Residential Life

With more than 90 percent of Trinity students living on campus, residential life is not merely incidental. Rather, living in residence halls plays a huge role in how students experience academics, form friendships, develop personal qualities, and become leaders.

"I think that living on campus‹living in a dorm‹has been one of the best experiences I've ever had in terms of finding my own space and learning to live on my own," says senior Lauren Rosenberg.

Launching students into positive residential life expereinces is Trinity's First-Year Program. As part of this program, new students enroll in a First-Year Seminar and live in dormitories grouped by seminar and by theme, giving them a context for intellectual dialogues outside of the classroom. Biweekly dorm workshops help them make the transition to college life.

In addition to Resident Assistants, who live in all dormitories, dorms for first-year students are home to Academic Mentors. These upper-class students are affiliated with the seminars and introduce first-year students to academic resources on campus, such as the library and writing center; and, they sponsor formal and informal activities, assist with study skills, and act as both resource and role models. The First-Year Program helps new students become acclimated not only to Trinity's high academic expectations but also to other aspects of the daily life of an undergraduate.

Mentor Jim Washburn was excited by the chance to teach others about the tools necessary for academic success. "I love all my classes at Trinity," he says, "and I wanted everybody to have that opportunity from their first year." Like RAs, Mentors have extensive training. They are also among the highest academic achievers on campus.

After the first year, Trinity students have a variety of housing options ranging from the newer Vernon Street and Summit Street residence halls to Victorian brownstones on the Quad. And, there are theme-oriented housing units devoted to community service, wellness, art, music, the sciences and other special interests that vary from year to year.

Accommodations include everything from single rooms to suites where students have from one to several roommates. Many housing units have furnished lounge and study areas, storage and laundry facilities. Some have full kitchens where students prepare their own meals. After the first year students select the living arrangement they prefer through a priority lottery system. All residences are coed and prmote opportunities for self-governance.

 

Students have opportunities to participate in decisions on dorm policies and dorm-sponsored social and academic activities, and to become leaders in the dorms as they move from the more structured and supportive first-year residence halls to the freedoms and responsibilities of upper-class dorms.

While many residence halls sponsor intramural teams and host social events, the main goal of Trinity's residential life program is to provide an environment where students come to balance and integrate academic learning with personal and social development. Lauren Rosenberg has experienced this kind of integration of important elements of life at Trinity. "I've always found that the intellectual life and social life overlap extensively because we're constantly in an academic environment and we often meet and become friends with people through our academic work," she says.

Courtney Fulks, a first-year student who was one of Lauren's advisees, says her Mentor's "open-door policy" meant that at virtually all hours of the night Courtney could seek Lauren's guidance on, say, accessing a resource in the City of Hartford or working with Trinity's campus computer network. But, Lauren's guidance went beyond the strictly academic. "She's probably the person I felt most comfortable talking to," says Courtney. "It definitely crossed the boundaries between academics and personal friendship, and I really liked that."