I’ve not sent out notes since the end of spring break. It’s been just a week, yet it now seems ages ago. I hope the break was a good one for all. Many of you remained on campus and experienced some lovely warm days during which our daffodils bloomed followed by snow that almost completely covered those daffodils. I thank those of you who gathered for the dinner hosted by Dean B. the first week and those of you who joined me, my spouse, and our fellows Kathy Lawrence and Bill Massa for dinner in the house during the second week. I also thank Debbie Rueb for working throughout the break and being a presence in the college for those with questions and needs during the break.
Meanwhile many others traveled the globe or spent time with family at home. I traveled some myself and found that despite our relatively small community, there are Trumbullians everywhere. At one point I found myself behind fellow Trumbullian, Matthew Robinson, in a check in line at the Denver, Colorado airport. The following week I found myself on two plane flights out of Atlanta with Trumbullian, Spencer McManes. (We were supposed to be on just one flight from Atlanta to Hartford, but the first one took off and then returned to Atlanta for an emergency landing followed by a long wait for a different plane and flight. All was fine in the end.)
The next few weeks will be hectic ones. I wish all our seniors well as they finish and hand in their theses. I wish all Trumbullians the best as they finish work for the year.
I thank Al Nurani, Zak Kayal and the entire TCC for their work in hosting our spring dance at Lily Pad last Friday. I thank Mila Rostain, Sara Seymour, Sweyn Venderbush, and Tara Shea for their continuing support of Trumbull IM’s. We’re in third place! We’re close to Morse, the college just ahead of us. There’s Soccer, Softball, Spikeball, Dodgeball, Badminton, Golf and Frisbee ahead. Please come out and support Trumbull. You can participate in as many events as you wish or just once. Congratulations to our players of the week, Lily Wu and Daniel Leibovic (for their soccer dedication!)
I congratulate David McPeek for his performance this past weekend in a new play, White History, written by one of his fellow undergraduates, JE’s David Harris. I also congratulate Sabine Decatur who was the producer of this show. I appreciated the opportunity to attend this show and greatly admired the thought, work and passion that clearly went into it. I am continually amazed and impressed with what our students here accomplish. In this regard I also congratulate Gabe Acheson (and his team of fellow film makers) for their work on producing a new film this past weekend. I usually do not see, first hand, the work that leads up to plays or films that our students produce. Yet from early morning this past Saturday through early evening the same day, Gabe and his team worked on a film in the Trumbull House as I tried to stay out of their way! They moved all the furniture out of the dining room and transformed it into a ballroom. Dancers in a gown and tux appeared, other parts of the film occurred in other rooms and on the staircase. Gabe and his team worked non-stop. There were costume changes, much work on lighting, make-up artists etc. Their professionalism and creativity was amazing. Meanwhile I know Emily Bosisio along with a different team is creating another film that we’ll all see at graduation. I’m anxious to see the end products of both of these projects.
Please know I truly enjoy seeing your concerts, athletic performances, readings, plays, art shows, and academic presentations. This is one of the real pleasures of my job. I do not and cannot get to everything but I am very grateful when you invite me and I attend as many as I can. Do let me know when you are performing.
Early Morning Study in the FARR Room on weekend days for the remainder of the semester: Beginning next weekend, I will have the FARR Room open each weekend morning with coffee, tea and some simple snacks for early morning study. It will be open by 8 a.m. and it will remain open until 11 a.m. when the dining hall opens.
Mellon Forum TONIGHT: Our final Mellon Forum for seniors occurs tonight in the house at 6 p.m. I thank all seniors who have participated. We’ll take a picture of the group tonight before we scatter for the remainder of the year.
Thursday evening, April 7: Swing Space Pizza Study Break: We have many juniors living in Swing Space. I appreciate their coming over to Trumbull for evening activities throughout the year. This week, we’re going over there. Associate Master Frederick Polner will host a pizza study break in Swing Space this Thursday from 9 until 10 p.m. (Note that I’ll also pay attention to our Swing Space folks again during reading and finals weeks. For those of you over there, let me know what type of food you would like during those weeks!)
Friday evening, April 8: Senior Wine Reception with Sushi. Seniors, take note. We’ll be hosting another wine reception in the house this Friday from 7:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. Come join your fellow seniors. Wine, non-alcoholic beverages, sushi and non-sushi snacks will be available.
Saturday, April 9: Metropolitan Museum of Art Trip NYC from 8:45am – 6:00pm. Sign Up in the Master’s Office and Complete a Waiver Form by Wednesday, April 6, at NOON. 8:45 leave Trumbull – guided tour and free time – 4:30 depart museum – lunch included. Fee of $10 (contact Master’s Office if Cost is Prohibitive)
Friday evening, April 9th, and Saturday evening, April 10th. Senior Trumbullian Lily Shoretz has completed a senior thesis project that has involved interviewing people about their own experiences with sex education and then creating and producing a show based on those interviews. It’s called Blanket Statement. She will be presenting it in our own Nick Chapel this coming Friday and Saturday evenings. On Saturday, there will also be a closing reception (with food!) in our art gallery. I urge you to come see what Lily has accomplished.
Next Saturday, April 9th: Dwight Hall’s Conference on Socially Responsible Investment. Trumbullians are involved in all sorts of good causes. On behalf of Morgan Smiley I alert all to a conference that she (along with many others) is supporting on socially responsible investing. It occurs next Saturday from 11:00 to 5:00 in LC101. Speakers will lead discussions on screening companies for low carbon footprints, and other topics. See their FB page.
(As I write this, I’m looking out the window and it’s snowing again. I grew up in Connecticut but in case you think this is ridiculous, I agree.)