Letter From the Editor: Who Do We Want To Be?

Savannah Brooks ’26

Editor-in-Chief

Tripod Readers, thank you for turning the page (or clicking on our website). As I have been acclimatizing to the role of Editor-in-Chief over the summer, I have been thinking about the Tripod’s role on campus. Our community is changing in so many ways. We have the standard turnover happenings: a brand new first-year class (welcome, Class of 2029!), new faculty and staff and, of course, those who have left the elms, whether due to graduation, transferring, retirement or new horizons. But, we also have many monumental changes; our first new president in 11 years, a new shiny building on campus, and a new political environment that can seem impossible to navigate. 

As these changes have occurred for the past 120 years, the Tripod has moved with them while simultaneously archiving them. But, since my time on the paper began in 2022, I have felt the crushing pressure of what I have started to call “survival mode.” I am sure many student organizations across the country have felt similarly — with the natural turnover of graduating leadership, it is already hard enough to build and cultivate a knowledge base which can serve as the foundation of the paper, but when Covid forced it to a grinding halt, much of that knowledge slipped through the cracks. Some members of my staff and I have been fond of referring to the last few years as “kick the can down the road years.” Small cracks would form, and wouldn’t get patched, and they would wait, hoping that the next editor up would take the time to go out, buy some spackle and paint and pull their sleeves up.

Some of these cracks have lasted so long that they have burst, requiring the staff at the time to deal with them immediately, or risk drowning from the leak (our website being down for weeks last year, anyone?); others are still there, just waiting to be fixed. These cracks are both literal and metaphorical (shoutout to the very wonderful Cynthia Brown, Director of Facilities, who, upon seeing the Tripod’s office last week, remarked that it is “the land that time forgot”). My goal this year, as Editor-in-Chief, is to buy all the real and metaphorical paint and spackle that the Tripod needs, patch up all the cracks and teach the next editors up how to keep the walls from cracking at all (and how to fix them if they inevitably do). In order to regroup, though, and be able to throw away that rusty old can once and for all (am I mixing my metaphors too much?), the Tripod needs to, once again, find its purpose and identity. Of course, we do have our very straightforward and literal mission statement, but I think I am looking for something deeper. 

When, at our first meeting of the semester, I asked our staff, “What do you want the Tripod to be?” I was incredibly touched by the answers. “A respected paper on campus.” “A place of knowledge and challenged thinking.” “A trusted source of information pertaining to Trinity.” “A historical record of the College.” In this issue, you will see a news piece on how Trinity is affected by current federal policies, an opinion piece about the hiring of an alt-right professor and a features piece giving first-years and anyone else looking for community a guide to clubs on campus. These articles are key examples of how we are striving to be the paper we want to be. As I settle into my new position, I am hoping to pause with all of you, take in the moment, and understand what we, as a community, need. So, I ask you, readers—students, faculty, staff, alumni. What do you want the Tripod to be? Please, if you can, submit a short response by Friday (250-500 words is ideal) to be included on Page Two next week. Email your response to tripod@trincoll.edu with your name and how you relate to Trinity. To keep the Tripod on track, our mission needs to be clear and present, and we cannot fully understand ourselves until we understand our audience.

– SNB