Liberal Arts at Trinity: A Promise Kept

Each fall, we welcome a new cohort of energetic and excited students who come from around the world and bring fresh perspectives to our campus. This year, I had the distinct honor of welcoming the first class of Trinity College’s third century. Their arrival fills me with a heightened sense of anticipation, of possibility, of confidence, and—yes—of hope. I know that the Trinity education they are about to receive will change the way they engage with the world, just as it has for previous students for 200 years. Their four years here will prepare them to embrace the world with curiosity, with a broadened base of knowledge and perspective, with the skills to think critically, with a deeper understanding of the world and its complexities, and with a sense of commitment beyond themselves. Their Trinity education will prepare them to engage fully with the future.

But as for the College itself, what awaits Trinity in the next century? As we embark on the Bicentennial year, I and others will write essays about lessons learned and aspirations for Trinity’s third century.

Enduring yet Evolving

Learning how to think, not what to think, is an essential and enduring practice at Trinity, especially when we live in a world of expanding perspectives. A liberal arts education has stood the test of time, still as relevant today—I would argue even more relevant and needed—as it was decades ago. Its distinguishing characteristics include providing students with a breadth and depth of disciplines, offering a wide intellectual foundation, and instilling a sense of responsibility to give back to others—in other words, a sense of the public good beyond the personal gain.

Traditionally, the liberal arts curriculum focused on the study of science and mathematics, the humanities, and the social sciences, and these elements certainly have endured. But just as the numbers and kinds of students pursuing a college education has expanded, so has the curriculum encapsulated in a liberal arts education, sustaining its relevance to the world. As one example, at Trinity, STEM (study focused on science, technology, engineering, and math) is today very much at the core of the liberal arts education we offer.

However, a liberal arts education is defined not just by specific areas of study but also by the ways of thinking, creative problem-solving, the ability to find solutions where solutions are not obvious, and the civic responsibility that it teaches. Trinity’s faculty last year published learning goals that articulated for every Trinity student the “how” of the education: acquiring knowledge and perspectives through the cultivation of curiosity; becoming attuned to both local and global contexts as ethical citizens; gaining experiences that connect knowledge with practice; and obtaining the tools to contribute positively to a heterogeneous, diverse community. Our faculty’s deep dedication and attention to teaching the “how” fills the distinction of a Trinity education.

Over Trinity’s 200 years, a liberal arts education has evolved in parallel with a changing world. When Trinity was founded in 1823, colleges across the United States were attended by the fortunate few. In the 20th century, the ranks of college students began to expand, bolstered by the 1944 passage of the G.I. Bill, enabling millions of World War II veterans—largely male and largely white—to attend college. Today, our aim is to educate the best and the brightest from across the spectrum of socioeconomics, political beliefs, races and ethnicities, and geographies, all while remaining committed to our Hartford home. Just as our country’s strength has always been in its broad diversity, so too is Trinity’s strength as an institution of higher learning.

Trinity’s education has evolved in other ways as well. Today’s students learn in course offerings vastly expanded from those of our earliest students. Interdisciplinary approaches and majors; global study that fosters a perspective beyond one’s own background and culture; examination of modern challenges such as sustainability, livable cities, and global migration; the roles of business, financial markets, and entrepreneurial endeavors in solving a range of problems—these and other varied approaches to learning bring a different lens to the understanding and the flexibility to study complex problems, some that are yet unknown. Trinity’s education is both grounded in history and never more relevant for our fast-paced, rapidly changing world.

Liberal Arts at Trinity: An Education of Value

Trinity’s unique brand of liberal arts requires that students actively participate in their own education and sometimes boldly break the mold of the traditional liberal arts. Students engage energetically with faculty in connecting classroom learning to the laboratory, to our vibrant capital city, to the world, and to wherever one finds the nexus between thought and action. Opportunities to practice learning are abundant at Trinity; the sense of community is strong. Some examples: First-year students in the innovative Interdisciplinary Science Program are exposed to scientific research right from the start of their college career, in the process learning how to connect science and society. Trinity’s Center for Urban and Global Studies supports global research and engagement for students through grants, study-away programs, and collaborative faculty research and publications. In Trinity’s ABET-accredited engineering program, students work closely with faculty to design and create significant research and frequently intern at major Connecticut technological and biomedical facilities at companies such as Pratt & Whitney (RTX), Pfizer, and Hartford HealthCare. The College’s new Center for Entrepreneurship provides any liberal arts major, not just those interested in business or start-ups, with the knowledge and confidence to turn ideas into action, often linking them with alumni in their chosen area of interest. This center also aligns with our forward-looking Trinity Plus curriculum, which combines the liberal arts with co-curricular experiences, hands-on learning to prepare students for their lives after college. In all of these examples, students learn entrepreneurial attributes that fully align with the attributes of liberal arts learning: curiosity, flexibility, and resourcefulness, blending critical thinking with creative problem-solving.

We recognize that a broad and deep liberal arts education, steeped in a practice of applying know-how with knowledge, is valuable training for the mind. But a Trinity education is more than worth the price of tuition because it is backed by a powerfully connected alumni network, exceptionally high student retention and graduation rates, and outstanding first-destination outcomes. In fact, well over 90 percent of our graduating students have jobs or are in graduate schools or fellowships within six months of graduation. The high value of a Trinity liberal arts education is clear. This is a commitment the College has kept for 200 years.

Not Only Engagement but Also Accountability

An important thread runs through every student’s experience at Trinity: an emphasis on responsibility, accountability, and commitment beyond oneself. Every group project, every joint faculty undertaking, every community endeavor—every one requires responsibility for ethical behavior, dedicated effort, respectful communication, and open-minded collaboration. This concept, too, is part of a Trinity education.

In recent months, I’ve thought a great deal about the concept of civility. It is a critical aspect of human interaction and a central component of the kind of education we provide students at Trinity. A mind open to new ideas and to learning from others is central to the liberal arts approach. Listening respectfully to another’s views, regardless of whether we share them, is a form of civility. Engaging in conversations or debates with a willingness to consider varying perspectives is a form of civility. Being accountable for meeting our commitments is a form of civility. A Trinity liberal arts education at its best is transformative, molding an individual’s character and enhancing our motivation to contribute to the public good.

Through commitment to these characteristics, a Trinity education instills in us hope, not only by teaching students how to understand complex problems and frame their solutions and not only by encouraging lifelong curiosity and engagement with the world but also by yielding a dedication on the part of our students to contribute to the common good.

Trustworthy for 200 Years

Throughout our history, Trinity has been committed to living up to its highest ideals of providing students with an education of value, both relevant and rigorous, to lead lives of purpose. That commitment, I believe, has engendered the trust that students, parents, alumni, and others have placed in the College throughout its history. The trust Trinity has earned is made possible by a commitment to our unique form of liberal arts education, to our small classes and intimate campus community, to our location in a city, to our eager and engaged student body, and to our faculty and staff who take seriously their responsibility to their students. Evidence of Trinity’s enduring trustworthiness is made clear in our alumni and the lives of consequence they lead.

Trinity College has been committed to our students, our alumni, our city, and our world for 200 years. This is a promise kept.

And what are our commitments for the future? To remain dynamic and relevant in preparing students for an undetermined future, which they will help to determine, and to engage with community in supporting the greater good. This a promise that endures.