The Trinity Reporter CELEBRATING CINESTUDIO - The student-founded movie theater marks 50 years on campus

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The Trinity Reporter CELEBRATING CINESTUDIO - The student-founded movie theater marks 50 years on campus
The
Trinity       CELEBRATING
Reporter      C I N E ST U D I O
              The student-founded
              movie theater marks
WINTER 2020
              50 years on campus

              ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
              Women at the Summit:
              50 Years of Coeducation
              at Trinity College
The Trinity Reporter CELEBRATING CINESTUDIO - The student-founded movie theater marks 50 years on campus
C O N T E N T S

        F E A T U R E S

                   10
        Women at the Summit:
       50 Years of Coeducation
          at Trinity College
        Advocates
       for equality
        These alumni work to
          empower women

           16
       Celebrating
       Cinestudio
  The student-founded movie theater
      marks 50 years on campus

          22
   Breakthroughs
     in treating
  genetic illnesses
   D. Holmes Morton, M.D., IDP’79
      dedicates career to Amish,
         Mennonite children

          26
   From student to
    staff member
   Young alumni pay it forward as
         Trinity employees

          31
      We are the
     Class of 2023
   Catching up with six members of
     Trinity’s Bicentennial Class

          38
  The campaign for
   Trinity athletics
    Fundraising effort ‘will impact
       every student and team’

           ON THE COVER
   A new, color-changing neon sign
  welcomes patrons to Cinestudio,
     the on-campus independent
  movie theater celebrating its 50th
        anniversary this year.

         P H OTO : H E L D E R M I R A
The Trinity Reporter CELEBRATING CINESTUDIO - The student-founded movie theater marks 50 years on campus
D E P A R T M E N T S

                 03
           ALONG THE WALK

               06
       VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

               07
         AROUND HARTFORD

                 08
          TRINITY TREASURE

                  43
              CLASS NOTES

                   74
               IN MEMORY

                 78
            ALUMNI EVENTS

                    80
                 ENDNOTE

         T H E T R I N I T Y
            R E P O RT E R
       Vol. 50, No. 2, Winter 2020
 Published by the Office of Communications,
      Trinity College, Hartford, CT 06106.
  Postage paid at Hartford, Connecticut, and
additional mailing offices. The Trinity Reporter
  is mailed to alumni, parents, faculty, staff,
and friends of Trinity College without charge.
 All publication rights reserved, and contents
    may be reproduced or reprinted only by
  written permission of the editor. Opinions
      expressed are those of the editor or
  contributors and do not reflect the official
           position of Trinity College.

    Postmaster: Send address changes to
     The Trinity Reporter, Trinity College,
   300 Summit Street, Hartford, CT 06106

     The editor welcomes your questions
         and comments: Sonya Adams,
  Office of Communications, Trinity College,
  300 Summit Street, Hartford, CT 06106,
sonya.adams@trincoll.edu, or 860-297-2143.

     www.trincoll.edu

                ON THIS PAGE
    Acclaimed concert organist Christopher
    Houlihan ’09, right, John Rose College
   Organist-and-Directorship Distinguished
Chair of Chapel Music, performs in the Trinity
 College Chapel with the Hartford Symphony
   Orchestra during the opening concert of
  the 2019 Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival
         Hartford in September 2019.

              P H OTO : J O H N WOI K E

                                 / Fall 2014 /   3
The Trinity Reporter CELEBRATING CINESTUDIO - The student-founded movie theater marks 50 years on campus
LE T T E R S

     WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
     The Trinity Reporter welcomes letters related to items published in recent
     issues. Please send remarks to the editor at sonya.adams@trincoll.edu
     or Sonya Adams, Office of Communications, Trinity College, 300 Summit
     Street, Hartford, CT 06106.

