Trinity College Commitment to Community Engagement Reinforced By Kellogg Foundation Grant

HARTFORD, CT, Sept 2, 2003. Trinity College has been awarded a $1.6 million bridge grant by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in support of the College’s urban engagement initiatives. The 18-month grant continues the foundation’s backing of Trinity’s special relationship with its neighboring community.

“Over the last several years Trinity has taken on the critical role of leadership in neighborhood renewal in Hartford,” notes Trinity College Interim President Borden Painter. “We’ve demonstrated the scope of possibilities offered by building strong academic and community partnerships—both for Trinity and the city. The Kellogg Foundation has demonstrated its confidence in our ability to take the program to the next level.”

Kellogg Foundation support has been instrumental in connecting the College to the surrounding neighborhood and to the city as a whole, helping Trinity create a nationally recognized neighborhood revitalization initiative. In addition to maintaining and expanding existing community programs, the award will be used to increase the level of community-based learning and involvement at the College and evaluate the school’s urban initiatives to-date.

The work will take place under the leadership of the recently appointed Director of Urban Initiatives, James Trostle, who notes that evaluation of the College’s community efforts and dissemination of the findings is a key component of the bridge grant. “The Kellogg Foundation wants to help us evaluate our efforts, and to tell our story to other colleges and universities, “ he explains. “We will be working hard to sustain the programs and expectations that have been built up over the past five years." 

Among key programs, The Cities Data Center (CDC) will continue to collaborate with local community groups to create and analyze data on topics such as housing, crime, and education. The CDC offers assistance to faculty interested in urban scholarship or in using urban data to teach and provides data and technical assistance to city officials, local organizations, and residents. Technology education efforts will continue at Trinfo Café, a community technology center housed at the edge of the Learning Corridor. Trinity Center for Neighborhoods (TCN), which does applied community-based research and advocacy on urban issues, will increase the flow of students and ideas from campus into Hartford and back. 

Efforts to keep the city as a center of the curriculum will also grow during the grant period by refining Trinity’s Community Learning Initiative (CLI). A faculty-led movement that has created over 100 courses since its founding in 1994, the CLI will continue to create connections between campus and community and increase the number of courses, faculty, and students involved.