The above image represents William Burges’s original plan for the campus of Trinity College, walled off from it’s surroundings…metaphorical? Maybe…
Decades have passed since Trinity College’s “beautification” efforts in Frog Hollow. A badly veiled attempt at closing itself off from it’s gang plagued surroundings, the efforts included closing off Vernon Street at Broad Street and removing staircases which led from Zion Street up to Summit Street. Since that time Trinity’s initiatives to involve their students in the immediate community has been an example to similar academic institutions. Knowing this, IonHartford was surprised and upset to hear that last night, Trinity faculty voted down an effort to create a Hartford Engagement Requirement for its student by a vote of 80-77.
Trinity has touted it’s community initiatives since the time of Evan Dobelle. His first year at the school, Trinity opened up their field house to all for an evening reading by Maya Angelou. The next year they presented Tito Puentes on campus and the summer after that they collaborated with neighborhood organizations to bring El Gran Combo to the fields on campus for a monster salsa concert. In 2004, the US News and World Report’s annual “Best Colleges” issue ranked Trinity College amongst the top schools in community engagement. Specifically in the category of Service Learning which was defined as:
“In service-learning programs, volunteering in the community is an instructional strategy—a requirement of a student’s coursework. The service informs what happens in class, and vice versa.”
Currently, the many projects Trinity students are involved in are cataloged on their Urban Engagement site. They span from the exciting Hartford History Project with Susan Pennybacker and Luis Figueroa to the annual Do-It day where hundreds of students go out to the community as first year students and volunteer with local non-profits.
The Trinity Tripod has an extensive editorial of the requirements up for approval and was not entirely sold on the idea of the Hartford and Global Engagement Requirement. Their concerns mirror the concerns of an “anti-requirement” faculty member I spoke to who noted that the language of the proposal can use some work. I guess I can agree with that logic…if you’re a war torn developing country drafting a constitution…not for Trinity.
Former president Richard Hersch co-authored an article in Peer Review where he acknowledges an ivory towered seperation of campus and community. He concluded this Spring 2003 article with:
The imperative of civic engagement has become part of Trinity’s urban liberal arts mission. Because both the community and campus are constantly changing, this commitment continues to evolve.
It’s exactly because of the ever evolving levels of commitment that schools like Trinity would benefit from a community engagement requirement. We have seen what the school does when the going gets rough. A school requirement would force the institution to help shape the environment of the community, not just react to it.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Ken Krayeske // Apr 18, 2007 at 10:41 am
As someone who has worked extensively with Joe Barber, Trinity’s Community Outreach Coordinator, I understand the hard work Joe has put in at Trinity to bridge the gap between the students and the city.
This unfortunate vote undercuts the work Joe is doing. Beyond that, Trinity’s budget cuts are hurting this goal. For the past three years, Trinity contracted with me to organize and lead a bicycle tour of Hartford for incoming freshman.
It was a successful endeavor that happened for years before I was involved with it. Georgette Yaindl of the old Connecticut Bicycle Coalition led the ride for years. City Councilman Bob Painter had done the ride with us, and addressed the students.
Joe informed me a short while back that the ride would not be occurring in August 2007 because of budget cuts.
The bike ride was a small part of the community service orientation for incoming freshman, and that entire slate of programs, which included volunteering at Habitat for Humanity and other places, has been slashed.
So Trinity is really pulling back here, and it is unfortunate. Thanks for the reporting Luis. How can we convince a private entity that it needs to reach out further when it is as fiscally strained as it is? How do we reach the Trinity students more effectively?
Questions I wish I had answers to.
2 kerri // Apr 19, 2007 at 6:38 am
I have never understood the “campus” mentality– that of living on this island without any dealings with the outside world. Of course, when I was in college, I commuted, so I never had that option of cutting myself off.
It seems so irresponsible and anti-education. What better way to apply theory then to get some practical, hands-on experience in the community that one lives in?
Their ice rink is another example of this. It’s been promoted as something Trinity is offering to the community, by allowing a few hours of open skate. Yet when I went there about a month ago, the place was closed up with no hours posted. Nothing. I contacted someone by email later and he told me that the place would reopen in the Fall.
How convenient, to force the rest of the world to operate by whatever schedule system the college is on. So, for the next few months, what does that building contribute to Hartford?
3 falcon // May 6, 2007 at 12:29 pm
It should come as no surprise that Trinity’s been barring itself from the Community. they’re building bigger buildings every year in order to keep them out, no need for fences when the buildings are much bigger. I don’t blame them though becuase Hartford has not been a model for society. I remember the neighborhood that is now the Learning corridor. it wasn’t much, but it wasn’t the greatest neighborhood. after the Learning corridor, you have the hospitals so there are no locals living there.
The mere fact that the faculty doesn’t approve of this speaks volumes since they themselves don’t live in Hartford with the exception of one professor who lives right off of the campus.
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