     MAKING PURPOSEFUL                           ADMIRATION FOR ALUMNUS
     BANTAM CONNECTIONS                          My name is Meaghan Race [’18, M’19].
     So excited to read about Joe Catrino’s      Still strange to think I’m an alumna
     groundbreaking work transforming            since I’m not too far removed from my
     Trinity’s Career Development Center         time at Trinity. I read the article on
     (“That Next Step,” spring 2019).            Dr. Eric Manheimer in The Reporter
     Especially impressed with his inte-         (“Sharing Patients’ Stories,” fall 2019)
     gration of design thinking from the         and to be frank was overjoyed and           Excellence. It was a most interesting set
     powerful Designing Your Life program        impressed to have attended the same         of discussions as the realities of going
     out of Stanford University. Helping         college as an individual I have such        coed unfolded. I was particularly fond
     students develop the tools to find more     admiration for. I am currently work-        of and respected President Lockwood’s
     meaningful connections between their        ing in N.Y.C. at Mount Sinai Hospital       leadership not only in guiding the
     near-term studies and their career          while I apply for medical school, and       board to the decision but also the tran-
     path is one way Trinity is setting itself   I was unaware that I had a connection       sitional controversies that followed.
     apart. This methodology resonates           with Dr. Manheimer. … I simply want to         I had planned to attend the celebra-
     with us alumni as well. As secretary for    reach out to thank him. It might sound      tion that occurred in San Francisco
     the Class of 1982, I have been hearing      a little corny, but his philosophy on       last year marking the start of the many
     fascinating updates from classmates         medicine has played a huge part in          events. Unfortunately, I was ill and
     exploring late-stage career transi-         my journey toward pursuing this             could not get there. The events planned
     tions. Whether prompted by personal         career path.                                for the Women at the Summit program
     passions or triggered by forces beyond         Meaghan Race ’18, M’19                   this next month sound intriguing and
     their control, these alumni are forg-          New York, New York                       appropriate. Alas, all are on the East
     ing new pathways. As someone who                                                        Coast, so I won’t be able to join but will
     has navigated a few career evolutions       AT THE TABLE WHEN                           hope to see the streamed version.
     myself, I have come to appreciate the       TRINITY WENT COED                              Marv Peterson ’60
     help that a supportive circle provides—     I may be one of the only living members        Aptos, California
     especially the connections within our       of the Board of Trustees at the time this
     Trinity Bantam Network. The Designing       transition [to coeducation] occurred.
     Your Life program is a refreshing and       Perhaps the only living one! I was an                   MORE WAYS TO CONNECT:
     illuminating approach. So grateful          alumni trustee from 1969 to 1975 in the
                                                                                                                  facebook.com/
     Trinity has such an energizing leader       period when the transition was taking
                                                                                                                  TrinityCollege
     paving the way to help our students         place. Interestingly, although I was
     and alumni forge more purposeful con-       already nine years out of Trinity (Class
     nections going forward.                     of 1960), I was probably 20–25 years                             twitter.com/
                                                                                                                  TrinityCollege
        Thank you for another fascinating        younger than the rest of the trustees.
     feature article.                            I had previously been president of the
        Ellin Carpenter Smith ’82                Boston Trinity Alumni Club and later                             instagram.com/
        Windsor, Connecticut                     received the Trinity Alumni Medal for                            TrinityCollege

2                                                                                                                THE TRINITY REPORTER
The Trinity Reporter CELEBRATING CINESTUDIO - The student-founded movie theater marks 50 years on campus
ALONG THE WALK                               News from the Trinity community

