Over the course of the years that have ensued since Trinity's founding in 1823, a number of distinctive traditions have been introduced into the life of the College. Providing a sense of continuity with previous generations, traditions afford a glimpse into the past and illuminate the period in which they originated. Many of the College's traditions still flourish, and range from formal and ceremonial to curious and whimsical. Several of the traditions originated during the period prior to 1878 when Trinity was located in downtown Hartford at its first campus on the site of the State Capitol.
Matriculation
Matriculation is the oldest continuously observed tradition at Trinity. The Laws of Washington College, first printed in 1826, stipulated that all freshman were required to sign a declaration promising compliance with the College's laws and regulations governing personal conduct and the academic program.
In late medieval Europe the matricula referred to a list or register of persons who belonged to an order or society, and by extension, a university. Matriculation was the act of registering or enrolling, and constituted admission to a university. In the early 19th century, it marked an individual's formal membership in an educational body and a willingness to observe that institution's rules and regulations. Accordingly, from the earliest period, Trinity freshmen signed a declaration of compliance.
The earliest surviving record of the matriculation tradition at Trinity, a register for the period from 1853 to 1927, contains the signature of a Civil War hero, Griffin A. Stedman, Jr., of the Class of 1859. A Hartford native, Stedman served with the Fifth Connecticut Regiment and then with the Eleventh, which he commanded at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Stedman rose to the rank of Brigadier General, and was mortally wounded at the battle and siege of Confederate forces at Petersburg, Virginia in 1864. His statue at Barry Square in Hartford was dedicated in October 1900, and also commemorates the location of a military encampment where several Connecticut volunteer regiments assembled and trained before being sent to the battlefront.
Only minor alterations have been made over the years to Trinity's matriculation declaration, and its present text, appearing under Title VII in the 1990 edition of The Charter and Standing Rules, reads: "I promise to observe the Statutes of Trinity College; to obey all its Rules and Regulations; to discharge faithfully all scholastic duties imposed upon me; and to maintain and defend all the rights, privileges, and immunities of the College according to my station and degree in the same."
The ceremonial aspects of matriculation date from the early 20th century, and appear to have taken on much of their modern form under President Remsen B. Ogilby in the 1920s and 1930s. During the period before World War II, he arranged for a visiting speaker or member of the faculty to deliver an address, a practice that continued sporadically until the early 1960s. Matriculation continued to be observed during the War, and in postwar years the date on which the ceremony was held in the fall semester varied widely, early to mid-September becoming customary during the 1970s. Coincidentally, when Trinity became coeducational in 1969, the first freshman of the Class of 1973 to sign the matriculation register was a woman.