Berger-Sweeney Updates the Trinity Community on Developments Taking Place on Campus

Lucy Sheldon ’27

News Editor

On Feb. 18, President Joanne Berger-Sweeney sent her last personal update following a winter Board of Trustees meeting. She entitled this update “This Summit is in Sight” to acknowledge “how much we have accomplished together” and recognize that there will continue to be “higher summits” in Trinity’s future. To highlight the strides Trinity has taken in academics and prominence, Berger-Sweeney focused her letter on Trinity’s surge in applicants for the class of 2029, recent acceptance of the Higher Learning Grant from the Mellon Foundation, and the first run of the Tuck-bridge program, among other impressive developments. 

One of the accolades Trinity College recently earned was a Higher Learning grant of $500,000 from the Mellon Foundation. The three-year grant aims to fund a humanities-centered project rooted in community engagement, curricular development and student and faculty research. Since Berger-Sweeney joined Trinity College, she has made it a priority for the institute to build connections with the Greater Hartford area. This grant, coupled with the distinguished Trinity faculty tasked to work on this project, has the potential to expand Trinity’s presence and engagement with downtown Hartford. The team of faculty leading this project includes Garth A. Myers, a distinguished professor of urban international studies, Abigail Fisher Williamson, associate professor of political science and public policy and law, and Amanda J. Guzmán assistant professor of anthropology. 

Another feather in Trinity’s cap was the successful first run of the Tuck Bridge Program. Over this past J-Term, 37 students across various majors enrolled and successfully completed this intensive course in business communications, managerial economics, marketing, spreadsheet modeling, corporate finance and financial accounting. The three-week program culminated in a capstone team project. Using the knowledge and tools they gained throughout the program, students collaboratively derived the intrinsic value of a publicly traded company of their choosing, creating a PowerPoint to display their findings. Students delivered these 20-minute presentations to a room full of their peers, family, Tuck alumni and Tuck Bridge professors. 

Berger-Sweeney also noted in her letter the approaching completion of the Wellness and Recreation expansion to Ferris. First announced in October 2023, construction has been taking place for well over a year to expand the George M. Ferris Athletic Center. As forecasted, this $30+ million project was predicted to be completed by June 2025. New squash courts to celebrate Trinity’s distinguished Division I Squash men’s and women’s teams are a focal point of this industrial expansion. 

However, most notable was Berger-Sweeney’s announcement that Trinity will be listed in the Carnegie Foundation and American Council of Education’s “Research Colleges and Universities” category in April. This distinction is only awarded to 218 institutions of higher learning. It recognizes Trinity for its volume of research activities. By contrast, in 2021, Carnegie classified Trinity College as a Baccalaureate College with an arts & science focus and some graduate coexistence. 

Towards the end of Berger-Sweeney’s letter, she reviewed an inventory of “additional campus updates.” Trinity welcomed Maria del Carmen Flores as the new associate vice president for student life, Ella Ofek-Geva as assistant director for Hillel and Caitlin Hurley as director of the Rome campus. In addition, Trinity raised $414.6 million as a part of the All In comprehensive campaign at the direction of Interim Vice President for Advancement Carrie Pelzel ’74. While Berger-Sweeney proclaimed Trinity continues to maintain a strong balance sheet, the Finance Committee expressed concern about Trinity’s long-term revenue growth and operating budgets. 

With regard to Trinity admissions, the Enrollment Committee informed the Board that more than 700 students applied for Early Decision 1 and 2. Of the 700 students who applied for Early Decision, 190 of them were admitted as a part of Trinity’s 2029 class. There was a brief mention of updates being made by the Student Life Committee to policies regarding time, place and manner of protests. However, there was no further elaboration on what these revisions to policies might entail. There was also a cursory mention of Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer Dan Hitchell and Assistant Vice President of Finance Guy Drapeau stepping down from their positions to assume roles at Clark University and University of Hartford. When asked by the Tripod for a comment on their recent departures from Trinity, Hitchell and Drapeau both abstained from responding.