Jump to content

Trinity College, Toronto

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Shagmaestro (talk | contribs) at 22:49, 19 March 2007 (←Undid revision 116324966 by 128.100.151.110 (talk) See Talk for discussion; do not start an edit war.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other institutions named Trinity College, see Trinity College.
University of Trinity College
Coat of Arms
MottoMet’Agona Stephanos
TypeFederated college at the University of Toronto
Established1851
EndowmentCAD $64.7 million (2006)[1]
ChancellorVacant
ProvostMargaret MacMillan
Undergraduates1,700
Address
6 Hoskin Ave.,
Toronto, ON
M5S 1H8
Canada
,
Toronto
,
Ontario
,
Canada
CampusUrban
Websitetrinity.utoronto.ca

The University of Trinity College, referred to as Trinity College or colloquially as Trin, is one of the federated colleges making up the modern University of Toronto (U of T). It also houses an Anglican divinity school and is part of the Toronto School of Theology (TST), an ecumenical federation of seven theological schools affiliated with the University of Toronto. Students enrolled in the Trinity Faculty of Divinity can take courses from any of the member schools.

Trinity is the smallest of the University of Toronto's seven colleges; it has about 1700 students. Throughout Trinity's history, it has managed to maintain high entrance averages for incoming students. It is also well known for striving to continue an Oxbridge-type atmosphere including mandating the wearing of gowns at dinner and, until 2005, preserving sex segregation in the residences, and is in fact a Canadian Dominion cousin to the Trinity namesake at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in Great Britain. The college maintains a thoroughly Anglican flavour in both academic and daily life, even though many of the students that attend the College are not Anglican themselves.

Trinity's Faculty of Divinity is one of six Anglican seminaries in Canada, and is considered liberal and Anglo-Catholic in its theology. Trinity is also home to the Munk Centre for International Studies, Canada's premier International Relations school.

History

Trinity College main building

In 1827, Bishop John Strachan, an Anglican deacon who arrived in Canada in 1799, received a Royal Charter from King George IV to build King's College at York (now Toronto). At the time the British Empire was being reformed along financial and religious lines, and one of the goals of the "new system" was to form churches (by way of land grants) and schools in all of the colonies. However, York was so small at the time that there were no funds available for actually building the college, and the first classes were not held until 1843.

The college was born into a turbulent period in colonial history. In 1848, the first local elections were held, and the land grants to the churches reverted to "crown" ownership. This left King's College in a somewhat odd position, and Strachan's support for the school vanished. In 1849, the school was secularized, and became the University of Toronto on January 1 1850.

This action incensed Strachan, who immediately set about creating a private school based on strong Anglican lines. In 1850, the Cameron property on Queen Street, at the western end of Toronto, was purchased for £2,000, and the school was built on this site, on the west side of Garrison Creek (now buried). On 2 August 1851, the legislature of the Province of Canada passed an act incorporating Trinity College. This was supplanted by a Royal Charter for the University of Trinity College, granted by Queen Victoria in 1852. The construction work was completed quickly, and students arrived in January, 1852, including some from the Diocesan Theological Institute in Cobourg, Ontario, which the Faculty of Divinity at Trinity College replaced. In 1884 the college admitted its first woman student; in 1888, St. Hilda's College was created for the women students of Trinity. Trinity College was a highly regarded school throughout the nineteenth century, and was (perhaps surprisingly) fairly progressive.

With Strachan now long dead, efforts began in the 1890s to unite Trinity with the University of Toronto. Most of the degrees granted were turned over to the University of Toronto, with the exception of the degree in Divinity. In 1904 the college was federated with the university, and efforts began to move to a location on the main Queen's Park campus. Land was purchased in 1913, but due to World War I construction was not begun until 1923. Bishop James Fielding Sweeny laid the cornerstone. The new building was opened in 1925, at which point the land and original building were sold to the city, then later torn down in 1950. Only the old gates of the college still stand, at the southern entrance to Trinity Bellwoods Park on Queen Street West. The former women's residence building for St. Hilda's students is now a home for senior citizens and overlooks the northern end of the park from the west side.

In 2004, the college board of trustees voted narrowly in favour of ending Trinity's long practice of same-sex residency. Beginning in 2005, large portions of Trinity's residences became home to people of both sexes. In March 2007, the Trinity College Meeting voted narrowly to end the practice of gender segregated voting, thus making all students eligible to vote for all elected positions, including those which are gender specific, such as the male and female Heads of College.

Academics

Munk Centre for International Studies (north wing)

The College is made up of two faculties: Arts and Divinity.

The Faculty of Arts offers undergraduate major programs in Immunology, International Relations, and Ethics, Society, and Law to students at U of T, with the latter two identified as part of an academic program called Trinity One. Admission to the Trinity One program is separate from that of the College itself, with enrollment limited to 25 students per stream, with at least one famous professor in each stream- Margaret MacMillan in International Relations and Mark Kingwell in Ethics, Society, and Law.[2] The Faculty of Arts formerly offered a program in Psychoanalytic Thought.

Students may also earn two or three credits in independent studies through the college.

The Faculty of Divinity is a graduate faculty and a member of the TST. At the basic degree level, it offers several Master of Divinity program - a basic program, a "collaborative learning" model with self-directed study components, and an honours programme, which includes a thesis. For students not seeking Holy Orders, a Master of Theological Studies is offered.

