cha Ki Ryan the Alpha chapter was founded at Trinity College in 2005.
• Alpha Phi Alpha The first African American Greek Organization founded in 1906.
• Delta Sigma Theta African American Sorority founded in 1913.

Coffee Houses

• The Underground Coffee House: Located below Mather dining hall, The Underground is a spot for students to relax, study, and participate in cultural events. It is the only completely student-run business on campus.^{[citation needed]}
• Gallows Hill Lounge: Once a coffee house with a Barnes and Nobles bookstore attached, this Hallden Hall location is currently a student lounge.
• Peter B's Cafe: Located on the first floor of the library.

A cappella groups

Trinity's A Cappella groups are:

• The Accidentals: The Accidentals were founded in 1993 as an all-male a capella singing group. Their repertoire includes classic rock, R&B, barbershop, jazz and pop.
• The Dischords: The Dischords are Trinity’s newest co-ed a cappella group, organized in 2005. They sing a wide variety of music ranging from old classics to the soulful one-hit wonders of the 80’s to contemporary hits of today and tomorrow.
• The Trinitones: The Trinitones are Trinity's first all-female vocal group. The Trinitones sing a cappella music in close harmony, in styles ranging from jazzy 1920's music to current popular songs.
• The Trinity Pipes: The Trinity Pipes are Trinity's oldest a cappella group. They are a small, coed singing group, which was founded in 1938 by four men from St. Anthony's Hall and sings a wide variety of music from 1940s close harmony to modern pop and rock arrangements.
• The Quirks: The Quirks are Trinity’s newest all-female a capella group. Founded by two students in 2003 as their Tutorial College project, the Quirks' repertoire includes close harmony arrangements of a wide range of musical genres, including jazz, rock, R&B, and pop.

Athletics

The Bantams logo.

The Trinity College Department of Athletics currently sponsors Men's Intercollegiate Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Soccer, Swimming, Football, Lacrosse, Golf, Tennis, Track & Field, Wrestling, Rowing, Squash and Ice Hockey along with Women's Intercollegiate Softball, Basketball, Cross Country, Soccer, Swimming, Volleyball, Field Hockey, Ice Hockey, Squash, Tennis, Track & Field and Rowing. They compete in the NCAA Division III in most sports.

The Trinity Bantams squash team holds the record for the longest winning streak in any inter-collegiate sport in the nation, at 202 consecutive victories. The Bantams have won 11 consecutive national titles since 1998, when they first took home the Potter Trophy. They have also garnered attention and praise from major media outlets such as ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and USA Today, among others.

The Trinity Baseball team won the Division III national title in 2008, after having started the season 44-0, shattering numerous records in the process. After having been handed their first loss of the year by Johns Hopkins (to fall to 44-1), the Bantams clinched the national title by beating Johns Hopkins in the bottom of the ninth of the championship game. They finished the season with a 45-1 record.

The Trinity Football team has gone undefeated in several recent seasons (2003-2005, 2008) and has won the NESCAC championship in five of the past seven seasons (2002-2005, 2008).

Both the men's and women's crew teams are consistently ranked within the top five teams in NCAA Division III competition. In 2008, the women's Varsity 8+ won the Division III NCAA Rowing Championship title and placed second as a team and later went on to win the Jeffries Cup at Henley Women's Regatta.

Residence halls

Trinity College houses its students in 27 dorms organized into 4 "areas," each with a local area coordinator, who is responsible for administering the area.

• Area 1 ("Crescent Street"):
  • Stowe
  • Clemens
  • Anadama
  • Wiggins
  • Little
  • Frohman-Robb

• Area 2 ("South Campus"):
  • Summit Suites
  • Jackson
  • Smith
  • Wheaton
  • Funston

• Area 3 ("The Long Walk"):
  • Jarvis
  • Northam Towers
  • Cook
  • Goodwin-Woodward
  • Jones
  • Elton

• Area 4 ("Vernon Street"):
  • Boardwalk
  • Park Place
  • Vernon
  • High Rise
  • North Campus
  • Hansen
  • Doonesbury
  • Ogilby

Trinity College, Rome Campus

Trinity College, Rome Campus (TCRC) is a study abroad campus of Trinity College. It was established in 1970 and is located in a residential area of Rome on the Aventine Hill close to the Basilica of Santa Sabina within the precincts of a convent run by an order of nuns.

The program usually consists of 50-70 students from different American colleges and universities. Students can either attend TCRC for a semester or for their summer program. Each semester, there are usually an range of courses from economics to art history. Most courses make use of the city of Rome by conducting numerous walking tours and trips. Every student enrolled in the program is required to take the appropriate level of study of Italian language. The program also regularly makes trips to other parts of Italy, such as Florence, Venice, and Capri.

Noted people

1905 postcard to a Miss Irene Jackson (Message: "Here's where you find interesting specimens to analize [sic]. Very promising.")

