Provost's Message

Trinity College is its past and its future. It is our founder, Bishop Strachan, and nearly 160 years of academic achievement. The Canada of Confederation and two World Wars. It is an Anglican tradition that still lives on in the services in the Chapel, in the Faculty of Divinity, and in the air of gentle tolerance that fills the college halls.

Trinity is also defined by its architectural heritage. The cupolas, finials and quadrangle of the main building. The austere and soaring Chapel. The panelled dining hall. The Georgian serenity of St. Hilda’s. The glass and concrete of the 1960s Larkin Building. And, most recently, the splendid Munk Centre for International Studies and John W. Graham Library with their beautiful formal gardens.

Integral to Trinity’s identity, too, is its rich tradition of learning and academic excellence, both inside the classroom and out. Trinity is about intellectual curiosity and valuing achievement for its own sake. It is where learning and social interaction – enlivened by debating, drama and music – flow into each other; where students work hard at study and at life. Learning happens in the halls and dining halls, in the classrooms and in the multitude of student clubs and teams.

Trinity is its people: The more than 20,000 alumni who have passed through it doors. The chancellors, the provosts, the bursars, the librarians, deans, chaplains, fellows and faculty. The porters, the kitchen staff, the engineers who have been here for years. A community to which we all belong.

Above all, though, Trinity is its students. The brightest and the best. Still growing, they come from across Canada and around the world, eager to learn and live in our lovely oasis in the middle of the city. They leave as adults with their own tastes and values, and friendships that will endure a lifetime.

Many leave with high academic distinction – an inordinate number, for such a small college, as Rhodes scholars. Others as highly successful graduates who head for medical school, law school and other advanced studies at some of the world’s best universities – Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Harvard and Stanford. Trinity also produces dedicated volunteers who work in clinics in Tibet or Afghanistan. As well as writers, bishops, bank presidents, film directors, actors, diplomats, ambassadors and foreign ministers – leaders in government, business, the arts and the Anglican Church.

Each generation represents its own Canada, from the Anglo-Saxon society of the 19^th century to the multicultural one of today. Trinity has always gathered them in, nurtured and encouraged each one, prodded them to be the best they can be, gently teased them when they have been too serious and taught them how to live and work with each other.

Much of our success lies in the fact that Trinity is small and intimate. We are the same size as many independent colleges in Canada and the United States. Yet, we are also part of a much bigger institution: the University of Toronto, the best research university in Canada and one of the greatest public universities in North America. Trinity gives students a home base from which they can venture to explore and grow – intellectually, spiritually and emotionally.

Trinity makes a difference. Its students, alumni and graduates rightly take pride in it. We have much to celebrate.

- Margaret MacMillan, Provost and Vice-Chancellor