                            Senator speaks
                            on gun reform
                            The Trinity College Democrats welcomed
                            U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Igor
                            Volsky, founder and executive director of
                            Guns Down America, to a Gun Violence
                            Prevention Forum on October 4, 2019, in
                            McCook Auditorium.
                               Murphy, author of The Violence Inside
                            Us, a book about the history of violence
                            in the United States that was set to be
                            published in January, discussed the role
                            he has played in the gun reform move-
                            ment and answered questions on the
                            issue of gun violence in America today.
                            “We need to realize that gun violence
                            is on the radar of politicians, and the
                            Democrats are doing everything in their
                            power to implement strict background
                            checks,” he said.
                               Volsky, whose tweets highlighting the
                            amount of money politicians received
                            from the National Rifle Association (NRA)
                            went viral in 2016 and served as a cata-
                            lyst for his larger gun reform movement,
                            emphasized the difference between action
                            and surface-level empathy exercised by
                            politicians. “Lawmakers are quick to send
                            thoughts and prayers after a shooting,
                            but these lawmakers are the ones taking
                            money from the NRA,” Volsky said. Guns
                            Down America, which aims to move the
                            country toward a future with fewer guns,
                            focuses on driving corporate-based cam-
                            paigns to encourage corporations, such as
                            Walmart, to end sales of assault weapons
                            and to advocate for gun reform.
                               Visiting Assistant Professor of Political
                            Science Thomas X. Lefebvre expressed
                            appreciation for both speakers’ input.
                            “Volsky’s creative campaign tactics bring
                            a breath of fresh air and optimism to the
                            gun control conversation, which, for far
                            too long, has seemed hopeless in this
                            country,” Lefebvre said. “It was also a
                            rare opportunity for students to listen and
                            exchange with Senator Murphy, one of the
                            loudest voices nationally on the topic.”
P H OTO : N IC K C A I TO
The Trinity Reporter CELEBRATING CINESTUDIO - The student-founded movie theater marks 50 years on campus
A LON G T H E WAL K

           Brownell
                               THOMAS CHURCH                                                        U P DAT E

             The                                                                                    Digital Health CT

          Prıze
                                                                                                       Digital Health CT, the new digital health (or med-
                                                for TEACHING                                           tech) accelerator run by Startupbootcamp, recently
                                                                                                       announced its inaugural cohort in Hartford. The 10
                                                EXCELLENCE                                            chosen start-ups exhibit a diverse range of health
                                                                                                       care technologies, including artificial intelligence
                                                                                                       (AI), process automation, personalized medicine,
          Calling on Trinity alumni to honor the                                                       and virtual health.
                                                                                                          The teams, selected from hundreds of start-ups by
          professors who made an impact on their lives                                                 a selection committee that included Trinity President
                                                                                                       Joanne Berger-Sweeney, relocated to Hartford in
              Did you have a teacher who changed the way you think? Influenced                         November for the three-month accelerator program,
              your career choices? Helped you to wake up intellectually? If so, you                                               which gave them the sup-
              have a wonderful chance to pay tribute to that teacher. The Thomas                                                  port, resources, and industry
              Church Brownell Prize for Teaching Excellence, which recognizes con-                                                and investor connections
              sistently outstanding teaching by a senior faculty member, is awarded                                               they need to help grow their
              annually at Honors Day. All alumni are invited to submit nominations                                                businesses. Along with sup-
                                                                                                                                  port from Startupbootcamp,
              explaining in 200 to 300 words why they believe a favorite professor
                                                                                                                                  the teams gained access to
              deserves this prestigious award. Nominations should be sent to Sylvia
                                                                                                                                  an extensive range of part-
              DeMore via email (sylvia.demore@trincoll.edu) or postal mail (Office                                                ners, mentors, and investors
              of the Dean of the Faculty, Williams Memorial 118, Trinity College, 300                                             from across the accelerator’s
If you have questions
                          Summit Street, Hartford, CT 06106). The nomination dead-                                                global network.
about the Brownell        line is Friday, March 6, 2020.                                                                              For the inaugural year of
Prize, please direct
them to Sylvia DeMore,
                             Associate professors, full professors, senior lecturers, and                                         the Digital Health CT accel-
special assistant to the  principal lecturers who have been at the college for at least                                           eration program, the start-
dean of the faculty, at   three years, will not retire prior to June 30, 2020, and have                                           ups will work closely with
sylvia.demore@                                                                                                                    Digital Health CT’s partners—
trincoll.edu.             not previously received the Brownell Prize are eligible. A
                                                                                                                                  Hartford HealthCare, Trinity
                          complete list of eligible faculty, as well as a roster of previ-
                                                                                                                                  College, and the UConn
              ous winners, appears online at commons.trincoll.edu/Reporter.
                 The Brownell Prize was made possible by a gift from the late Paul H.        ↗                                    School of Business—and will
                                                                                             For more about the 10 start-ups—     be housed at Trinity’s down-
              Briger ’61, P’87. Robert Stewart (mathematics) was the first recipient,        CompanionMx, Ellipsis, Clearstep,    town space at Constitution
              and Adrienne Fulco (legal and policy studies) was the 2019 honoree.            Encapsulate, MDI Health, QR
                                                                                             Fertile, BrainCheck, Lineus Medical, Plaza, where the college’s
                                                                                             DeepScribe, and Aiva—please visit    Liberal Arts Action Lab also
                                                                                             commons.trincoll.edu/Reporter.       is located.
                                                                                                                                     “The digital health domain
          O N E S M A L L ST E P DI A LO G U E S O N L I N E                                           is exploding with opportunity right now, and I feel
          Recordings from the fall 2018 visit to Trinity College by One Small Step, a                  confident that we are positioned to support serious
          national StoryCorps project that brings together Americans with differing                    entrepreneurs in hitting the market fast and hard,”
          political views, are available online at commons.trincoll.edu/Reporter.                      said Gerry Roston, managing director of Digital
             Trinity was the first college to partner with StoryCorps on this ini-                     Health CT. Sonia Cardenas, interim dean of the fac-
          tiative aimed at listening and finding common ground. One Small Step                         ulty and vice president for academic affairs, noted
          discussions follow the usual StoryCorps format—two people, 40 minutes,                       that the accelerator “will provide cutting-edge oppor-

