Trumbull Notes 10-3-16

October 3, 2016

A Happy Rosh Hashana.

Today I wish all Jewish members of our Trumbull Community a very happy Rosh Hashana.  To them and, indeed, to each and every one of you in our community I wish you the best for a sweet and joyous coming year. 

(There are still tickets available for the High Holy Days services and meals at the Slifka Center available in the Head’s office.  Come by if you want one or more.)

I’d also add that this past Thursday and Friday I attended a professional conference in psychology in California and once again I’ve found that wherever one goes, one may encounter a Trumbullian.   There were lots of people there  including my own Yale colleagues Laurie Santos and Jennifer Richeson who each presented nice talks.  Yet one of my favorite moments was when a fellow social psychologist, Howard Friedman, from University of California at Riverside came up to me in a session and told me he was a Trumbullian (Class of 1972).  I’ve known Howard for years but  had no idea he was a Trumbullian.  We spent some time talking about his years here.  He was here when Yale admitted its first class of women (with the original plan that they would all be in Trumbull – a plan that was, obviously, changed) and, of course, as many protests against the Vietnam War were taking place and marches and protests relevant to civil rights issues were taking place at Yale.  I urged him to come back to visit.  I hope he does.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) night:    A Trumbull discussion of Renaming Principles at Yale from 6 p.m. until 7 p.m.

Tuesday evening from 6-7 p.m.  John Witt, the chair of the committee working on setting forth principles for renaming buildings and spaces at Yale will hold an open meeting for all interested Trumbullians in our FARR room.  Please come if you wish to express your opinions on renaming to this committee or just to hear them tell us about their work.  Feel free to get your dinner in the dining hall and bring it up to the dining room in the FARR room (Entryway K).   The committee is very interested in getting input from all members of the Yale Community.

Trumbull is first in the Tyng Cup standings!  Thanks to our leaders and congratulations to all.  Let’s keep it up!

You should all have received a note from our leader Mila Rostain conveying the great news that we are currently in first place in the running for the Tyng Cup.  By her count we have 232 points and are ahead by 40 points.  Let’s keep up the momentum (and fun and enthusiasm). 

Thanks to Mila and also to Sara Seymour and Sweyn Vanderbush for their leadership.  Thanks to all you have come out to support Trumbull

Coming up, this week and next

This week, we’ll be holding our Fireside Chats with Dean Chandhoke and myself in

the Trumbull House.  All freshmen should attend with their Freshman Counselor. (There will be cupcakes from Claire’s.)

Tuesday, Oct. 4th, Meet with the Committee on Re-Naming Principles, 6 -7 p.m. in the FARR Room.

Family Weekend Reception on Saturday, October 8th, from 4:30 to 6:00 PM in the house.  All Trumbullians and their families are welcome!

Next Monday (Oct. 10) we’ll be holding our first Mellon Forum in the House with Professor John Williams and those seniors who are participating.

Next Tuesday, Oct. 11, we’ll host a Trumbull Tea with Dr. Nina Russell from the Gates Foundation who will speak with us about work on developing an HIV vaccine.

Dr. Russell is a Deputy Director of the Gates Foundation and a former Trumbullian.

Then, on Friday, Oct. 14th, the TCC hosts Rumbull in Trumbull (our fall festival with food and games in the courtyard) starting at 3 p.m.

Also on Friday, Oct. 14th just prior to Rumbull there will be a reception in the House for all new (and old) members of Phi Beta Kappa college wide from 2 p.m. until 3 p.m. (when Rumbull starts.)  Congratulations to seven newly elected Trumbullians:  Thomas Cusano, Zoe Dobuler, Xuan Wu, Ezra Husney, Aditya Sinha, Dejan Gvozdenac, and Alexander Robinson Cooley.   They join two of our seniors who were elected last year, Derek Liu and Stanislaw Swidsinski (and more Trumbullians are likely to be elected just prior to our 2017 graduation.)