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August 19, 2005
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Tuttle encourages first years to call TU 'home'
The poster read, "New students are to take their mattresses to the basement linen room for the beginning of the semester mattress exchange." Some did, only to realize (standing there with other new students for several minutes) that maybe they had been duped - victims of an upper-class student practical joke. Welcome to college.
That was a long time ago. Fortunately, compliant as I was, I never saw the sign. Mattresses were used for other things as well, including lining the corridor for some smash-mouth football. Now I realize, as should all students, that the integrity of the mattress should not be challenged in such a way. Each mattress, after all, costs over one hundred dollars, is fire rated, property of the University, etc. Perspectives change.
For our new students - with hope - our beds will offer comfort, different than home, but comfort nonetheless. For our returning students, now immune to the stress of being new, or knowing which brick building is which, moving back to campus provides comfort as well. Typically - between the second and third year - students let slip, in front of parents, no less, that they are excited to get back home ... to Trinity.
The institution has its own unique history of identifying its roots: moving from Tehuacana, to Waxahachie, to the Woodlawn campus in San Antonio, and eventually to its final home on Trinity Hill in the early 1950s.
Welcome new and returning students, to a gem of a campus. What's the Trinity story? It is one of perseverance, transience and dynamic growth. The University grew steadily until bursting on the national scene as an educational oasis of the West - ranked as the top school of its kind in the region, now 14 years running.
Ask students and employees what they like about it here. Inevitably the answer is the faculty, the size of the school, and the beautiful grounds and buildings. But there is always something more, and it is intangible. People often identify the warm welcome, the friendly people and the positive spirit. All of these things make this place feel like home.
The Residential Life staff has adopted the theme "Trinity University. Always Home" to capitalize on this campus spirit. For those living on campus, we want this to be a place of comfort and support, where new students can thrive under the leadership of their resident mentors. In the upper-class area, we work with students committed to self-governance in their learning communities. Upper-class resident assistants continue to play an integral, though differently defined, role for our other students.
Another year begins. Some of you are starting, and some are ending. Your Trinity journey, though, will hopefully extend beyond the relatively short four years you study and learn here, in and outside of the classroom. The connections you make with other students and the University now will be ones you maintain for a lifetime. Make the most of it. Welcome to Trinity University. Always Home.
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