Provost’s Message to the Community

Dear Members of the Trinity College Community:

I wanted to reach out to update you and to wish you all well as this strangest of terms comes to an end, our students finish their exams, and spring (we hope) finally begins to emerge.

So much has changed in our daily lives in the past six weeks. Trinity is so different – so eerily quiet – since our campus closed in March. We need good news more than ever now and so as I do every year, I wanted to mark the end of classes and the close of the academic year with a message that highlights some of the most noteworthy events from the last eight months, congratulates those who have received honours and awards, and extends a most profound thank you to those who have made positive contributions to the College during this unprecedented year.

In September, at our unique Matriculation Convocation 2019, we welcomed our incoming Arts & Science and Divinity students and honoured two outstanding Trinity alumni, Rosemary McCarney and Derek Allen (view Facebook photos). And throughout the year, we hosted the lively events that make Trinity special – from thought-provoking lectures and networking events, to glorious musical evenings complete with student performers, to our wonderful High Tables. Events like these are only possible because of the incredible support of our alumni community and friends.

We have special reasons to be thankful to our community – this past year was the most successful fundraising year in Trinity’s history. We marked this at the Chair’s Reception on October 17, 2019 where we celebrated a number of outstanding gifts including a landmark $10 million gift from Joannah and Brian Lawson ’82, the largest single gift ever received by Trinity. That gift will support our Integrated Sustainability Initiative, which will enable us to lead the way by integrating sustainability into everything we do at the College, from student life to academic programs. At the heart of the Initiative is the Lawson Centre for Sustainability – our new residence and academic building, which will showcase sustainability in action and include unique features such as a farm-to-table program, community kitchen and transformative teaching and learning spaces. The challenging times we now live in have only increased the urgency of completing this new Centre and in the days ahead we will keep you informed about the new building and the Living Trinity Campaign.

We are also especially grateful for the many volunteers who support the College by contributing their time and expertise. This is ever more important in a time of challenge and our volunteers have stepped up as never before. From groups like the Friends of the Library and volunteer mentors, to the Board, committees and Corporation, to everyone who reviews the admission applicant profiles – your contributions make such a difference.

We continue to meet virtually, including our first Zoom Board meeting on April 8 where over 40 people joined us. At that meeting, I said that it was sometimes only in the darkest days that great strengths came to the fore. This is so true about our college. In the midst of an upheaval that no one anticipated, our faculty and staff rose to the challenge and did everything possible to ensure that our students could safely and successfully complete their academic year. From our hard-working IT staff to those who keep the buildings going to the Office of the Dean of Students – they have done everything possible to ensure the safety and wellbeing of a small group of residence students who are unable to return home at this time. And our staff in the Registrar’s Office, John W. Graham Library and larger student services team have been incredibly resourceful in finding ways to connect virtually with students to offer them the support they need, whether it be academic, research, personal or financial.

Nearly 180 members of Corporation attended the virtual spring meeting on April 23, 2020.

Speaking of things we never thought would happen – only a week ago Chancellor Bill Graham presided over the first ever Corporation Meeting held by Zoom. We had nearly 180 participants and I am pleased to say that it was considerably smoother than the first House of Commons meeting this week! Among other business, I know we were all thrilled that the term of our wonderful Chancellor was extended by two years. We are especially grateful for his warm, steady and wise leadership in these uncertain times.

I also want to express how proud I am of our students – they have weathered this non-traditional school year with resiliency and understanding. Our student leaders, dons, community advisors and others were just remarkable helping us and each other, and making a difficult situation more manageable. I think that’s a true testament to the spirit of supportive community at the heart of Trinity.

But still we were all so incredibly sad, especially for our Arts & Science and Divinity spring graduands who didn’t receive the capstone university experience that they expected. All of us wish your final months here could have been different and know how hard it was to leave without saying goodbye to your friends, classmates, professors and staff who made your university experience what it is.

