Harry and Mary Marshal in the Class of 2013

Dr. Harry Wallace (above, right) and Mary Ullmann-Japhet (above, left) have been named the Class Marshal and Alumni Sponsor, respectively, for the Class of 2013. In this photo, When Harry met... Mary, they had lunch off campus with their Student Affairs liaison, Brian Hirsch, to discuss plans for the Class of 2013. Dr. Wallace is a tenured faculty member in Psychology and Ms. Ullmann-Japhet (Class of 1984) is a former broadcaster who currently leads San Antonio Sports. In their volunteer roles they will serve as practical and ceremonial leaders for the new students over their four years at Trinity. They will offer context for where those students are in the Trinity experience, whether as new students adjusting to freedom or juniors seeking internships.

They join the esteemed duo for the Class of 2012: Dr. Angela Breidenstein, Education (below left), and Mr. Dave Mansen, (below, right). They will be serving in their second year of the program, working closely with their students, now all living in the Sophomore College. They too met this summer to make plans for the year, but took time out to strut their stuff AND honor(?) the Trinity seal in front of Northrup Hall.

YMCA Rocks!

The downtown YMCA has been relocated to just blocks from the Trinity campus, taking up quarters in the old Albertson's grocery store at St. Mary's and highway 281. This is huge for Trinity, coming at a time when campus officials were working on developing fitness sessions for students: non-credit aerobics, Pilate's, and yoga. Problem was finding gym space (because of athletic team practices) as well as scheduling and paying instructors.

Enter the new YMCA, which opened in June, 2009. While our own Bell Center boasts outstanding fitness equipment, basketball and racquetball courts, and an indoor pool, the YMCA offers an array of classes (spinning, boot camp, weight lifting), a rock-climbing wall, an eatery called the Grace Cafe, which features "Seattle's Best" coffee, and some new state-of-the-art equipment - all within walking distance of campus.

Employees will be happy to see that there are numerous options for children including day care-type facilities. The venture is part of a partnership with the Trinity Baptist Church (no relation to the University), which runs the Cafe and features other meeting spaces.

What the pictures can't reveal is that the place has a great vibe to it: clean, new, active, friendly, and welcoming. It provides a terrific option for the fitness -minded on campus and will allow great opportunities for future partnerships.

Policies Tweaked for 2009-2010

In case you missed it, there were a couple noteworthy policy changes put into place for the upcoming academic year. These changes were detailed in the most recent Student Conduct Report that was distributed to the University community last month.

Alcohol Policy: Probably the biggest change is that the Alcohol Coalition decided to define hard alcohol once and for all. The general rule of thumb is that if you can buy it at HEB you can probably have it in your room, assuming you are 21 or older. Another change allows a "legal" suitemate to consume his or her alcoholic beverage in the room of suitemates who are under 21. This seems equally benign and risky, though I am not sure why. Nevertheless, a case couldn't really be made against it, so it is worth a try. It is being done to allow students more flexibility and to allow them more freedom in the area in which they live. Click here to see how our policies compare to some peer institutions.

Balcony Policy: In a nod to the environment, Residential Life will allow drying racks on private balconies next year. This may reduce heavy drawing electrical use of laundry room dryers. The policy also will allow students to have a milk crate on their balconies with their smelly stuff, such as running shoes. With freedom comes responsibility, though. Violators will no longer be warned and automatic fines will be issued for violations of the policy.

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah

Directors and Assistant Directors from Student Affairs take a day to celebrate the joys of work by just plain playing. (The "fun" day followed the VP-Directors retreat the previous day in which the mind-numbing topics of budgets, strategic planning, annual reports, and student-development theory took center stage.) So fun was in order as the group, along with their second-in-commands, went zip-lining at the Cypress Valley Canopy Tours just southeast of Austin. Above, staff members from the VP office, Chapel, Career Services, and Counseling Services celebrate being tied together by their pelvic harnesses.

The REAL Dean's List

Trinity University will soon be publishing a list of students who achieved "Dean's List" status this past semester. To make the Dean's List (an old reference to academic Dean's, not the good ones) a student must have a minimum 3.65 grade point average of least 15 grade-point-carrying credits. An Academic Affairs review revealed that 413 students received this distinction for the spring of 2009. This is the highest number over the past six years, in which an average of about 340 students have received the honor. What's more, the 2008-2009 Dean's List totals came in at 799 for the two semesters combined. That is 120 more students than the previous year.

So what's gotten into our students? One could assume that the faculty is a constant, and certainly wouldn't have changed enough in one year to merit the upward trend. Perhaps it is that incoming students are coming in with more academic preparation as evidenced by climbing SAT scores. Maybe it is the Obama effect. In any event, a 3.65 at Trinity is something for these students to be very proud of accomplishing. Hats off to them, their professors, and the Admissions staff.