Welcome Class of 2019

June 22, 2015

Dear Members of Trumbull College’s Class of 2019,

It is my pleasure and honor as Master of Trumbull College to welcome you to our community.

I am pleased you’ve been assigned to Trumbull and we’re all anxious to meet you in August.

My job is to lead the social and intellectual life of the college as well as to ensure your well-being. The greatest pleasure of this job is simply getting to know each of you and keeping in close touch through your four years at Yale and Trumbull and beyond.

Trumbull College is a terrific physical space. Its Gothic buildings are beautiful. It is located just across the street from Old Campus where you will be living during your freshman year. We’re right in the center of campus, on cross-campus right next to Sterling Library. Within our walls Trumbull students have access to three courtyards, a terrific dining hall, our own library, a common room, a dance studio, a theatre, pottery, art and music studios, computer clusters, a student kitchen, a beautiful seminar room, a TV room, a buttery, and a gym. In addition, I live in the college in a lovely house and you all will be invited there often. We start with a reception for you and for your families when you arrive on campus. Then I’ll continue to host events in the house all year long including a freshman reception with desserts one evening, Master’s Teas in the living room with speakers and dinners in the adjacent dining room, study sessions with food late at night during which you can both work and wander into the pantry and kitchen to eat. I also host fellows meetings (the fellows are faculty members and community members) during which we invite some of you each time to join us, meet and network with our fellows and hear their talks.

That’s not all we’ll be doing, though. We’ll also host events in the dining hall where we have a new huge screen and host viewings of various media events (the Super Bowl, the Oscars, big Yale athletic events, movies) as well as in our Common Room, other common spaces, and Courtyard (where we’ll host a fall and spring festival and a dance as well – our TrumBall). This year I’m also going to try something new. I’ll be hosting a regular writing group in our fellows lounge on Fridays for those who feel that a special block of time just to get writing done in a lovely space with tea and coffee available will be helpful. (I myself will be there and writing each time.) Finally, we’ll be sponsoring a variety of trips and events. For instance, I’ll host a sailing trip out of Mystic, Ct. early in the fall; our Trumbull College Council will sponsor a dance outside in our courtyard with a dance floor under a tent, DJ and good food. There is also a fall and a spring festival held in the college and trips to NYC.

Trumbull is a wonderful community of people (and one dog). We have a great staff and wonderful dean and resident and regular faculty fellows. Many of us will be living in the college with you. In addition to myself, other Trumbullians who live in the college include my spouse, Associate Master Frederick Polner, Dean Jasmina Besirevic, her husband Matt and their two daughters, Resident fellow John Williams (an English professor), his wife Brooke and their two sons and new resident fellow Frederick Lawrence (a lawyer and former Dean of the George Washington University Law School who is just stepping down from being president of Brandeis University) and his wife Kathy who is an English professor. In addition we have many Trumbull staff members you’ll come to know: Mary Beth Radigan (our facilities manager) and a full custodial staff, Christine Centola and Bernadette Janis (our dining hall managers) and a full dining hall staff, Deborah Bellmore our operations manager, Debbie Rueb, my Senior Administrative Assistant, Leah Jehan, the Senior Administrative Assistant for the Dean, Karen Eisenman our service assistant for the Master’s House, a gardening staff and security officers who watch out for us.

Enjoy your summer. Don’t hesitate to write to me with questions over the summer (Margaret.clark@yale.edu). Indeed, I’d love to hear from you. If you happen to have contacts with people who might be great speakers for Trumbull (authors, performers, politicians, whomever!), let me know. I’m always open to ideas for new events.

Jump in and join our endeavors. We also want those of you who are athletically inclined (whether you’re really good at a sport or not) to join our intramural teams and represent us as we compete with other colleges. It’s fun and we compete in all sorts of sports – tennis, soccer, volleyball, bowling, table tennis, water polo, etc. Feel free to write to me over the summer, I’ll pass your names along to our intramural leaders, and, I assure you, they will be in touch with you promptly.

Once again, welcome! Congratulations on your admission to Yale! We’re thrilled you are a Trumbullian! We can’t wait to meet you.

Warmly,

Margaret S. Clark

John M. Musser Professor of Psychology

Master, Trumbull College

Yale University

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