Valentines’ Week Notes
Valentine’s Day falls on next Sunday. It will happen before my next notes appear.
We’re all busy – often too busy. For my part, I’ll be devoting the day to attending to my own family. I urge all of you to do the same. Don’t forget to let all those who support you (and families typically play the biggest role in this regard) know how much you appreciate them. Consider sending a card or note off now.
And on Valentine’s Day, plan to stop by the opening reception and help celebrate Valentine’s Day Art Exhibit Opening (February 14th)!
The exhibit will feature art from you, Trumbull students, and may include poems, stories, paintings, photographs, Valentine’s Day wishes, or even essays explaining your personal dislike for the day as long as it is related to “love”.
Additionally, the art studio will be holding open art studio hours on Wednesdays (2/3 and 2/10) from 4 – 6 PM and Thursdays (2/4 and 2/11) from 7-9 PM. You can come in and use the art studio’s supplies to make a project for the exhibit or just to make cards for your Valentine, friends and suitemates.
Submissions for the exhibit may be dropped off at the office Monday – Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM or you may leave them with an art studio aide, Uniqia and Jade. Please submit your work by Friday, February 12 at NOON to be included in the show.
The opening reception is scheduled for Sunday, February 14, from 7:00 – 9:00 PM in the Art Gallery (basement level next to the theater). Refreshments will be served.
With questions, contact your art studio aides jade.chowning@yale.edu or uniqia.england@yale.edu.
In this regard, I myself greatly appreciate all the help I receive in Trumbull. Indeed I’m going to request a bit more for next Sunday (which is Valentine’s Day). I opened the FARR room last Sunday morning for coffee, snacks and studying not knowing if early studiers would appear. They did. I will be gone next Sunday morning attending to my own family, but I’d like to open the FARR room again next Sunday morning.
I’m seeking a volunteer early-studier to help. I can arrange for all food and equipment to be there and ready to put out but I need an earlier-studier to open the room, plug in the coffee pot and teapot, etc.
Any volunteers? Let me know via email and I’ll make the arrangements for you to have the key. Your fellow students will appreciate you and I will supply chocolates to you as a symbol of my own appreciation. (Indeed, I’ll also supply Valentine’s for the room.)
Just email me if you’re up for this.
An unusual (and terrific) summer opportunity for Trumbull Juniors about which more information will be available on Thursday, February 11th at 4 p.m.
I will host a special information session for Trumbull juniors who want to learn more about the Class of 1955 summer travel fellowship opportunity. Applications will be available soon and only to Trumbull College juniors.
Thursday, February 11
4:00 - 5:00 PM
Fellows Lounge (2nd floor of entryway K)
Refreshments will be available.
This fellowship has been provided to Trumbull by the Class of 1955 (with special support and leadership by our wonderful Trumbull Fellow Steve Gurney.) The purpose of the Fellowship is to provide Trumbull Students with an opportunity to pursue an independent project or activity away from New Haven, in a foreign country or within the United States, which is not related to your primary academic interests and that will broaden and expand your horizons – expose you to new people, new ideas, and/or different cultures. Think creatively. What would you truly like to do in this regard that you would not ordinarily do? We’ve had work on farms supporting cheese making in France, work with medical groups in Australia, make a documentary relevant to Native Americans (and the person himself) in the US, attend many tango festivals in South American, etc.
Interested? You will be asked to prepare a proposal (it’s not too long). After screening, many of you will be interviewed by our fellowship committee, and, if selected, you’ll be off on an adventure this coming summer. Next year, during your senior year, we’ll have you talk to our fellows about what you did do and the impact it had on you.)
Super bowl Thanks
Thanks to the entire TCC for hosting our Super bowl event in the dining hall last night. They ordered the wings and fries, set everything up, and cleaned everything afterwards. A special thanks goes to Shah Khan who took the lead on this event in every way and who, when we were having trouble with our projection equipment, figured things out and made the game appear on our screen. (I continue to be grateful to our Trump-Alum, Ellie Lewis, who donated the big screen and projector to Trumbull. She’s a sufficiently recent graduate so that many who are here know her. When those of you who know her see or write to her please mention how her donation has made a difference to life in Trumbull.)
I thank our dining hall leadership as well for their help in coordinating this event and all our students who helped out by making sure that dining hall dishes were scraped and returned prior to the time our dining staff left.
Athletic Successes & Congratulations
Yale athletes were very busy and very successful this past week and weekend. I congratulate all of them. Men’s Tennis won against Maryland-Baltimore County, and the victories only continued to roll in. Men’s Basketball had two stellar home wins this weekend, defeating Columbia on Friday. They are now the only undefeated team in the Ivy League. Brandon Sherrod also set the NCAA record for most consecutive field goals – 30.
Men’s Ice Hockey won its two home games as well. They dominated their Friday game vs. Dartmouth, and went on to beat Harvard on Saturday, 2-1.
Some highlights from away games include: Women’s Ice Hockey’s overtime win against Dartmouth on Friday, Gymanstics’ 3rd place finish at the Rutgers with Ohio State and Ursinus Invitational, and the Men’s Squash’s win against Princeton.
It’s very salient to me that our athletes work very, very hard. They are up early, many of them doing weight training or engaging in practices long before others are even out of bed. They have afternoon practices as well. They represent us well.
Mellon Forum: Tonight in the Trumbull House
For our seniors participating in the Mellon Forum, we meet tonight in the House.
As usual there is a dinner followed by seniors presenting their thesis work. Our leader, Prof. John Williams, like many of us, has many commitments. He’ll be a bit late arriving for dinner as he’ll be arriving from another lecture here at Yale. BUT dinner starts at the usual time. I’ll be here to greet you and he’ll be there for dessert and, of course, the talks.
A Fellows Meeting this Week: If you are interested in joining in, let me know
On Thursday, in the house, beginning at 5:45 we’ll be hosting a Fellows dinner and talk. The topic to be covered (by Stefan Simon of the Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage) is on, appropriately enough, preserving cultural heritage. If you are interested in joining in, send me an email.
New plan for summer storage coming to Trumbull
As have many colleges, we’ll be implementing a new summer storage plan. Deb Bellmore will be writing to you with more details. Basically it involves storing your boxes off site. We’ll sell boxes for $10 each. A moving company will take and store them and they will reappear in the fall in a van for pick-up. (See me if the cost is a problem.) This will allow us to use Trumbull spaces earlier in the fall and, most importantly, keep Trumbull spaces in good shape and repair and spruce them up in the summer.
It will become very important not to leave such things as passports in those boxes, however. I’ll remind you lots of times before packing time comes around.