                                                                                                                                                                      P H OTO S : ( L E F T ) K E L LY A N N O L E K S I W M ’ 15; ( R IG H T ) J AC K M C CO N N E L L
                           and a facilitator to help guide the conversation. But the                   tunities for our students, exposing them firsthand to
                           twist is that One Small Step conversations take place                       the world of start-ups.”
                           between individuals who have not met before and who
                           hold opposing political views.
                              The One Small Step project is supported by a $1 mil-
                           lion grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. Founded in                                   CORRECTIONS
                                                                                                                    Due to a data maintenance issue, an obituary
                           2003, StoryCorps has recorded more than 75,000 facil-                                    for Thomas O. Mitchell ’66 ran in error in the
                           itated interviews with more than 150,000 participants                                    “In Memory” section of the fall 2019 issue of
          around the country. With the permission of participants, full discussions                                 The Trinity Reporter. He is not deceased.
                                                                                                                        Xiangming Chen’s first name was
          from the college’s event are archived at Trinity’s Watkinson Library and                                  misspelled in the “Positively Pivotal” feature
          become part of the national StoryCorps Archive, housed at the American                                    in the printed edition of the spring 2019 issue
          Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Segments                                   of The Trinity Reporter.
                                                                                                                        We regret these errors.
          also may air nationally on NPR’s Morning Edition.

4                                                                                                                                         THE TRINITY REPORTER
The Trinity Reporter CELEBRATING CINESTUDIO - The student-founded movie theater marks 50 years on campus
ALON G THE WAL K

                                                         NSF awards
                                                         for faculty
                                                         Two Trinity College professors recently
                                                         received funding from the National
                                                         Science Foundation (NSF) to support
                                                         their scholarship.