To our Class of 2020: we will make sure you have the proper send-off to celebrate your graduation and accomplishments when we are able to gather in person. For our Arts & Science graduands, as you know the University will hold a virtual Convocation to be broadcast in early June. And when we are able, we look forward to bringing you back to Trinity, so we can properly celebrate all your accomplishments. For our Divinity graduands, the College will be holding a virtual Convocation in the Trinity tradition where degrees will be conferred in absentia – please watch for this video on May 12. And in concert with colleagues across the TST, we look forward to celebrating with the Class of 2020 graduates back on campus at Divinity Convocation 2021. We are so proud of all of our grads and look forward to where your journey takes you.

And there is no doubt that our students and our graduates are truly exceptional. Every year, an extraordinary number of members of the Trinity community are recognized for improving the world and inspiring others to do the same. Among many accolades, we congratulate recipients of the: Chancellor William C. Graham Awards 2019, Honorary Degrees, Pearson Scholarships 2019, Arbor Awards 2019, Schulich Leader Scholarships, U of T Awards of Excellence 2020: Graduate Award and Staff Award, U of T Student Leadership Awards 2020, Schwarzman Scholarship 2021.

At the end of this year however, the pandemic severely disrupted even the best laid plans of Trinity students. Many of them needed emergency assistance funds for unexpected travel home. At the same time, they lost the internships and summer jobs that would have helped pay for next year’s education. Many families are also experiencing job loss and are left unable to support their children’s education costs. In a very short period of time, we saw a large increase in student financial need.

But I am so proud to say that our community has risen to the challenge – although Reunion 2020 was cancelled due to COVID-19, the enthusiastic reunion spirit continues with our alumni, with many classes directing their financial support to urgent bursary needs. I too will be personally doubling my annual gift to the Trinity Fund to $10,000 this year in order to support our students in this time of need. I know that not everyone is able to make a donation; but if you are in a position to offer financial assistance to students, we wholeheartedly welcome your gifts to support urgent bursaries through the Trinity Fund.

You are probably wondering what lies ahead for Trinity – we all are! But I want you to know that we continue to work on plans for the summer and fall, modelling various scenarios and assessing the implications. We know that our plans will have to adapt to this evolving situation, but we have an unwavering commitment to providing the very best student experience. Our fabulous students deserve no less. And as your provost, I can assure you that we could not have a better team of staff, faculty and volunteers to face whatever lies ahead. For the latest updates, please visit our COVID-19 Updates webpage.

Newly sewn masks will be donated to Meredith Mead’s local hospital’s mask challenge.

In days when there is too much dark news, I wanted to end on a lighter note. Knowing the wonderful spirit of Trinity, it probably won’t surprise you that our community is also creative about finding ways to bring joy and to support each other during these trying times. Many are doing that by supporting the community in a wide variety of ways – for example, staff members Meredith Meads and Chaplain Andrea Budgey are making masks when they have free time to support efforts to keep the community healthy and safe. Trinity alumni Juliana Lee and Sophia Shim’s new website shares positive news during COVID-19 pandemic.

Others are reaching out to connect in ways that bring us together and sometimes just bring a smile to our faces. Trinity staff and faculty send members of our community video messages of #TrinLove! (view Facebook playlist). And as they work from home, they share how their furry friends are keeping them in good company (view Facebook album).

For those who miss the campus – join us on social media (Facebook album and Instagram posts) as we tour some of our Special Spaces at Trinity.

And for a little creative fun, I’ve started the Trinity chapter of the Getty Museum’s creative challenge, which involves re-creating art at home with household items. It’s an imaginative and slightly quirky idea… very Trinity! Here’s an early effort by me and Alfie, my 16-year-old dachshund. As you can see, he didn’t like playing an ermine!

(Left) Lady with an Ermine, Leonardo da Vinci. (Right) Provost with a Dachshund, a Trinity spin on the Getty Museum art challenge.

Please email your creation to communications@trinity.utoronto.ca so we can share ideas with our community and have some fun together, even though we may be physically apart. Tell us what you are doing to benefit the community, spread some joy or even just pass some time creatively. We also welcome your thoughts and suggestions about anything further that we might do to decrease the social isolation that we are all feeling right now. It is more important than ever to connect.

I look forward to staying in touch over the coming weeks and months. Until we can meet again, I wish you and your loved ones the very best.

Take care,

Mayo Moran
Provost & Vice-Chancellor

Categories: Provost’s Messages