The following covers the meeting on Nov. 14.
CLIMATE CHECK
Sophomore senator Maddy D’Iorio asked if student organizations are allowed to endorse candidates for SGA, as Trinity Diversity Connection (TDC) had endorsed two first-year candidates. Senior Amulya Deva, president of SGA, said that she had told TDC that this was okay because there is no rule against it and because she did not want to limit their freedom of speech.
VICE PRESIDENT SERIES
In this week’s installment of the Vice Presidents Series, Tess Coody-Anders, vice president for Strategic Communications and Marketing; Eric Maloof, vice president for Enrollment Management; and Michael Bacon, vice president for Alumni Relations and Development, addressed the members of SGA.
Maloof explained that the goal for Trinity class sizes will not change, but that the number of students who decide to apply and commit to Trinity is increasing, which his department must learn to adjust to. Maloof reported that they have received 1,000 more applications than they had at this point last year. He expects Trinity’s admission rate to be below 30 percent for the class of 2023. Maloof explained that as Trinity becomes more selective, the application review process has become more holistic, meaning criteria like extracurriculars and teacher recommendations are taken more into account.
Maloof and Coody-Anders talked about how Marketing and Admissions work closely together in recruiting applicants. This includes altering Trinity’s brand awareness both regionally and nationally. Maloof stated that they try to focus admissions outreach in Texas and on the West Coast, and that the East Coast is tough to draw students from due to the high density of liberal arts institutions in the Northeast.
Maloof and Coody-Anders also addressed Trinity’s national image and US News and World Report ranking. Coody-Anders explained that Trinity is not recognized in a national context, but that this is true of many similar institutions. Currently, Trinity is ranked No. 2 among regional colleges and universities in the West, but Trinity has the option to petition to be put on a list of national liberal arts institutions. Senior senator Julia Shults pointed out that being compared on a national scale could help with Trinity’s brand on a national context, whereas Deva liked the regional ranking because as a student from the West Coast, she could compare Trinity to other universities in the west that she was familiar with.
