GREETINGS FROM THE STAFF
Robin S. Kelly,
Improved Personnel Advisory Committee at Trinity, Chair

Good morning.  My name is Robin Kelly and I have been the athletic department secretary here at Trinity College for the past 15 years.  On behalf of all 390 members of the administrative staff at Trinity College, I feel privileged and honored to officially welcome President Jones to our campus.

I am speaking on behalf of department managers, project supervisors, administrative assistants, secretaries, clerical workers, support and technical staff of all kinds - and the list goes on.  While we are a very diverse group of people whose skills and functions vary widely from one another – we all have one thing in common – our devotion to the Trinity community and its students.

Trinity is not a 9 to 5 environment for those who serve within its gates.  In so many ways, we are a family.   Our dedication goes beyond that of simply doing a job.  We support each other, not only with our professional abilities, but also with comradery and friendship.    

Many of us have been here long enough to see presidents come and go, and we have complete confidence in the knowledge that we have found a special person who will embrace our family and lead us with wisdom, kindness, respect and sincerity.   In an incident this past spring, a Trinity freshman randomly emailed a student at Kalamazoo College.  He wrote that Trinity had just hired their soon-to-be former president, and wondered what we should expect?  The Kalamazoo student replied that their sad loss was going to be our gain, and he spoke in glowing terms.  College students are seldom so complimentary, and it was a delight to hear such praise – without one word of criticism.  During commencement at Kalamazoo, as the members of the graduating class came forward to accept their degrees, each one threw a pebble into a container.  The senior speaker said it symbolized the ripple affect that a pebble makes when dropped in a pond – the same spreading ripple effect that President Jones would continue to make on their lives.

We at Trinity have witnessed firsthand what good leadership can mean to a community like ours.  In the short time President Jones has been on campus, he has already begun working with several members of the staff, and has shown himself to be receptive to ideas, caring, and with a disarming sense of humor that makes everything so much easier.   We are truly excited to have him as our new leader.  President Jones, we look forward to many years of working by your side, and we welcome you and your family to Trinity College.