Trinity University (Texas)
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| Motto | E Tribus Unum (From Three, One) |
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| Established | 1869 |
| Type | Private |
| Endowment | US$733,000,000[1] |
| President | John R. Brazil |
| Staff | 228 |
| Undergraduates | 2,481 |
| Postgraduates | 205 |
| Location | San Antonio, Texas, United States |
| Campus | Urban, 117 acres (473,000 m²) |
| Athletics | 18 varsity teams |
| Colors | Maroon and white |
| Website | www.trinity.edu |
Trinity University is an independent, primarily undergraduate, liberal arts and sciences university in San Antonio, Texas.
Contents |
[edit] History
Trinity was founded in 1869 by Cumberland Presbyterians in Tehuacana, Texas. The school was formed from the remnants of three small Cumberland Presbyterian colleges that had failed during the American Civil War. Feeling that the school needed the support of a larger community, the university moved in 1902 to Waxahachie, Texas. In 1906, the university, along with many Cumberland Presbyterian churches, affiliated with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.
In 1942, the Methodist-related University of San Antonio was failing. Trinity was solicited by community leaders in San Antonio who wished to maintain a Protestant-related college in the city. The university left Waxahachie and took over the campus and alumni of the University of San Antonio. The old Waxahachie campus is currently home to Southwestern Assemblies of God University. In 1945, the school obtained a former limestone quarry for a new campus. Texas architect O'Neil Ford was hired to design a master plan and many of the buildings. Construction began in 1950, and the current campus opened in 1952. Since 1969, Trinity has been governed by an independent board of trustees and has maintained a covenant relationship with the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Trinity's academic reputation underwent a startling transformation under the direction of university president Ronald K. Calgaard (1979-1999). Calgaard oversaw numerous changes which improved the school's quality of faculty, facilities, and resources. Admissions criteria and academic standards were also tightened during this period. Current president John R. Brazil (1999-) has continued the work started by Calgaard, with special focus on replacing outdated campus buildings and improving the school's financial resources. The "Campaign for Trinity University," which launched in September 2005, seeks to raise US $200 million for a variety of purposes. As of October 2006, the Campaign had raised US $119 million. [2]
Trinity was recognized by Princeton Review in their 2006 edition of "The Best 361 Colleges," its annual college guide. Trinity has also been ranked #1 in its category for 15 straight years in U.S. News and World Report's "America's Best Colleges." The engineering program at Trinity has received specific praise, being cited in the same report as one of the best in the nation.
[edit] Campus
Trinity overlooks downtown San Antonio, adjacent to the Monte Vista Historic District and just south of the Olmos Park and Alamo Heights neighborhoods. The 117-acre Skyline Campus, the university's fourth location, is noted for its distinctive red brick architecture and well-maintained grounds, modeled after an Italian village by late architect O'Neil Ford.
[edit] Notable buildings and structures
- The 166-foot tall Murchison Tower is the most dominant landmark on the campus and is visible throughout San Antonio. It was previously the highest point in San Antonio. The tower is now lit at night (excepting evenings when the lighting interferes with on-campus astronomical observances), a tradition begun on September 22, 2002 to commemorate Trinity's 60th anniversary in San Antonio.
- Laurie Auditorium seats 2,865 and hosts both campus and community events. Guest lecturers at Laurie Auditorium have included George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Colin Powell, Bob Dole, Margaret Thatcher, José María Aznar, Tom Brokaw and John Edwards.
- The 164,000-square foot Elizabeth Huth Coates Library houses (as of 2005) 927,000 books and bound periodical volumes. The library, an advanced facility for a school of Trinity's size, also houses nearly 200,000 volumes of government documents, over 1.3 million microforms, over 65,000 media items, and maintains 2,087 periodical subscriptions. The library's annual acquisition budget is over US $1.5 million. [3]
- In 2006, the Jim and Janet Dicke Art Building, the Campbell and Eloise Smith Music Building, and the Ruth Taylor Recital Hall were substantially renovated, providing greatly improved facilities and 20,000 additional square feet of space. [4]
- Margarite B. Parker Chapel seats six hundred and houses a pipe organ [5] comprising 5 divisions, 90 stops, 106 ranks, and 5724 pipes. Non-denominational services are led by the campus chaplain Sunday evenings.
- The newly constructed Northrup Hall, finished in 2004 and designed by Robert A. M. Stern Architects, is used for administrative and faculty offices and classrooms.
- Sixteen residence halls - as a residential campus, students are required to live on campus for three years and many stay for their fourth. As a result, Trinity has a variety of residence halls located on lower campus. Halls reserved for first-year students include Beze, Calvert, Herndon, Miller, Winn and Witt. Upperclassmen halls include Isabel, Lightner, Murchison, Myrtle, North, Prassel, Thomas, South and Susanna. One residence hall, McLean, houses both first-year and upperclass students.
- The Coates University Center houses an information desk, dining areas, post office, bookstore, bar, meeting rooms, offices and a number of student organizations.
