Trinity College

In the news

“[Sohaib] Sultan is Trinity’s first Islamic chaplain, the go-to person for the 20 or so Muslim students at the state’s second-oldest college … He advocates on behalf of Muslim students by working with the college administration to be sure their religious needs are met … He also works with other campus ministries to exchange ideas and encourage communications across the religious communities. ‘I feel this is really an essential thing,’ he said. ‘We need to work with one another and respect one another. We all have our own journeys, paths and experiences, and we shouldn’t be in a hurry to fulfill someone else’s dreams. It’s important to fulfill our own dreams, not our parents’ dreams.’ The Rev. Daniel R. Heischman, Trinity’s chaplain, said he and others decided to look for an Islamic chaplain because they realized that Muslim students’ presence on campus was not well acknowledged. ‘The Muslim chaplain plays a role, not only for Muslim students but for the greater community,’ he said. ‘We made the decision at the right time because Sohaib was available. He carries an air of authority, but also is very approachable. He’s at home with all the religious diversity on campus and he loves that. He’s concerned about the students, whether they have a religious identity or not. He’s interested in the general understanding of Islam on campus, but his perspective goes beyond working with Muslim students. That has been crucial. His style is disarming and inspiring.’”

“Neighbors - Trinity’s Islamic chaplain is a counselor and advocate”
February 2006, Connecticut Life

“For energetic and adventurous college students on a budget, Hartford offers inexpensive meals with unique ethnic flair, specialty shops tucked away in undiscovered parts of the city and on-the-street learning experiences from people of various cultures. Socially, young adults are discovering new places to go. Academically, Hartford colleges and universities are introducing students to the city through classes designed to improve neighborhoods and people’s lives. And many students’ opinions of the city might be surprising: Hartford is really cool … Trinity College’s Community Learning Initiative forms a partnership among community organizations and faculty and students for specific classes. Real world application of classroom material enhances the 40 courses that are offered this semester. One course titled ‘Invisible Cities’ explores the history and hidden stories about Hartford through map-making and interpreting data used by social scientists. A popular course during the fall semester introduced students to the rich Hispanic culture of Park Street. ‘It’s been a grassroots movement with faculty doing projects and talking to other faculty interested in exploring projects,’ said Elly Jacobson, the director of the 10-year old program. ‘It’s grown enormously. I think it’s very energizing to everyone.’”

“Discovering a college town within Hartford - Out-of-class education
presents a different city to area college students”
February 2006, Connecticut Life

“The private college is facing a multimillion-dollar project to replace the slate roofs and make other improvements to Jarvis Hall, a freshman dormitory, and Seabury Hall, an office and classroom building. The two stately Gothic buildings are part of the historic Long Walk on the tree-lined campus in Hartford. ‘The whole project will take the better part of two years,’ Trinity President James F. ‘Jimmy’ Jones Jr. said Friday. The closing of Jarvis will require the relocation of more than 160 first-year students. Officials are looking at some college-owned buildings as possible temporary housing, but, Jones said, ‘I don't think we can house that many [students] on campus.’ … Jones described the two buildings as ‘some of the most exquisite examples of Gothic academic architecture in the United States.’ The college might ‘do significant renovation in both buildings,’ he added. ‘It's way too early to say.’ He said the closing of the buildings would not require any reduction in the size of the freshman class in 2007, predicting it would stay about the same size as it is this year, when the school squeezed in about 575 first-year students, an unusually large group. ‘There is no room at the Trinity inn,’ Jones said. ‘We're flooded with kids.’"

“Trinity Likely To Move Freshmen Off Campus”
February 11, 2006, Hartford Courant

“Feminists of the world, calm down. The way has not been lost. It has simply been redirected, and we are in capable hands. During their sophomore year, Meghan Boone and Anne-Louise Marquis, now Trinity College seniors, helped start Zeta Omega Eta, one of the nation's few avowedly feminist sororities. The women wanted a place to belong, and a sisterhood, without the attendant exclusivity they saw in traditional Greek organizations. … Today, Zeta has 54 members (including men who, like the women, are called "sisters"), who have thrown themselves into social-justice issues as well as community service - another Trinity hallmark. And for this, we are grateful that the world is not peopled entirely by the Not-a-Feminist-Buts. Those are people who say plaintively, I'm not a feminist, but I want equal pay for equal work. I'm not a feminist, but I want my contributions to be valued. I'm not a feminist, but I hold as truth the feminist ideal. Darling, you're a feminist. Deal. Slowly, the world has taken notice of Trinity's group. The website Salon.com published a story about them, as did the magazine Bitch. A feature in Bust magazine is coming up, said Boone. ‘My grandparents are very proud,’ Boone said, laughing. ‘They don't know what's going on - it's hard to tell them that you're featured in Bitch - but they're very proud.’ … This semester, Boone's last, she's teaching a seminar on third-wave feminism, a kind of catchall phrase for the latest evolution of the movement, where adherents concentrate less on the political realm, and more on the broader, cultural one.”

“Seeking Feminism's Future, Trinity Senior May Be Pointing Way”
January 25 2006, Hartford Courant

“… endowments with more than $1 billion returned an average of 13.8%. In the 10 years ended June 30, the supersize endowments returned an average annual 12%, beating the S&P 500 by a full two percentage points. The reason was clear: The big funds had more than a third of their savings in lightly regulated hedge funds, venture-capital, private-equity and other alternative investments. Smaller funds tended to have only a smattering of these more unusual investments. John S. Griswold, executive director of the Commonfund Institute, which provides investment management for colleges and other nonprofits, says he doesn't recall another year with such great disparities between the returns of less-affluent schools and elite universities. The reason: Schools with smaller endowments just don't have the money and clout to get into many of the first-tier funds, which often have investment minimums in the tens of millions of dollars. Early Reese, vice president of finance and treasurer at Trinity College in Connecticut, says his school, with its $379 million endowment, can't afford the risk of putting $100 million or so in a top-flight venture fund. For its 2005 fiscal year, Trinity achieved an 8.8% return with a portfolio 70% invested in traditional stocks and bonds. Mr. Reese says the school hopes to move its endowment into the billion-dollar range through fund raising, in part so it can increase its level of alternative investments. ‘Would we ever catch up?’ he says. ‘I don't think so.’"

“Venture-Capital Bets Swell Stanford's Endowment - Alternative Investments
Give Wealthy Schools an Edge; Trinity Can't Afford the Risk”
The Wall Street Journal, January 23, 2006

“Americans are deeply divided over physician-assisted suicide. The most convincing polls show that about 45 percent are in favor and 45 percent are opposed. The rest are undecided. Obviously, religious beliefs strongly shape this debate. But here’s something that might not be so obvious: There are strong regional differences in the way Americans view religion. And those differences show up in the way people in different parts of the country view physician-assisted suicide. In Texas, it’s hard to imagine a place where the people who describe themselves as humanists outnumber those who describe themselves as Baptists five to one. But that’s a pretty accurate picture of Oregon, the state with the controversial law that permits physicians to help terminally ill patients end their own lives. The Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., has published some wonderful research about the geographic diversity of America’s religious beliefs. Given that kind of difference in core beliefs, the federal government would be wise to leave these kinds of decisions to individual citizens and their physicians. And if the federal government can’t do that, it should at least leave those decisions up to the states.”

“A decision best left to the states”
The [Galveston County] Daily News, January 20, 2006

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