At the advanced degree level, students may pursue the Master of Arts in Theology, the Master of Theology, the Doctor of Theology and the Doctor of Ministry. The PhD in Theology can be earned through the University of St. Michael's College. Applicants to the ThM must hold an MDiv.

Students can also enroll jointly in the MDiv and MA.

Literary Institute

The Trinity College Literary Institute (TCLI or Lit) is the oldest student debating society in North America,[3] predating Trinity itself, and plays a central role in undergraduate student life at the College. The institute was begun at the Diocesan Theological Institute in Cobourg.

The Lit holds weekly debates in the Junior Common Room (JCR) that satirize the Parliamentary system, while also actively maintaining a committee for formal debate.

Most "Lit" debates are on amusing topics which are "debated" with references to many references to popular culture. if one attends a Lit expecting to hear a formal debate about a relevant topic, they would be disappointed. However, attending "The Lit" is, for the most part, fun.

Trinity College students participate in the University of Toronto Hart House Debates Club, and throughout its history have fielded some of the top-ranked teams in the Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate.

Episkopon

Main article: Episkopon

Episkopon is a highly controversial yet somewhat satirical secret society that was founded at Trinity College in 1858. In 1992, Episkopon dissociated itself from the college, though the society continues to play a significant role in student life at Trinity.

Trinity College Dramatic Society (TCDS)

The Trinity College Dramatic Society (TCDS) is a student organized group dedicated to the production of amateur performances at Trinity College. The George Ignatieff Theatre is their primary performance facility. It is headed by an executive committee of about 12 elected and appointed Trinity students.

A Trinity College Dramatic Club was first formed in 1892 at the University of Trinity College, apparently under the auspices of Lally McCarthy who also graduated that year. The Dramatic Club produced plays in Toronto and toured Guelph, Woodstock, Brantford, and Hamiltron in 1894.

Since 1927, the Dramatic Society has usually produced at least one full-length production a year. In some years and additional two or three short plays have been produced as well. The main role of the Dramatic Society has been to support and run productions at the college and it has also been responsible for Trinity’s involvement in the University of Toronto's annual Hart House Drama Festival.

Season: Usually four to five shows per year 

   * Orientation Play - An original comedy relevant to student life at Trinty College
   * Fall (October/November) - First large-scale production, usually a Shakespearean play
   * Christmas Play - Produced by the frosh (first years) as a rebuttal to the orientation play
   * Winter (January) - Second large-scale production, usually modern production 
     (Often, TCDS will additionally offer a submission to the Hart House Drama Festival in this period)
   * Spring (March) - Third large-scale production, varies

Students are encouraged to propose plays for production. Successful proposals receive a budget, rehearsal space, and performance facilities. Technical production and design support is provided by the College Theatre Manager. It mounts such impressive productions as Shakespeare's Pericles, Tom Stoppard's Jumpers, Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting and Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit. The Dramatic Society has also launched a series of workshop plays written by students and an annual first-year Christmas play.

Although primarily comprised of Trinity Students, the TCDS does permit non-Trinity students to participate in their productions.


Met’Agona Stephanos

The college song, Met’Agona Stephanos, has been rewritten so many times that it now includes both Greek and Latin verses. The first Latin verse, Nimium Cervisi, was an epinikion, a victory ode sung after the annual steeplechase run on St. Simon and St. Jude’s Day, the 28th of October. It seems to originate from about 1895, while the rest of the song is at least twenty years older, possibly from as early as 1863, with the Fenian raids. Reports that the Trinity College company, deployed in reserve as part of the Canadian contingent during the Niagara raid, mistakenly fired into a retreating company from University College are apocryphal. Sanctum Hildiam canimus is the St. Hilda’s verse.

Original English Translation
Hormaometh’ adelphoi

Eis agona deinon,
Pantelos dunamenoi
Nikan panto echtron.

Chorus:
Met’agona stephanos,
Melos kai semeoin.
Airometh ’es to telos
Hemin kudos phaidron.

Nimium cervisi
Ebriat tirones.
Non oportet fieri
Vappas nebulones.

Sanctum Hildiam canimus
In voce puellae
Unde mox exibimus
Doctae atque bellae.

Achilles no podarkes,
Ho Ares to theon
Kronon kai Harakles
Hessuointh’ huph’hemon.

Chairomen gethosune,
Kleontes kai humno,
Psallomen simona to
Ioudan to Dio.

Brothers let us hasten

Into the mighty contest,
Being altogether capable
Of conquering every foe.

Chorus:
After the conquest, the crown,
The song and the symbol.
Let us win glorious honour
For ourselves at the end.

Too much spirits
Intoxicates the freshmen.
It is not seemly to become
Good-for-nothing wretches.

Saint Hilda we sing
In girlish voice
Whence soon we shall go forth
Learnedly and charmingly.

Achilles, the swift-footed,
Ares from the gods,
Chronus’ son and Hercules
Are trampled on by us.

We rejoice with joy,
Celebrating also with song;
We sing to Simon
And Jude, the holy pair.

Notable Alumni

References

  1. ^ Audited Financial Statements 2005-06
  2. ^ http://www.trinity.utoronto.ca/trinityone/
  3. ^ http://groups.sa.utoronto.ca/ssa/detail.lasso?orgreference=521
  • Reed, T.A. (Ed.) (1952). A History of the University of Trinity College, Toronto, 1852–1952. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trinity_College,_Toronto&oldid=116379806"