Building on our legacy of alumni leadership
Spring 2019
As I write, we are optimistically awaiting the signs of spring that will surely start popping up around campus soon. After a blustery, icy winter I must once again extend my gratitude to our amazing facilities staff at Trinity College, for keeping our walkways clear and safe and our buildings warm and welcoming in all sorts of weather. To these often-unsung heroes on our team, thank you!
With spring comes the culmination of another academic year and Spring Convocation, where we will have an opportunity to celebrate our incredible graduating class and honorary graduands. Each member of the class of
2019 has worked so hard, and we are incredibly proud of them. I am filled with excitement about the lives ahead for our graduates, and I look forward to hearing about their next steps.
We have certainly heard loud and clear from our students how vital new space is to ensuring the strong community that is so central to the Trinity experience. And I am happy to report that we continue to make progress in discussions about a new building. In March we submitted our development application for rezoning to the City of Toronto for the proposed site (the parking lot north of the Gerald Larkin Building). At the same time, we launched a search for an architect whose values align with those of Trinity College and who will help us not only address our critical space needs but will also enable us to fulfill our aspiration for space that is thoughtful, sustaining and beautiful.
What kind of space helps to foster a strong sense of community? How can a building help human beings flourish? How can we make a positive difference to the surrounding environment and to our fragile planet? Those are key questions that we will ask as we consider new college space. Trinity has always aimed high and we want to show how a building can enhance the lives of the people who use it as well as the world around it. We have already received many expressions of interest from outstanding architects from home and abroad, and we look forward to finding a team that will help us translate our vision into a building that continues the great traditions of our College.
As we move forward, we are very grateful to have so many alumni helping to guide all areas of this initiative, volunteering their time and sharing their deep experience in building planning, sustainability, architecture and finance.
Alumni support will be critical to the success of this project and we are immensely grateful to have such inspiring alumni commitment and leadership. Someone who shared that same commitment—who truly exemplified the spirit of Trinity—was the Honourable Michael Wilson, who passed away on February 10. Our 11th Chancellor, he was a Mulock Cup winner, a fearless mental health advocate, an astute politician and for me, an inspiring leader and a true gentleman. When Trinity and the Loran Scholars Foundation created the “Leading with Integrity” speaker series, Michael was the unanimous and obvious choice to be first speaker.
Among his many contributions, Michael’s courageous advocacy for mental health was especially transformative, bringing the conversation into the open where it belongs. Here at Trinity, we were fortunate to benefit from his vision and support as we developed the Anne Steacy Counselling Initiative and the Trinity Mental Health Program, the first initiatives of their kind on the U of T campus. Michael believed in the importance not only of offering clinical counselling for students, but also of creating a supportive environment and a proactive approach to mental health.
And he wasn’t shy about rallying his fellow alumni to also support their College in any way possible. Read more about Chancellor Wilson.
We were fortunate to have known him, and we will miss him greatly.
Until next time,
Mayo Moran
Provost
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