                                                            Assistant Professor of Mathematics Lina Ma was awarded
                                                            a $100,000 grant from the NSF to support her indepen-
                                                            dent research and her collaboration with colleagues in the
                                                            field of computational mathematics. Assistant Professor
                                                            of Psychology Michael A. Grubb spent the summer of
                                                            2019 on a three-month visiting researcher appointment                WO M E N L E A D E R S
                                                                                                                                 Connecticut journalist Sarah Cody ’95 moderates “Women in
                                                            at Yale School of Medicine funded by an NSF Research
                                                                                                                                 Leadership: A Conversation with President Joanne Berger-Sweeney
                                                            Opportunity Award (ROA).                                             and Board Chair Cornie Thornburgh ’80” on October 17, 2019.
                                                               Ma’s project, “Consistent Multi-Scale Treatments of Ion           The event, held in Mather Hall’s Washington Room, was part of
                                                            Transport in Biological Environments,” is a mathemati-               the three-semester celebration of Women at the Summit: 50 Years
                                                            cal pursuit that can be applied to biology. Ma will study            of Coeducation at Trinity College.
                                                            diffusion, ion transport, and heat flow, which occurs in
                                                            various ion channels throughout the human body. The                  ↗ To view a recording of this event, please visit commons.trincoll.edu/Reporter.
                                                                       abnormal behavior of ion channels can contrib-
                                                                       ute to health concerns, including Type 2 diabetes
                                                                       or adverse reactions from contact with poison-
                                                                       ous puffer fish.
                                                                          The biggest challenge, Ma said, is that biolog-
                                                                       ical processes, which usually happen in micro-         W E L C O M I N G N E W U . S. C I T I Z E N S
                                                                       seconds, can sometimes be controlled by a few
                                                                       atoms. Using traditional differential equation
                                                                       systems to represent the processes may lose too        “On our Trinity campus of 2,200
                                                                       many details. However, she added, modeling
                                                                       things on the particle level and showing tremen-
                                                                                                                                undergraduates, we celebrate the
                                                                       dous detail, such as protons and atoms, can have         fact that our student body is more
                                                                       a high computational cost. Ma’s work will be
                                                                       directed toward developing a method that can             international than it has ever been,
                                               Top to bottom:
                                               Ma and Grubb
                                                                       bridge the macro and micro scales.
                                                                          Grubb partnered with Yale Associate Professor
                                                                                                                                with students from 76 foreign
                                                            of Comparative Medicine and of Neuroscience Ifat Levy,              countries. I tell our students all
                                                            the principal investigator of the NSF grant being sup-
                                                            plemented as part of the ROA, “Decision-making under
                                                                                                                                the time that our diversity is our
                                                            uncertainty across the lifespan: Cognitive, motivational,           strength. I believe that’s true on
                                                            and neural bases.” Grubb’s research contributed the larger
                                                            goals of Levy’s grant, which aims to understand age-                our campus, and I know it’s true
                                                            related changes in learning and decision-making.
                                                               Building on a project started in his lab at Trinity, Grubb’s
                                                                                                                                of America as well.”
P H OTO : ( R IG H T ) S H A N A S U R E C K

                                                            research with Levy addressed new questions concerning
                                                            the impact of selective attention on reward learning and           Trinity College President Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Keynote Speaker
                                                            decision-making. Grubb’s role in this study was particu-           Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s Third Annual Naturalization Ceremony
                                                            larly significant given the special opportunity for collabo-       The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, October 12, 2019
                                                            ration between institutions like Trinity and Yale provided
                                                            by the NSF.

                                                         W I N T E R 2020                                                                                                                                          5
The Trinity Reporter CELEBRATING CINESTUDIO - The student-founded movie theater marks 50 years on campus
A LON G T H E WAL K