- "Conversation with Magic Stones" (or, more commonly, simply "Magic Stones"), a series of metal sculptures created by Dame Barbara Hepworth.
[edit] Academics
The university offers 36 majors and 11 interdisciplinary minors in the traditional liberal arts and sciences, fine arts, and graduate programs in accounting, teaching, school psychology, school administration, and health care administration. Across all disciplines, Trinity stresses close interaction between students and faculty members, evident in the 10:1 student/faculty ratio. The full-time faculty numbers 228, 98% of whom hold a terminal degree in their field.
About 40% of the student body has studied abroad in over 35 countries.
[edit] Student body
As of 2005, the university enrolled 2,487 undergraduate and 231 graduate students. 65% of the first-year students come from the state of Texas, while 2% came from outside the United States. The median composite SAT score of incoming students was 1300; 75% of the Class of 2008 came from the top fifth of their high school class.
Of the Fall 2004 entering class, 11.4% were Hispanic, 6.9% Asian, and 3.3% African-American; 12% of students did not specify an ethnic background. [6]
1882 students live on-campus. Trinity requires students to reside on-campus the first three academic years.
81% of the student body receives financial aid, with the average package exceeding $14,300. [7]
[edit] Student life
[edit] Student organizations
Trinity hosts several local social fraternities and sororities. Fraternities include Alpha Theta Chi, Bengal Lancers, Chi Delta Tau, Iota Chi Rho, Kappa Kappa Delta, Omega Phi, and Phi Sigma Chi. Sororities include Alpha Chi Lambda, Chi Beta Epsilon, Gamma Chi Delta, Phi Delta Kappa, Sigma Theta Tau, Spurs, and Zeta Chi. There are two fraternities without charters, Alpha Psi Omega and the Triniteers, that are no longer recognized by the university but still exist unofficially. The Alpha Delta Epsilon and the Triniteers charters were revoked for hazing violations during the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 school years, respectively. Additionally, the school hosts chapters of several academic honor organizations, including Blue Key, Mortar Board, and Phi Beta Kappa. The school also has a couple of national co-ed organizations, Alpha Phi Omega (Trinity University (Delta Pi) Chapter) a national co-ed service fraternity, Phi Alpha Delta, a national co-ed Pre-Law fraternity and Alpha Kappa Psi, a national co-ed business fraternity.
Service opportunities can be found through the largest single student organization, the Trinity University Voluntary Action Community, or TUVAC, which provides opportunities for students to give back to the surrounding community. The national co-ed service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega is also represented. Student government takes the form of the Association of Student Representatives, the Trinity University Honor Council, TIGER Council, the Trinity Multicultural Network, and a Student Court. The Trinity University Student Ambassadors maintain Trinity traditions and encourage philanthropic activity among students, alumni, and friends of the University.
In addition, a number of interest groups attract students. Religious organizations include The Well, InterVarsity Trinity's Intervarsity, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Jewish Student Association, Catholic Student Group, the Muslim Student Association, Orthodox Christian Fellowship, and Students Creating Awareness of the Sikh Faith. Cultural and ethnic groups include the Asian Sub-Continental Association, Black Student Union, Chinese Culture Club, Filipino Student Association, Latino Exchange, the Hindu Student Union, the Gaelic Cultural Society, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Straight Alliance, and the Vietnamese Student Association. Political interests can be pursued in College Republicans, College Democrats, and the Coalition for Peace and Justice. Trinity's radio station, KRTU 91.7 FM, broadcasts jazz during the day, the only station in San Antonio to do so. At night, student volunteers play indie rock. The Trinitonian has been the weekly campus newspaper for 103 years, and has a print circulation of 2,500.
Intramural sports are also popular at Trinity. Students may participate in swimming, flag football, racquetball, table tennis, cross country, indoor and outdoor soccer, the home run derby, track and field, wrestling, tennis, volleyball, basketball, checkers, chess and spades.
[edit] Traditions
Organized traditions at Trinity over the years have included students climbing Murchison Tower at the beginning and end of their time at Trinity, the Last Great Reception, the Golf Cart Parade during the homecoming football game, TigerFest, the Ring Ceremony, Spotlight, and Christmas Vespers. Traditions that students perpetuate through word of mouth include being thrown into the Miller fountain on one's birthday and sorority candelights to announce engagements. Another popular tradition, reserved solely for first-years, is "The Ghosts of Calvert Third" in which the 3rd floor residents of traditionally-male Calvert Hall cover themselves in nothing but flour and streak through the first-year quad on Halloween Night. For the 2003-2004 school year, residential changes led to a reversal of the floor's gender assignment. Some cagey students thought this was an intentional administrative assault on one of the school's few spontaneous traditions, and editorials in The Trinitonian predicted disaster, up to extinction of the tradition. In desperation, students from other floors (and residence halls) cobbled together a traditionally male ancillary streaking expedition. In a true show of Trinity spirit, however, the women of Calvert 3rd surprised the skeptics by making their scheduled streaking debut with well-oiled precision. Tempered by this hardship, the tradition continues in a co-ed incarnation that is less 3rd-floor-centric, welcoming hangers-on from other floors and groupies from neighboring halls.
