“Alumni For A Better Trinity” Launches Bicentennial Yearbook Project

Olivia Silvey ’25

News Editor

Moderators of the Facebook group “Alumni for a Better Trinity College” announced in a January blog post the production of a bicentennial edition of Trinity’s annual yearbook The Ivy. The project aims to show the small, personal moments of students’ time at Trinity by allowing photo submissions from alumni or even current students, just in time for the College to celebrate its Bicentennial next year.  

The Bicentennial edition of The Ivy will come in both a print and digital format, and alumni can submit photos both ways as well. The project’s publication is currently planned for spring 2023 in time for Trinity’s charter day in May. The project is entirely independent from the College’s preparations for its bicentennial.  

Brendan Clark ‘21, one of the alumni leading the project, told the Tripod the idea was originally presented to Trinity’s Alumni Association in 2021 but was not ultimately approved due to the size of the project. Nonetheless, a group of alumni including Clark decided to carry it out on their own.  

“Even though it might not have the endorsement of the Committee, our hope with the project is that all members of the alumni community will participate,” said Clark. “I hope that the members of the Committee will share photographs and send them in, because this is a project that’s by alums, for alums, and it shouldn’t be viewed as some sort of separate project only by a few people.”  

The goal of the book is to give an inside look to life at Trinity, and Clark encourages alumni, faculty, and even current students to submit photos. He noted that, as far as the leaders of the project are aware, Trinity is the only institution within its peer group to undertake a project of this scale and type. The possibility of the project being a video was discussed but cast aside. The group wanted to go bigger, with a more tangible product.  

“We believe the bicentennial is an opportunity to do something unique that will make us stand out from the peer group in a favorable way,” said Douglas Kim ’87, another one of the Facebook group admins, in an email to the Tripod. “We tend to be seen as others choose to see us. It can be almost oppressive. College rankings are a good example of this. In the advertising industry though, we are trained to show people how we want to be seen. It’s not a passive exercise.” 

The logistics of production and publishing have not been fully developed. Clark said that he sees this process being completed through the collective help of alums and their resources for a cause. This project is not-for-profit, and a payment method has not yet been outlined. Clark predicts a “pay as you go” type structure for the print version of the book. 

“The objective is to be inclusive,” said Clark. “The objective is for everyone, of any alumni stature, to show their experience through images, so we can look at this and say ‘wow, what a great time we had at the institution, and what a unique place it was for us to spend four formative years.’” 

The group aims to close photo submissions by Nov. 2022 and asks that when submitting photos, please include the names of the people in the image and the approximate time the photo was taken.  

Joining Clark and Kim on the project are Robert Bibow ’89, Supriyo M. Chatterjee M’92, and Kevin Derby ’96.