Hartford is more than the city surrounding Trinity’s campus, it’s a place full of culture, history, and community waiting to be explored. As Community Engagement Fellows at CHER, our job is to make that exploration happen. Through events like parades, coffee shop visits, talks, and concerts, we bring students off campus and into the city, hoping they leave not only with a deeper appreciation for Hartford, but with new friendships and memories along the way.
During the Fall Semester of 2025, Sofia and Mafer Vacca ’27 kicked off the fellowship by bringing students to a series of events across Hartford. From the very beginning, the goal was not just to get students off campus, but to help them build a genuine relationship with the city, one event at a time.
On September 25th, in collaboration with P.R.I.D.E. (Promoting Respect for Inclusive Diversity in Education), La Voz Latina, and the Bantam Network, we brought around 21 students to the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade at Bushnell Park. All attendees received gift cards to cover food costs and were able to watch the parade, enjoy live performances, and experience Puerto Rican cuisine firsthand. The energy at Bushnell Park that day was very festive, and it was incredible to see so many students fully immersed in the celebration. This has been a recurring CHER event, and we hope to make it a tradition for years to come. On November 1st, in collaboration with La Voz Latina, we brought students to the Día de los Muertos Community Celebration at the Connecticut Cultural Museum. Students enjoyed traditional food, watched music and dance performances, made decorations, and learned about the history and significance of this tradition. For many students, it was their first time experiencing the holiday up close, and the warmth of the event made it a memorable night for everyone involved.
On November 22nd, around 20 students joined us for the opening of Taza Cafe on Pratt Street. The opening was very fun since they had a live DJ, vendors and community come out. After grabbing coffee, we explored other nearby shops before heading back to campus. This was one of our favorite events of the fall, students genuinely loved the space, and many have returned on their own since. That kind of lasting connection to the city, especially favorite shops or restaurants supporting businesses, is exactly what we’re hoping to create. When a student chooses to go back to a Hartford business on their own time, it means the city has started to feel like theirs, too. That’s the whole point. The fall semester showed us just how much students are willing to engage when given the right opportunity and a welcoming space to do so. Seeing familiar faces return to events, and hearing students talk about their experiences afterward, made every bit of planning worth it.
Coming into the spring, we wanted to be more intentional about how we were reaching students. We noticed that many students had limited awareness of CHER and wanted to increase engagement and interest in our “Out and About” events. Part of the challenge was simply visibility and outreach; students couldn’t show up to events they didn’t know existed. So we set out to build a stronger, more meaningful outreach strategy, one that would bring more students into the fold and help CHER gain recognition among the student body on campus.
Our first event of the spring reflected that. On February 12th, 2026, during Common Hour, we hosted a Peter B’s Open Tab. We chose Common Hour intentionally; it’s one of the few moments in the week when students are between classes and actually have time to stop and talk. We set up a table near the library, shared literature about Hartford, and encouraged students to follow CHER’s Instagram so they could stay informed about programs like the Liberal Arts Action Lab, HMTCA Tutoring, and the Engagement Fellows. It was a simple but effective event, and we were proud of how many students we connected with. Building that foundation of awareness felt like an important first step before diving into the rest of the semester’s programming.
On March 12th, we partnered with the Department of Environmental Science and the Office of Community Relations to attend the CT Forum. Before the discussion, we organized a community dinner at Banh Meee, a chance to share a meal and come together before an evening of learning. We want to connect wth students as much as possible because it’s not just about showing students Hartford; it’s about building a community of students who are curious, engaged, and invested in the world around them.
For our final event of the semester, we did something we’d never done before. In collaboration with P.R.I.D.E., we took students to Jazz Wednesdays at Black Eyed Sally’s Southern Kitchen on April 15th. Black Eyed Sally’s is a Hartford gem, a century-old building that has become a beloved home for live blues, jazz, rock, and soul. We wanted this last event to feel special, and it truly did. Kimberely coordinated with Professor Jennifer Allen from the Music Department to put together some background on the history of jazz, which sparked a really rich conversation at the table before the show began. Students came in knowing a little more about what they were about to hear, and that context made the experience all the more meaningful. Students indulged in southern cuisine and were completely captivated by the live performance. Such events like these foster unity within the Trinity community and Hartford by exploring diverse cuisines, music genres, and cultures. They encourage open-mindedness and allow students to appreciate the rich offerings of Hartford and become more immersed in the city.
Looking back on this year, we are grateful for every student who showed up, every business that welcomed us, and every moment that helped make Hartford feel a little more like home. This fellowship has taught us that community engagement is not just a program — it’s a practice. It takes consistency, creativity, and a genuine belief that the connections being built actually matter. We believe that wholeheartedly.
