Welcome back (sophomores, juniors and seniors). Welcome, Trumbull Class of 2019.
Unlike most of you, I was here over the summer and, unlike the summer of 2014 (when we had high school summer students in the college, and somewhat too much excitement in Trumbull with several windows broken by soccer balls and much partying, the summer of 2015 in Trumbull was very, very quiet. You left, a wonderful senior week and graduation occurred in May, and then everything came to a standstill. The School of Management held its Executive Program fancy dinners with appetizers and music in our courtyard and dinners in our dining hall on, perhaps, eight evenings. We had a dinner in the house to welcome our new resident fellows (see introductions below.) I hosted a pizza and desserts party on another night for Trumbullians who were here over the summer (about 30 of you). Our executive fellow William Massa suggested and personally hosted two dinners at BAR for Trumbullians over the summer. (Thank you Bill!), but, mostly, things were quiet. I’m very glad you’re back. Trumbull feels like Trumbull again.
Our new resident fellows: I’m excited to tell you that we have new resident fellows in Trumbull College to whom I will introduce the freshmen at our Freshmen dinner. Yet, I’m going to add an introduction in these notes for our upperclassmen.
Andre and Jacquelyn Taylor have moved. They wished to be in the best school district possible for their children. We wish all four of the Taylors the very best. They remain fellows of the college, you will see them at Trumbull events and, of course, Andre will remain an advisor to several of you with several of you working in his lab.
I am excited to tell you that, over the summer, we have the pleasure of having Fred and Kathy Lawrence move in to Trumbull. Many of our freshmen already have met them at the freshman reception and freshman dinner. As the rest of you encounter them in the college and dining hall soon, introduce yourselves as I know they will introduce themselves to you. Soon, Fred Lawrence will speak at a Master’s Tea (see below). I hope, many of you will attend. We’ll have a dinner afterwards in the house.
Fred Lawrence comes to Trumbull after stepping down as President of Brandeis University, where he was also Professor of Politics. Prior to that, he was the Dean of the George Washington Law School in Washington, DC, and a Chaired Professor teaching in the fields of Civil Rights Enforcement, Constitutional Law and Criminal Law. He has published widely in hate crime law and free expression, including a book with Harvard Press on hate crimes. In the 1980s, Fred was an Assistant United States Attorney in New York, serving as Chief of the Civil Rights Unit under U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani. He is a graduate of Williams College (winning the William Branford Turner Prize – the college’s highest honor) and Yale Law School (being an editor of the Yale Law Journal). He is excited to be returning to Yale.
(If you want to read Fred Lawrence’s book Punishing Hate: Bias Crimes under American Law, copies will be available in the Master’s Office within a week or so.)
Kathy Lawrence is a professor of American Literature, teaching and publishing on nineteenth century authors Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Henry James, and their artistic circles. She is currently serving as Editor of the Cambridge University Press Complete Henry James, and completing an intellectual biography of transcendentalist Caroline Sturgis Tappan. Kathy received her BA from Yale College. Kathy says that, although she was a loyal Saybrugian, she has renounced all ties to that other college on Elm Street and professes complete loyalty to Trumbull. (Say what? Of course the Lawrences have and should have Saybrook ties but I sure do appreciate her new loyalty!)
The Lawrences report that they met one night at Branford College and were married in the summer of 1980. They have two grown children, Miriam, a fiction writer, and Noah, Saybrook ‘09.
What’s coming up in Trumbull? As has been true in the past, we’ll have lots of events going on in Trumbull this year.
We’ve already had our freshman move-in, freshman reception, freshman picnic and big-sib, little sib ice cream social. Soon we will hold our freshman dinner. Thanks to all our upper classmen who helped with these events in their roles as Fro-Cos, Move In Crew, Office Aides, Big-Sibs and Ice-Cream social coordinators! (Special thanks to Ali Golden and Laurel Lehman, our Big-Sib/Little-Sib Coordinators.)
Here are some of the other events coming up.
Sept. 6th (this coming Sunday) is our first Family Night in the Trumbull Dining Hall. We invite all Trumbullians including those who live off campus back to our dining hall. Trumbull’s treat.
On Sept. 18th (a Friday) we hold our first Senior Class Wine and Cheese Reception in the house in the early evening. All Trumbull seniors (on and off campus) are invited.
On Sept. 19th (a Saturday) Trumbull Sails. We sail out of Mystic, Connecticut (assuming good weather!). Sign up in the Master’s Office. The boat can accommodate about 50 people. We take a bus to Mystic, board the boat, sail and eat lunch there. If the number of students who sign up exceeds the space available we choose people by lottery and let you know ahead of time (while also keeping a wait list). (For events such as this there is a small charge just to defray costs but we subsidize most of it. As the upperclassmen know, if the cost is prohibitive please sign up anyway. Let a staff member know.)
