Provost’s Message to the Trinity Community

View of Trinity College from Hoskin Avenue: June 17, 2025

Dear Members of the Trinity College Community:

As the 2024-2025 academic year slips behind us, it is a good time to reflect on an incredibly successful and eventful year, and to congratulate all our students, faculty and staff.

Our students continue to demonstrate exceptional leadership, resilience and creativity. Both inside or outside of the classroom, they prove time and again their commitment to making a difference in the world. Congratulations from our whole College community to all 2025 graduates from both Divinity (see photos below) and Arts & Science (see Awards and Convocation photos below). The undergraduates in this group began their studies during COVID – what a test! We are proud of how they turned that rocky start into a rousing finish and are happy to welcome them into the Trinity alumni community. We are all cheering you on as you move forward to new opportunities.

Our faculty and staff have gone above and beyond to support our students, elevate our academic programs, and ensure our campus runs smoothly. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to enhance the student experience. On behalf of the whole College community, I would also like to say farewell to two long-standing staff members. The Rev. Canon Andrea Budgey’s term as Humphrys Chaplain will conclude on June 30. Andrea has been an integral part of Trinity College since 2009, serving the entire community as well as teaching, training and guiding MDiv students and others in the Faculty of Divinity. We are grateful for her commitment to her pastoral role and her dedication and service to the whole Trinity community. And after 17 years, Sylvia Lassam will be retiring from her role as Rolph-Bell Archivist at the end of August. Sylvia has transformed Trinity’s archival services and championed the renovated archives space that opened in 2017. Her kindness, collegial support and enthusiasm for sharing her deep knowledge of Trinity’s history will be greatly missed.

Trinity alumni continue to exemplify excellence in their careers, receiving accolades and inspiring us all, including two alum who received the King Charles III Coronation Medal – Anita Li for championing media diversity and innovative storytelling and the Rev. Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan for her service to the Anglican Church of Canada and the Anglican Communion in key roles of unity, faith and order, and ministry – and Cheryl Perera who is nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy and work to end the sexual exploitation of children worldwide. The recent Reunion Weekend (see photos below) brought together alumni from all classes and honoured years ‘0 and ‘5 for special celebrations; and the energy and engagement in class and group events were phenomenal. I certainly learned a lot, and that was even in spite of the fact that some said they could not possibly share all the things their class had done during their undergraduate years. We are very grateful to all alumni for generously supporting the College in so many ways. These connections enrich us all, and we are deeply thankful for our alumni members ongoing support for and involvement with our students.

I would also like to thank the members of the College’s governance bodies and committees, especially those whose term have come to an end. You all give so generously of your time and expertise, and we are truly appreciative of your leadership. Thank you to our Divinity and Arts & Science student leaders for your dedication, engagement, and for sharing the student voice. Thanks to alumni and faculty for providing mentorship experiences that enrich our intellectual community. Thanks to the hundreds of volunteers who spend a few hours – and often endless hours – supporting the Friends of the Library Book Sale, assessing applicant profiles, assisting at events and serving as ambassadors. And thanks to the generosity of our donors, who help our students thrive throughout their time at the College. Your gifts enable us to have more ambitious visions for Trinity’s future, and we are very grateful.

Sustainability at Trinity

I am excited to share a few key milestones that have defined the year. The College’s most significant build in a century – the Lawson Centre for Sustainability (see images below) – could not come at a better time given the housing shortage students are facing. This mass timber, zero-carbon, LEED platinum building will be the most progressive university building in the country when it opens in 2026, a showcase of sustainability in action. In December 2024, we received our first sustainability certification for the Lawson Centre: Zero-Carbon Building – Design Certification. This is a great testament to our ongoing sustainability commitment. As the home to both Trinity’s Integrated Sustainability Initiative and the U of T’s new Lawson Climate Institute, the facility will be a campus hub for learning, research and activity on sustainability and in experiential learning in food systems. The Lawson Centre will be a place where students, faculty, researchers, and members of the community can come together, share ideas and grow both intellectually and personally.

I am also very happy to report that as of February 28, 2025, we reached our target to divest the remaining portion of fossil fuel investments in Trinity’s endowment. In 2023, Trinity’s Board of Trustees committed to decarbonizing the endowment by 2030, and we thank the members of the Investment Committee and its Divestment Working Group for accomplishing this important goal five years ahead of schedule.

Charting Our Future

Over the past year we have been working to develop new strategic and academic plans for Trinity. It has been a collaborative process, involving extensive consultation with students, faculty, staff and alumni. In conversations together we discussed our community values, our vision and mission, and what we should focus on to strengthen community, maintain competitiveness, and achieve sustainable long-term success. In April 2025, the Board of Trustees approved the framework for Trinity College’s Strategic Plan 2025-2030. This framework centres on three pillars: Renew – Build a thriving and sustainable College; Revisit – Honour Trinity’s past in 21st century context; and Revitalize – Enrich Trinity community and campus life. The Academic Plan’s Ideas and Inquiry pillar will be integrated with the Strategic Plan to creative a cohesive vision for Trinity to move forward over the coming five years. We will revisit it annually to measure progress and articulate particular goals for each coming year. I am excited about the direction we are headed, and I look forward to sharing the plan with the community in the fall.

Celebrations will also continue in the fall term to mark several milestones: 20th anniversary of the Margaret MacMillan Trinity One Program, 50th anniversary of the Trinity College Friends of the Library, 70th anniversary of the consecration of the Trinity College Chapel, and 100th anniversary of the opening of the “new” Trinity College on Hoskin Avenue in 1925! Stay tuned for details and ways to get involved in the months ahead.

Looking back at my first year as Provost, I am reminded of how much we have accomplished together. I am grateful for the generosity and support that so many have offered as I have tackled the learning curve. What has been a beginning for me has been part of a long tradition of support that Trinity alumni, students, faculty and staff have always offered each other. Thanks for welcoming me into that community. Thanks for never being content with the ordinary. And thanks for always looking to how we can be and do better. With our strategic vision in place, our sustainability initiatives making a tangible impact, and our new building soon to become a reality, we are poised for even greater achievements in the years to come.

Whether you are near or far, have a great summer ahead.

Very best,

Nicholas Terpstra
Provost & Vice-Chancellor

Faculty of Divinity Convocation 2025 – May 13: Congratulations to Divinity graduates, prize winners and honoree, John Franklin.

Trinity Reunion 2025 – May 28 to June 1: Hundreds of Trinity alumni returned to the college to celebrate reunion! >> View more photos on Facebook

Trinity College Graduation Awards Ceremony 2025 – June 11: We honoured graduands for their outstanding achievements at the awards ceremony and reception.

Trinity College Arts & Science Spring Convocation 2025 – June 12: We celebrated with Trinity’s newest graduates at the Convocation ceremony and reception. >> Meet a few #TrinityGrad25

Lawson Centre for Sustainability: View our progress – THEN (left: top) architectural render versus NOW (left: lower – May 31, 2025; and right – June 12, 2025).

What makes this new academic and residence building truly unique is that it features all the major sustainability components in one facility, including mass timber, geothermal exchange system, rooftop photovoltaic array, and rooftop farm and research/community kitchen, and takes into account student wellness and accessibility with low-tech, passive and high-efficiency design. As a zero-carbon and LEED Platinum facility, the building is one of the first to use mass timber for residential construction. In addition, almost all major building materials are sourced in Ontario, including mass timber, compressed bricks and limestone.

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