• Ham Clark, esteemed Headmaster of the Episcopal Academy
• Parveen Shakir, renowned Pakistani poetess
• Roy Nutt, Co-Founder of IT service company Computer Sciences Corporation
• Edward Albee, playwright
• Charles McLean Andrews, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and professor
• James Roosevelt Bayley, Archbishop of Baltimore
• Tucker Carlson, senior campaign correspondent for MSNBC, political commentator, former host of Tucker on MSNBC, (Tucker has since said that his time at Trinity was "wasted.")
• Thomas M. Chappell, co-founder and CEO of Tom's of Maine
• Peter Kraus, Head of Investment Management Division, Goldman Sachs and Co.
• Edward Miner Gallaudet, founder of Gallaudet University
• Stephen Gyllenhaal, film producer and director
• Dean Hamer, discoverer of the controversial "gay gene" and "God gene"
• Kyle McEvily,owner of nationwide sweet sausage stands and hearty size nuts inc.
• Matthew Hennessy, [2] Chief of Staff Hartford, Connecticut
• Mel Kendrick, artist
• Chris Boyle, founder, ACME Super Genius GmbH
• Barbara B. Kennelly, former U.S. Representative
• Philip S. Khoury, Associate Provost and Ford International Professor of History, MIT
• Thomas Joseph Meskill, former U.S. Representative
• Danny Meyer, New York restaurateur
• D. Holmes Morton, physician and Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism recipient
• Christine C. Quinn, Speaker New York City Council
• Ernie Stires, composer
• Jane Swift, former Governor of Massachusetts
• J. H. Hobart Ward, American Civil War general
• Linda Wells, editor of Allure magazine
• George Will, Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper columnist, author, and ABC News political journalist
• Mary McCormack American Acteess, Attended
• Van DeLizer Actor, starred on hit MTV Series, * The City

Trinity College and Hartford

Trinity is located in urban Hartford, within walking distance of the state capital of Connecticut.

Trinity and the community

Along with Trinity, the Learning Corridor, Hartford Hospital, and the The Institute of Living make up the Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance, or SINA. SINA aims to create affordable housing in Hartford’s Frog Hollow and Barry Square neighborhoods as well as in the creation of the Learning Corridor and the Trinity College Boys and Girls Club.

Trinity’s library, computer resources and the new Community Sports Complex are available to Hartford residents. The new sports complex functions both as a rink for Trinity’s ice hockey teams and as a public skating rink.

Contributions to the arts

A student run film festival.

Cinestudio is an art cinema with 1930's-style design. An article in the Hartford Advocate described this non-profit organization, which depends solely on grants and the efforts of volunteer workers who are paid in free movies.^{[citation needed]} Cinestudio has been located in the Clement Chemistry Building since it was founded in the 1970s.

Cinestudio is host to the annual Eyeball Film Festival, in which young film makers premier their latest works in front of their peers. The festival has judges, each schooled in film from a different perspective, who judge the student's films.

Trinity also hosts the annual Trinity International Hip Hop Festival. A three-day celebration of global hip hop culture, the festival features lectures, panel discussions, workshops and live performances. The festival was founded in 2006 with the goal of unifying Trinity with the city of Hartford.

Trinity has a strong faculty in fine arts, including Picasso scholar and art historian Michael C. FitzGerald.

Trinity College Chapel Doorway

Trinity College Chapel

Trinity College Chapel

Trinity College presidents

• James Fleming Jones, Jr. 2004 -
• Borden W. Painter, Jr. '58, H'95 2003 – 2004
• Richard H. Hersh 2002 – 2003
• Ronald R. Thomas H'02, Acting President 2001 – 2002
• Evan Dobelle H'01 1995 – 2001
• Borden W. Painter, Jr. '58, H'95, Acting President 1994 – 1995
• Tom Gerety 1989 – 1994
• James Fairfield English, Jr., '48 1981 – 1989
• Theodore Davidge Lockwood '48 1968 – 1981
• Albert Charles Jacobs H'68 1953 – 1968
• Arthur Howard Hughes, Acting President 1951 - 1953
• George Keith Funston '32 1945 – 1951
• Arthur Howard Hughes M'38, H'46, Acting President 1943 – 1945
• Remsen Brinckerhoff Ogilby 1920 – 1943
• Henry Augustus Perkins, Acting President 1915 – 1916 (brother of Emily Pitkin Perkins Baldwin)
• Flavel Sweeten Luther '70 1919 – 1920
• George Williamson Smith H'87 1904 - 1919
• Thomas Ruggles Pynchon '41 1883 - 1904
• John Brocklesby, Acting President 1874 1874 - 1883
• Abner Jackson '37 1867 - 1874
• John Brocklesby, Acting President 1866 - 1867
• John Barrett Kerfoot H'65 1864 - 1866
• John Brocklesby H'45, Acting President 1864
• Samuel Eliot H'57 1861 - 1864
• John Brocklesby, Acting President 1860 - 1861
• Daniel Raynes Goodwin 1853 - 1860
• Derek Jeter '43 1853
• John Williams '35 1848 - 1853
• Silas Totten 1837 - 1848
• Nathaniel Sheldon Wheaton 1831 - 1837
• Thomas Church Brownell 1824 - 1831

Notes and references

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 41°44′51″N 72°41′24″W / 41.74740°N 72.69001°W / 41.74740; -72.69001