Trinity Appoints Five New College Administrators Over Summer  

Jack P. Carroll ‘24 

Managing Editor 

Trinity College appointed five new administrators over the course of the past summer. These appointments were made as previous members of the administration retired or left to pursue other career opportunities.  

The recent round of appointments include Kristen Eshleman, Vice President for Library and Information Technology Services; the Rev. Marcus Halley, Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life; the Rev. Trevor Beauford, Assistant Dean of Community Life and Restorative Justice and Director of Greek Life; Terry Cowdrey, Interim Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid; and Sonia Cardenas, Dean of the Faculty, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer.  

Kristen Eshleman’s appointment was announced by the President of the College Joanne Berger-Sweeney on Wednesday, May 26. Eshleman, who started her new position on July 12, was previously the Director of Innovation Initiatives at Davidson College in North Carolina where she served in various roles for 20 years. At Davidson, Eshleman chaired the College’s Innovation Council; she also served as a member of various liberal arts committees, and was a member of a team that was awarded an $800,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to establish a curricular model for digital studies.  

The Rev. Marcus Halley joined the Trinity community after a contentious search for a new College Chaplain and Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life. Halley, who was selected from three finalist candidates, was the only Episcopalian candidate after the College conducted a one-month search in Mar. 2021. In interviews with the Tripod, alumni expressed concerns about the short timeframe of the search and the absence of any ordination requirement in the job description. A Tripod investigation found that documents from the College archives indicated that any candidate selected by the President of the College “had to be approved by the Episcopal Bishop of Connecticut.” 

Dean of Community Life and Standards Robert Lukaskiewicz announced via email that the Rev. Trevor Beauford accepted the position of Assistant Dean of Community Life, Restorative Justice  and Director of Greek Life. Beauford’s appointment received mixed reactions from the community. A member of the Stella Society shared complaints with the Tripod after students were excluded from the search process for this position. The student was previously informed by the College about plans for a search committee involving students; however, these plans never came to fruition. Beauford was appointed just months after his candidacy for Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life. The College made no announcements about the search for Beauford’s position nor were the details of the search shared with the Tripod after multiple requests.  

Sonia Cardenas was named Dean of the Faculty, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic officer earlier this month. Her appointment dates back to Mar. 2019 when she was named Interim Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs following Tim Creswell and Melanie Stein’s departure. In Nov. 2019, seven months after Cardenas’ interim appointment, Berger-Sweeney announced a search committee for the position. The search was later suspended in Apr. 2020 amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cardenas was subsequently named Acting Dean of the Faculty and was “fully empowered with the rights, responsibilities, and privileges of the DOF/VPAA.” 

Additionally, Terry Cowdrey was named Interim Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid after Adrienne Oddi left Trinity in July to serve as Vice President of Strategic Enrollment and Communications at Queen’s University of Charlotte in North Carolina.