     VO LU N TE E R S P OT L IG HT
     BY C AT H E R I N E S H E N

     Diane ‘Dede’ DePatie Consoli ’88, P’19, ’22
     Growing up in a multigenerational Trinity family, it was nat-
     ural for Diane “Dede” DePatie Consoli ’88, P’19, ’22 to stay
                                                                                           “I feel very connected to my
     involved with her alma mater. “Trinity has always been very                             father through my fundraising
     important to my family. I basically grew up on campus,” she
     says with a laugh. “The experience was more than just getting                           for Trinity as that was his focus
     an education. It was about making connections and creating
     lifelong friendships, which began with her service through
                                                                                             through his years as a trustee of
     Tri Delta sorority, now known as the Ivy Society.                                       the college. It’s my pleasure to
        The strong Trinity family legacy started with her father,
     Thomas DePatie ’52, a former trustee of the college, followed                           continue that legacy for him.”
     by brother-in-law Robert Buffum Jr. ’77 and cousin Peter
     DePatie ’85. She married Victor Consoli ’87, and they are                              volunteer, an alumni interviewer, and an Elms Society ambas-
     Trinity parents to two daughters, Olivia ’19 and Grace ’22.                            sador. She currently serves as her class president, as a class
        For the first 15 years after her own graduation, Consoli,                           agent, and as a member of the Board of Fellows, the Women’s
     armed with a degree in economics, embarked on a career in                              Leadership Council, and the Parents Leadership Council.
     the garment industry, working retail and wholesale with                                    She particularly enjoys being on the Parents Leadership
     companies including Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor                                Council because of the relationships formed among parents,
     in New York and eventually running the women’s division of                             students, and the college. “It’s important for families to know
     Nautica Sportswear. Over time, she launched her own busi-                              that we’re here for them, too,” says Consoli. “Being on the
     ness, Boxtree Interiors, serving a variety of residential and                          council is especially gratifying because I facilitate new families
     commercial clients. She also volunteers as a manager of mer-                           becoming connected with the college. Creating a welcoming
     chandise sales for her summer community of Quonochontaug,                              environment for them will help them see the work we do and
     Rhode Island, where she once served as town clerk.                                     hopefully encourage them to become involved. The more new
        Since becoming a stay-at-home mom, Consoli says, her flex-                          parents are involved, the better work we can do.”
     ible schedule has allowed her to get more involved with com-                               Consoli says that philanthropy was a large part of her
     mittee work at Trinity. Throughout the years, she has served on                        upbringing, and she continues to value that philosophy. “I’ve
     the Trinity College Alumni Association Executive Committee                             been a donor to the college for a lifetime, and I can’t imagine
     and the Social Reform Charter Committee and as a member                                not helping our school,” she says. “When I saw there were
     of the Long Walk Societies. She has been an admissions                                 specific improvements needed, that really spurred me on to
                                                                                            become more involved. I love being the person who connects
                                                                                            everyone and shows them what a wonderful place Trinity is.
                                                                                                “It is gratifying to be the one who connects a new family
                                                                                            with a passion to a need we have at the college,” she contin-
                                                                                            ues. “Most people donate to specific things that resonate with
                                                                                            them, and Trinity has so many specific needs right now that
                                                                                            it is all about [matching] the right people to the fundraising
                                                                                            efforts for that need. I feel very connected to my father through
                                                                                            my fundraising for Trinity as that was his focus through his
                                                                                            years as a trustee of the college. It’s my pleasure to continue
                                                                                            that legacy for him.”
                                                                                                Kerry Smith, Trinity’s director of family giving, says Consoli
                                                                                            plays an important role in creating a warm and friendly envi-
                                                                                            ronment for parents. “She’s a valuable asset to the college
                                                                                            through her ability to welcome and connect parents to one
                                                                                            another,” says Smith. “Her advocacy and dedication to help
     Dede DePatie Consoli ’88, P’19, ’22, second from right, with husband Victor Consoli    Trinity become the best that it can be is an embodiment of all
     ’87, P’19, ’22 and daughters Olivia ’19 and Grace ’22                                  we desire in a volunteer. We’re very fortunate to have her.”

