As the month of March draws to a close, the Trinitonian feels that it is important to reflect upon it. In the past 30 days, Trinity has hosted writers and poets. The administration has heard petitions from departments urging a gross overhaul of university policy. We have continued a campus-wide discussion of the university’s sexual assault policies. March was packed full of important happenings.
For starters, on March 5, the athletic department hosted a luncheon where they proposed a departmental shift from Division III athletics to Division I athletics. The idea to move Trinity to DI follows several years of unstable conference play at our current level. Their push comes at an interesting time in light of the university’s significant rebranding campaign. However, the athletic department’s suggestion was met with immediate resistance from university administrators. Despite the administrators’ resolution to remain DIII, we suspect the athletic department will continue to push for the move, and thus this story will remain relevant for many months.
Outside of this debate, the university also continues to discuss changing its sexual assault policies. On Thursday, March 20, the university invited Saundra Schuster of the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management to speak to students about sexual assault on college campuses. Schuster assured students that Trinity’s policies are consistent and, in some cases, even more advanced than policies at other schools. Open forums such as this one between members of the Trinity community are incredibly important as the university works to make its policies even better.
Finally, March at Trinity was marked by visits from writer and cartoonist Lynda Barry and former CNN chairman and CEO, TIME editor and biographer Walter Isaacson. Both Barry and Isaacson spent their visits emphasizing the importance of creativity, specifically the intersection of the sciences and the humanities. Their talks were especially pertinent to our campus. As the semester presses on, we urge you to pay attention to what’s happening on campus and to appreciate the usefulness of a liberal arts education.
