“… the gesture has impressed faculty at Trinity College: James Jones Jr., their new president, promised and actually is visiting each professor in her or his office. His lunching with the students at the Hartford, Conn. liberal arts college hasn't gone unnoticed. One staffer noted that the former head of Kalamazoo College had parents "eating out of the palm of his hand" at a Trinity family weekend this fall … Not yet six months into his new job there, Jimmy Jones will face hard decisions -- key administrative appointments that could determine how this new leadership will govern Trinity -- and the budget as well … ‘We're in the planning stage for everything we're going to do for a comprehensive campaign. It would be very, very bad to walk in the door and just launch a campaign,’ Jones said … ‘The only way one can get a handle on what the faculty is thinking is to go see them on their turf,’ he said. And listening to his ‘rabbis.’ ‘That's what I call the learned counselors. At Kalamazoo they were members of the presidential advisory committee ... They are the wise folk you need to listen to,’ Jones said.

“Jones faces tough decisions in new college post”
Kalamazoo Gazette, December 19, 2004

“It will be a few years before we can walk around and inside the Connecticut Center for Science and Exploration in downtown Hartford now being designed by Cesar Pelli & Associates. The drawings and models only hint at the exciting spaces and forms that this project promises. But there are some Cesar Pelli buildings nearby that might give us a preview of what the science center will one day be … Not far from the science center site at Adriaen’s Landing, on the campus of Trinity College, is a Pelli building that was constructed in 1991 … The building stretches along the end of a quadrangle, helping to define and contain it. Pelli’s building is a responsive urban building in the way that its size and scale makes the quadrangle complete. Its design is in the same spirit as Trinity’s landmark Long Walk building, constructed in the late 1800s, which gives the campus a strong identity. Like Long Walk, Pelli’s building creates a wall for a large outdoor room, anchored at the corners by substantial brick towers. The Trinity building reveals Pelli’s approach to design as part of a larger whole, and the important urban role his architecture plays.”

Commentary
Hartford Courant, December 26, 2004

“The to-do list. People tuck one in a shirt pocket or purse. Others keep one on a personal digital assistant, or the home computer. Paper or digital, a to-do list, or task list as some call them, is of course a list of things that need to be done. Today. This week. This month. Maybe this year. Maybe it is a list of personal things. Maybe it is a list of things to do at work. Often it is both. … Some people keep them faithfully and swear by them. Many others keep their list upstairs, in the noggin - or try to. … ‘In modern society where we all are doing a lot more multi-tasking than we used to, it becomes a lot more necessary,’ said Randolph M. Lee, director of the counseling center at Trinity College in Hartford and associate professor of psychology at the school. ‘It organizes our lives, and we can all use that.’ America seems to be list crazy - college basketball Top 25, Letterman's nightly list, Top 40 tunes, 10-most-eligible somethings - so why not your own list? But first, does keeping a list say something about a personality, does it perhaps mean one is a little obsessive-compulsive? ‘An obsessive-compulsive disorder can manifest itself in making lists,’ Lee said. ‘But for most people, keeping a to-do list indicates nothing more than this: You are organized.’”

“Making a to-do list helps get things done”
Houston Chronicle, January 4, 2005

“When Trinity College students return to their snow-bitten campus next week, for the first time they will discover a Muslim chaplain working there. Sohaib Nazeer Sultan is one of only a handful of Muslim chaplains at colleges and universities across the country. But as the number of Muslim college students continues to grow - along with the desire to understand religious and cultural complexities at play in a post-9/11 world - more schools are hiring Muslim chaplains … In many ways, he seems older and wiser than his 24 years. He has already written a book - "The Koran for Dummies" - published last year. He speaks of the need to create a culture not just of tolerance, but of acceptance. He sees his job as a Muslim chaplain as a divine calling. Yet he's also down-to-earth, self-deprecating, and compassionate when he discusses the many obstacles - both spiritual and secular - that young Muslims on their own for the first time are likely to encounter … Hartford isn't known for its Muslim presence in the way that Chicago and some other urban centers are. There are three mosques in the city. And of 2,000 students, Trinity has identified about 20 who are Muslim. Sultan imagines there are more, and he sees himself as a counselor, teacher, and advocate for these students. But equally important, he says that he hopes to be a resource on Islam for the entire community - both Muslims and non-Muslims. He is plunging right in, planning with the start of the semester to begin a weekly lesson on the Koran - open to all who are interested.”

“The new role of Muslim chaplains”
The Christian Science Monitor, January 18, 2005

back to top