As the end of the school year approaches, the class of 2022 is preparing to graduate and step into the real world. Their departure will change the Trinity community, leaving the class of 2023 alone to remember Trinity pre-pandemic.
Since returning to campus and in-person learning just this past August, we have all been trying to return to “normal”; however, post-pandemic life on campus probably won’t ever look like pre-pandemic life. To some extent, this is the natural consequence of the progression of time and would still be true in a world where a pandemic never occurred, but there is no denying that the unprecedented events of the past couple of years have exacerbated the situation.

The biggest post-pandemic change to campus life has been the loss of tradition. This loss can be subtle, like ChocolateFest being catered instead of a competition between student groups, or it can be glaring, like the canceled tower climbs that have prevented both incoming first-years and graduating seniors in 2020 and 2021 from completing the traditional book-end to their time at Trinity for the past few semesters.

As we look forward to fall of 2022, we have to ask: Should we revive old, pre-pandemic traditions or start new ones? In the end, it will be the class of 2023 who is responsible for making this decision. This predicament presents a unique opportunity to define what campus life at Trinity will look like in following years, as any traditions that are revived or created will be passed down to the purely post-pandemic students.

Leaders of student organizations will have to perform a balancing act next year and put careful consideration into how they want their organizations to be run. Creating new traditions is a chance to make their mark, but any traditions that aren’t revived run the risk of being forgotten.

At the Trinitonian, as we plan for the upcoming year, we are rethinking the newsroom with those without the pre-pandemic vision in mind. Traditions are a big part of establishing the culture of the newsroom and creating an environment that is fun and educational for our staff. Part of our attempt at reviving pre-pandemic standards and traditions includes a weekly print schedule for next year. Over the Trinitonian’s 120 year history, the paper has undergone a lot of changes and has lived through more historical events than just the COVID-19 pandemic. As we look forward to the post-pandemic road, we hope to set the paper on a path that honors our long history while adapting to a new campus culture.