In recent years, three new student traditions have been introduced — stepping around the University seal in front of Northrup Hall, a procession to Laurie Auditorium from the Esplanade prior to the first year convocation, and from Laurie Auditorium to the Esplanade following graduation ceremonies.
Some students prefer to retain the Trinity tradition of "not having traditions."
[edit] Athletics
Trinity is a member of the NCAA Division III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. It has historically had a strong tennis program, with both the men's and women's programs winning national championships in 2000. In recent years, Trinity has reached the national Division III playoffs in several sports, including football, women's basketball (2003 national champions), volleyball, women's cross country, men's and women's track and field and men's and women's soccer (men's team won the national title in 2003).
The Trinity sports program is celebrated for having won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference "Bell Trophy," awarded to the school in the conference that has the best overall sports record for the year, eleven out of the last thirteen years.
Club sports include men's and women's Lacrosse, Water Polo, and Trap and Skeet.
The school mascot is LeeRoy, a Bengal Tiger. In the 1950's, LeeRoy was an actual tiger who was brought to sporting events, but today LeeRoy is portrayed by a student wearing a tiger suit.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Todd Bender (B.S., 1982, Business Administration) - All American skeet shooter, 3 time National Collegiate Shooting Champion
- Pedro Herrera III, a.k.a. Chingo Bling (B.S., 2002, Business Administration) - Rap Artist, CEO Big Chile Enterprises
- John Cornyn (B.A., 1973, Print Journalism) - United States Senator from Texas
- John Hagee (B.S., 1964, History)[8] - Prominent evangelical Christian leader and author
- Gibby Haynes (B.S., 1981, Business Administration) and Paul Leary (B.A., 1980, Art) - Members of the Butthole Surfers, a popular rock band formed at Trinity
- General James T. Hill - Former commander, U.S. Southern Command.
- Gavin Maloof (B.A., 1979, Speech and Communications) - Co-owner of the Sacramento Kings
- Michael McCaul (B.S., 1984) - Representative for Texas U.S. House District 10.
- Chuck McKinley (B.S., 1964, Mathematics) - Professional tennis player, Men's Wimbledon Singles Champion in 1963, ranked No. 1 tennis player in 1963
- Eleanor Mondale - Actress, television reporter and daughter of former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale
- Uma Pemmeraju (B.A., Political Science) - Fox News Journalist
- John Silber (1947) - Chancellor and former President of Boston University and candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 1990
- Anne Smith (B.A., 1993, psychology) - Professional tennis player, numerous tennis Grand Slam doubles titles.
- Jaclyn Smith - American actress and model
- Dick Stockton (B.A., 1972, sociology) - Professional tennis player, ranked as high as No. 8 tennis player in the 70's
- William K. Suter (B.A.) - Clerk of the United States Supreme Court and former Major General in the United States Army
- Ana Unruh Cohen (B.S., 1996) - Trinity's first Rhodes Scholar
- Jerheme Urban (2003) - NFL wide receiver, Seattle Seahawks (2003-2006), Dallas Cowboys (2006, practice squad)
- Alice Walton - Daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton
- Bob West (1978) - Voice of Barney, the purple dinosaur seen on PBS and loved by children worldwide
[edit] Notable faculty
- Steven M. Bachrach (Chemistry) - Dr. D. R. Semmes Distinguished Professor
- Mark R. Brodl (Biology) - George W. Brackenridge Distinguished Professor
- Erwin Cook (Classical Studies) - T. Frank Murchison Distinguished Professor of the Humanities
- C. Mackenzie Brown (Religion) - Jennie Farris Railey King Professor of Religion
- Thomas Gardner (Geosciences) - Herndon Distinguished Professor
- Barry T. Hirsch (Economics) - E.M. Stevens Distinguished Professor
- Sammye Johnson (Communications) - Carlos Augustus de Lozano Chair in Journalism
- Gordon MacAlpine (Physics and Astronomy) - Zilker Distinguished Professor
- Arturo Madrid (Modern Languages and Literatures) - Norine R. and T. Frank Murchison Distinguished Professor of the Humanities
- Gerald Pitts (Computer Science) - Caruth Distinguished Professor
- Edward Roy (Geosciences) - Pyron Distinguished Professor
- Norman Sherry (English) - Mitchell Professor of Literature and official biographer of novelist Graham Greene
- Mary Ann Tetreault (Political Science) - Una Chapman Cox Distinguished Professor of International Affairs
[edit] External links
| Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference |
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| Austin • Birmingham-Southern (2007) • Centre • Colorado College • DePauw • Hendrix • Millsaps • Oglethorpe • Rhodes • Sewanee • Southwestern • Trinity (Texas) |