On Sept. 21th (a Monday) we hold our first Master’s Tea of the season. Master’s Tea with Fred Lawrence. He is an expert in constitutional law and will talk about the Supreme Court Decisions of the past year.
Sept. 26th and 27th (Saturday and Sunday) is Family Weekend. We’re planning a reception in the house on Saturday, and other events on Sunday. Watch these notes for more details.
Sept. 29th, (Tuesday). Master’s Tea with author, John Jeremiah Sullivan, Mr. Sullivan is a winner of a 2015 Windham Campbell Award (a major literary prize granted by Yale).
Here is what The Award Committee says about John Jeremiah Sullivan:
“John Jeremiah Sullivan is an essayist of astonishing range, taking up subjects as diverse as Southern Agrarians, Michael Jackson, and MTV’s The Real World. Dwight Garner described Sullivan in the New York Times as “among the best young nonfiction writers in English,” and his empathetic and bracingly intelligent profiles have earned him comparisons to Tom Wolfe and David Foster Wallace. His essays have appeared in The Paris Review, GQ, Harper’s Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Oxford American, and elsewhere. Reviewing his collection Pulphead (2011) in the New Yorker, James Wood wrote that Sullivan “seems to have in abundance the storyteller’s gifts: he is a fierce noticer, is undauntedly curious, is porous to gossip, and has a memory of childlike tenacity.” Pulphead was preceded by Blood Horses: Notes of a Sportswriter’s Son (2004), an ambitious meditation on horse racing instigated by his father’s fond memory of the Kentucky Derby. Sullivan has been awarded two National Magazine Awards, a Whiting Writers’ Award, and a Pushcart Prize. He lives in Wilmington, North Carolina.”
Want to read some of his work before the tea? Copies of some of his work, including Blood Horses: Notes of a Sportswriter’s Son, will be available in the Master’s office within the week.
Sept. 30th, (Wednesday). Master’s Tea with author and Yale College Dean Jonathan Holloway. Dean Holloway will talk about his book, Jim Crow Wisdom: Memory and Identity in Black America since 1940.
If you wish to see a preview check: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVU6XRNhtd4
If you’ve not read the book and wish to borrow a copy of the book, let me know. Copies will be available in our office and library.
Oct. 1 (Thursday). Sophomore Class Dessert Reception in the house.
Oct. 3rd (Saturday) Our Fall Dance: Trumball in the Trumbull Courtyard. All Trumbullians are invited. This is sponsored by our wonderful Trumbull College Council. Want to help? Let Zak Kayal and Al Nurani, our TCC leaders this year know.
About titles: Last, I want to address recent discussions regarding the title of College Master at Yale.
What should the title of the current “masters” be? That’s clearly under discussion at Yale, college-wide. As that title is debated by many, those of us who have been given the title by Yale will be listening to you and talking to you about what you feel comfortable with and what we are comfortable with ourselves. I’ve already talked to several of you about this and to others in the university as well. I’m learning and paying attention.
I can tell you that here in Trumbull it is truly unimportant to me exactly how I, personally, am addressed except insofar as I want people to feel comfortable, safe, included, respected and good about whatever term is used. In that regard, I can tell you that there are times at which and situations in which I’ve personally been uncomfortable with people addressing me as “Master Clark.” From the conversations I’ve had with some of you I know that some of you feel the same. No one need call me that. Feel free to address me as Prof. Clark, Dr. Clark, or Margaret. I recognize that it’s routine for many of you to call me Master Clark and it’s fine to use that too. (In cases where I’m uncomfortable with the term Master Clark, I’ll raise that myself and will want to know how you feel. Because messages often go out to the entire college, I’ll sign them Margaret Clark.)
[I do admit to especially liking a few inventive titles that some of you have made up for me and/or use because of your own cultural heritage. You know who you are! Being serious is fine and good; being light-hearted and just plain warm is welcome.]
Some have noted that there are things that are much more important than words. Indeed there are. Yet words can and often are important. They carry multiple meanings that change with time, people, relationships and context. When the meanings are hurtful we need to attend to that. At the same time discussing this issue should not preclude discussing and attending to other serious and important issues. Raise and discuss other issues as well. It’s all part of community and relationship building, inclusiveness, embracing and advancing our community and personal growth.
There is, of course, an associate master here too – my spouse. His preference, I can tell you, is to be called Mr. Polner. (He’s made that one simple.)
As an aside, in case anyone wonders what the position of Master (or whatever it might come to be called in the future) is supposed to be, here is what Yale’s website says: “The master is the chief administrative officer and the presiding faculty presence in each residential college. He or she is responsible for the physical well being and safety of students in the residential college, as well as for fostering and shaping the social, cultural, and educational life and character of the college.” I am truly honored to have been given this job and these responsibilities. I will do my best. Feedback is more than welcome. Send emails, talk to me as you see me, make an appointment to meet in the office. Attending and being responsive to such feedback is part of my job description.
Best wishes for a terrific new academic year.
Margaret Clark