Welcome to Trumbull – Class of 2022!!!

June 26, 2018

Dear Members of Trumbull College’s Class of 2022,

It is my pleasure and honor as Head of Trumbull College to welcome you to our community. After Yale College Admissions, we always anxiously await hearing who will be joining us in the fall. We’re happy you’ve been assigned to Trumbull and 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. I’ve found that the greatest pleasure of my job is 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 first year.  We’re right in the center of campus, on cross-campus right adjacent to Sterling Library. Within our walls all Trumbull students have access to three courtyards, a terrific dining hall, our own library, a common room, a dance studio, a theatre, a pottery studio, 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, the first floor of which serves as a gathering place for many events.  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 first-year reception with desserts one evening, Trumbull 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 fellow’s meetings (the fellows are faculty members and community members) to which students are also often invited so that you can meet and network with our fellows and hear their talks.

That’s not all we’ll be doing.  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 fall TrumBall).  We also have a lovely space known as the Fellows’ Lounge (which really consists of three rooms – a living room, a dining room named the Farr Room and kitchen/serving area.  It’s the Fellows’ Lounge but we also use it for our Trumbull students.  For instance, during mid-terms and finals I host early-morning study events with coffee and breakfast foods for those who want a quiet space with food even before our dining hall opens.  Sometimes we also use it in the evenings when students want to discuss issues of importance to the college.  Finally, we’ll be sponsoring a variety of trips and events. We’ll host a first-year dinner in the dining hall and picnic in the courtyard soon after you arrive. 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 and to a variety of events in Connecticut.

Trumbull is a wonderful community of people (and two dogs – two labs).  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 Head Frederick Polner, Dean Surjit Chandhoke, her husband Gurbakhshash Singh. Resident fellow John Williams (an English professor). John Wargo (Forestry and Environmental Studies Professor), and his wife Linda.  In addition, we have many Trumbull staff members you’ll come to know: Kodi Scott (our Facilities Superintendent) and a full custodial staff, 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 Trumbull 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.  Write to me over the summer if you’re interested and I’ll pass your names along to our intramural leaders.  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

Head, Trumbull College

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