Provost Mayo Moran’s Message to the Community

Posted: May 02, 2016

Collage of Trinity people and events during the 2015-2016 year

2015-2016: Thank you for a great year of innovative firsts and community celebrations

Dear Members of the Trinity Community:

The 2015-2016 academic year was, as it always seems to be at Trinity, an extremely busy and exciting one. The last eight months have been filled with innovative firsts, important annual events, celebratory occasions and new opportunities for students to learn and grow.

Trinity’s strengths lie in our people, our program and our place – three pillars that form the foundation of the College’s new Strategic Plan 2016. At the heart of everything we do, our focus remains steadfast: students always come first. Supporting students goes beyond providing an excellent educational experience – healthy development of the whole person is crucial if we are to enable our students to fulfill their enormous potential.

As you may know, Trinity’s mental health initiative has been at the forefront this year. We are so grateful to our alumni (Dr. Anne Steacy ’76 and Michael ‘68 and Sheila Royce ‘68) and to our student body (through their self-imposed levy) for their leadership and commitment to mental health. As a college, we are leading the way and our new program will serve as a model for other colleges and faculties across the university and beyond.

We cannot accomplish all that we do without the ongoing support from our alumni community. We extend a heartfelt thank you to our alumni who do so much for the College. Trinity alumni commit their philanthropic support so that our students can thrive while they are here, and they are also involved in endless ways with both College and student-led initiatives, as volunteer leaders and mentors. Their generosity of time and sharing of experiences and wisdom are invaluable and part of what makes the Trinity community truly unique.

Our students are known to be academically excellent and publicly spirited, but I also continue to be awestruck by their creative talents, on display this year at so many events including the Trinity College Dramatic Society, Trinity Art Show, Provost’s Coffee House with the Gryphon Trio, to name but a few. Creative endeavors have always been a wonderful part of Trinity student life, enriching the student experience at the College.

Of course food is another vitally important “ingredient” in overall student well-being. This year we challenged ourselves on that front as well. I am very pleased to say that our food services team has been working hard on this issue, returning to “scratch cooking” and using the freshest possible ingredients to provide wholesome and nutritious food. We (and more importantly our students!) are very pleased with the initial results and we will continue to enhance the culture of food and overall well-being at Trinity.

On the academic front, students proudly showcased their research prowess at a number of end-of-year events (Research Poster Session, Trinity College Undergraduate Research Conference and our donor appreciation evening). These provided a great forum to learn from and about the research being conducted at Trinity and I know that all who attended were inspired and indeed awed by our students. We are proud of the fact that the Trinity experience clearly plays a pivotal role in the growth of our students as learners, researchers and scholars. On the global scale, our students are involved in amazing research projects, including in the Arctic, Rwanda and Brazil, and more than 20 students will soon be travelling to their summer internship positions around the world as part of Trinity’s Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship program.

It is also a hallmark of Trinity students that, between their academic and other commitments, they still find time to give back. From grassroots projects to initiatives that engage the larger community, our students lead change at Trinity and beyond: they supported the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund as the Saints Ball’s charity; the Trinity College Volunteer Society hosted various events and fundraisers to support those in need; they supported Humanities for Humanity community outreach programs; the female heads created the Trinity College Women in Leadership mentorship program; Trinity’s Student Ambassadors are leading by example through their Giving Tuesday campaign; and the Trinity College Mental Health Initiative organized a panel discussion on mental health and created a brilliant photo campaign (I Talk About Mental Health). Our students are proudly upholding our long standing tradition of leadership that makes a difference and their actions are truly inspiring.

Also this year, the College responded to the Syrian refugee crisis and is in the process of sponsoring a refugee family from Syria to Canada. We are so grateful for all of the contributions that truly span the Trinity community. Divinity PhD student Jeffrey Metcalfe is researching the culture of empathy to aid refugees, and a Trinity-based student organization has hosted a conversation with the Hon. John McCallum and brought high-profile diplomats to campus, bringing the Syrian refugee discussion to U of T. On the creative side, Trinity students Max and Lorne Levy organized the Selfless Selfies initiative, raising $1,100 for Trinity’s Lifeline Syria Challenge.

This year we were also so pleased to host many important conversations. We welcomed the Hon. Frank Iacobucci who delivered an eloquent Larkin-Stuart Lecture on the significance of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Chancellor Bill Graham continued his Conversations series with media pundit Andrew Coyne ‘83 on the federal election and Leader of the Green Party Elizabeth May on climate change. And I had the opportunity to put our Chancellor himself in the hot seat to interview him about his wonderful new book, The Call of the World: A Political Memoir. In partnership with the Loran Scholars Foundation, we hosted a new “Leading with Integrity” speakers series, with U of T Chancellor and Trinity alumnus Michael Wilson and investment expert Richard Rooney. We also gathered as a community to celebrate a couple of milestones: the Chapel’s 60th Anniversary and the 40th Annual Book Sale. The Trinity tradition of hosting events that make a difference is, as you can see, alive and well!

And last but certainly not least, to the Class of 2016 – congratulations! Our graduands are exceptional students who exemplify the best of academic accomplishment, community service and leadership. They embody, in the best possible sense, the enduring aspirations of our founder Bishop John Strachan.

On May 10, 23 graduate students will receive their degrees at the Divinity Convocation. And on June 14, we will honour our undergraduate students at Spring Convocation. What an amazing group of students! Among them, two Rhodes Scholars (Kaleem Hawa and James Flynn), 25 Cressy Award winners, an Awards of Excellence recipient (Connor Anear) and numerous recipients of other U of T awards, including the Green Ribbon Award (Larissa Parker). Congratulations also to our students who received generous scholarships to Oxford (Heaslip Trinity-St. Antony’s Scholarship: Kevin Deagle and Patrick Quinton-Brown ‘14) and Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University in Beijing (Hayden Rodenkirchen).

It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with the student heads and other student leaders this year – our collective thanks for their leadership, commitment and determination to make Trinity an even better place for all students. And finally, thank you to the faculty and staff of Trinity for their unwavering dedication to our students.

In a few weeks, we will welcome hundreds of alumni and friends back to campus for Spring Reunion 2016. From near and far, from recent grads to alumni from the Class 1946 (celebrating their 70th reunion!), they are returning to campus to connect with friends and reminisce about their Trinity days. I look forward to meeting our incredible alumni community throughout the weekend at our signature and special events.

I wish the Class of 2016 all the best in their future endeavours and I look forward to welcoming returning students back to campus in September. Until then, I extend my gratitude to all members of the Trinity Community for everything you do and I wish you all a wonderful summer.

Yours truly,

Mayo Moran
Provost and Vice-Chancellor

 

Categories: Provost’s Messages