University of Trinity College
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
|
| Motto | Met’Agona Stephanos |
|---|---|
| Established | 1858 |
| Type | Federated college at the University of Toronto |
| Endowment | CAD $81.1 million [1] |
| Chancellor | Michael Wilson |
| Staff | 100 |
| Undergraduates | 1,500 |
| Location | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Campus | Urban |
| Website | trinity.utoronto.ca |
The University of Trinity College, or simply Trinity College is one of the federated colleges making up the modern University of Toronto (U of T).
Trinity is the smallest of the University of Toronto's seven colleges. 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.
Trinity College is also a member of the Toronto School of Theology (TST), which is an ecumenical federation of seven theological schools affiliated with the University of Toronto. Students enrolled in the Faculty of Divinity can take courses from any of the member schools.
Contents |
[edit] History
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.
[edit] Academics
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.[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.
[edit] 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 that satirize the Parliamentary system, while also actively maintaining a committee for formal debate.
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.
[edit] Episkopon
Episkopon is a controversial Trinity College secret society that was founded in 1858. In 1992, Episkopon and the College officially disassociated, though the society continues to play a significant role in student life at Trinity.
[edit] 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, Chorus: Nimium cervisi Sanctum Hildiam canimus Achilles no podarkes, Chairomen gethosune, |
Into the mighty contest, Being altogether capable Chorus: After the conquest, the crown, Too much spirits Saint Hilda we sing Achilles, the swift-footed, We rejoice with joy, |
[edit] Notable Alumni/ae
- Addington Bruce - Journalist
- Adrienne Clarkson - Former Governor-General of Canada
- Atom Egoyan - Filmmaker
- Bill Graham - Politician
- Michael Ignatieff - Academic and politician
- Archibald Lampman - Poet
- Margaret O. MacMillan - Historian, best-selling author, and current Trinity Provost
- Michael Peers - Former Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada
- Ted Rogers - Media magnate
- Michael Wilson - Chancellor and current Canadian Ambassador to the United States
- Michael Chong - Former President of the Queen's Privy Council, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, and Minister for Sport
[edit] References
- Reed, T.A. (Ed.) (1952). A History of the University of Trinity College, Toronto, 1852–1952. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
[edit] External links
| Toronto School of Theology |
|
Member Institutions |
|
Affiliated Institutions |
