Welcome (back), Bants!
We are so excited to begin the Tripod’s one hundred and twenty second year of publication together. If you missed us at the club fair, never fear. It is never too late to express interest — we take on new writers all year long.
Our meetings take place on Monday evenings at 6 p.m. in the Jackson basement — it’s the side door with the Tripod logo next to the laundry room — you can’t miss it. Whether you are a die-hard fan of student journalism, simply have a passing interest or just want to ogle, you are welcome to sit in on our meetings and find a section you would like to write for! If you have a previous commitment at that time or simply do not want to show face out of deep shame and insecurity, you can also email tripod@trincoll.edu, talia.cutler@trincoll.edu, isabella.chirkis@trincoll.edu, or any of our section editors to get started writing.
You can choose to write once and never again, or write every week. You can decide not to write at all, and instead assist with social media, puzzle-making, design or photography. That really is the beauty of the Tripod — its multifacetedness! (Put that word on a Scrabble board…)
We are happy to share several structural updates that we have instituted over the summer:
We have created a solidified investigative news team. You can now email tips (the news kind, please) to tripod@trincoll.edu. We also plan to do a lot more with social media this year, including virtual Along-The-Long-Walks and digital interviews. The Tripod is instituting new meeting and pitch protocols, and we are no longer accepting comments on the website.
As you can probably tell, we worked very hard this summer to set the foundation for a myriad of new projects. This semester, our goal with the newspaper is to provide an accurate historical record of our campus’ happenings and serve the community by way of veracity and information. We cannot promise that it will be perfect, but we can promise that the Tripod endeavors to maintain a high standard for our campus — to be journalistic but also accessible and communal.
It is our hope this issue can be an example! Here is what is in this edition of the Tripod: In News, we cover this year’s tuition increase, the actions of St. Anthony Hall’s Epsilon chapter after their chapter’s three year suspension was lifted, improvements to campus dining options, and the arrival of the class of 2030. In Opinion, three editors opine on campus water fountains, study habits, and the call for controversy. Features covers Caroline Wiffler ’26’s summer experience abroad at Sotheby’s and Peter Eisler ’86’s Pulitzer Prize, while Arts has a roundup story and an overview of what Bants listen to! The sports section covers men’s soccer. Last, but certainly not least, Bits and Pieces welcomes the class of 2030 with a wonderful selection of incredibly serious, and a new and improved crossword.
These stories were crafted with care, conviction and several coronas. If you possess any of these qualities, we would be more than happy to have you in our newsroom. One of the hardest things to do when you arrive on campus is find your place — for first years, this may be straightforward: which clubs are worth your time? What classes are right for your sleep schedule? How long will that orientation friend group last? Even for returning students, so much is uncertain: which friends fit your new class schedule and which ones will you not see until next semester? Which roommate has that terrible habit you never noticed before? Which Mather crush from last year did you not realize was graduating? It can all be very hard to navigate without a sense of place and purpose.
Our most sincere hope is that the Tripod can be someone’s ‘place’ on campus — if you are looking for a sense of community, accomplishment, your name in print and a pretty sweet office space, come check us out.
Now, we understand that the optics of trying to lure first-years into a basement may be misleading, so we will wrap this letter up: Whether you’re a freshman who will read the paper once and never again, a senior who has made the Tripod a staple of your Tuesday routine or a disgruntled alum who will probably send us five emails today listing every typo and semantic error in this issue, we have only one thing to say: thank you for tuning in.
In peace,
TBC and IRC
P.S. “Multifacetedness” is worth 24 Scrabble points, in case you were wondering. Our managing editor would tell you it doesn’t fit on the board, but he’s a nerd. Who would know that?