6                                                                                                                                       THE TRINITY REPORTER
The Trinity Reporter CELEBRATING CINESTUDIO - The student-founded movie theater marks 50 years on campus
A ROUND H A RTFORD             ALON G THE WAL K

                                                                    HartBeat Ensemble, founded in 2001, is an artist-led professional
                                                                    theater company in Hartford dedicated to creating provoca-
                                                                    tive offerings that build community partnerships. Housed in the
                                                                    Carriage House Theater, HartBeat engages with the local area
                                                                    through programming that includes commissions, pop-up perfor-
                                                                    mances, and community conversations, the latter involving the
                                                                    organization’s partnership with a civic or social group to spark
                                                                    dialogue on a particular topic. HartBeat collaborates with more
                                                                    than 50 community organizations as it trains young adults to
                                                                    create their own work, making the theater an incubator for
                                                                    developing individual passions. HartBeat also hosts education
                                                                    programs such as Startin’ Drama, which provides conflict resolu-
                                                                    tion workshops for a positive school climate, and the Youth Play
                                                                    Institute, which offers paid internships in play creation.

                                                                                                 ↗
                                                                                                 For more information on
                                                                                                 HartBeat Ensemble and its
                                                                                                 many programs, please
                                                                                                 visit commons.trincoll.
                                                                                                 edu/Reporter.

                                                                                                                 H A RT B E AT E N S E M B L E
                                                                                                             360 FA R M I N GTO N AV E N U E
                                                                                                                           H A RT F O R D, C T
P H OTO : R AY D. S H AW P H OTO G R A P H Y

                                               W I N T E R 2020                                                                            7
The Trinity Reporter CELEBRATING CINESTUDIO - The student-founded movie theater marks 50 years on campus
A LON G T H E WAL K

     WGRAC Director Laura
     Lockwood M’95, right,          T R INIT Y T R E AS U R E
     and WGRAC Training and
     Program Coordinator

                                  WGRAC
     Monique Daley, second
     from left, chat with
     Shaylee Boger ’23 and
     Posse Scholar Diante’
     Dancy ’21 in the WGRAC
     Lounge and Library.

     EDITOR’S NOTE “Trinity       The Women & Gender Resource Action Center (WGRAC)—founded in 1977 as the Women’s Center at Trinity
     Treasure” highlights a       College—is a welcoming space on campus that provides education, builds community, and promotes empower-
     person, place, or thing
     on campus that is just       ment of students with a focus on woman-identified students. Part of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,
     what the name implies:       along with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Queer Resource Center (QRC), WGRAC accomplishes its
     a Trinity treasure. Do you   mission through educational, social, and cultural programming and dialogue. Annual events that create respect-
     have an idea for what to
     showcase? Please send        ful interaction among people of all genders and backgrounds include Take Back the Night, Breaking the Binary
     your suggestions to          Photo Shoot and Open Mic, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, and The Vagina Monologues. WGRAC, led by Laura Lockwood
     sonya.adams@trincoll.edu.    M’95 and Monique Daley, supports five student-led organizations: the Big Sister-Little Sister program; Students
                                  Encouraging Consensual Sex (SECS); Promoting Healthy Awareness of the Body (PHAB); the Masculinity Project;
                                  and IGNITE, a leadership-development and empowerment group for women-identified students. WGRAC also
     ↗                            provides required sexual misconduct education and prevention training for sophomores and oversees the cam-
                                                                                                                                                        P H OTO : S A R A H M CCOY

     For more information         puswide Green Dot violence-prevention strategy; the Sexual Assault Resource Team (SART); and first-year orien-
     about WGRAC, please visit    tation programs on Title IX rights, resources, and reporting options. “WGRAC has been a safe haven for me,” says
     commons.trincoll.edu/
     Reporter.
                                  Jaymie Bianca ’21, who co-founded IGNITE with Sarah Donahue ’20. “It has been a space where I can voice my
                                  opinions and be heard. I found my passion for advocacy and activism here.”

8                                                                                                                             THE TRINITY REPORTER
ALON G THE WAL K

                                  Mellon grant
                                  The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded Trinity
                                  College a grant of $114,000 to support the planning of a con-
                                  vening of women of color (WOC) leaders in higher education
                                  and other sectors. The funding will be used over approxi-
                                  mately 16 months, culminating in a meeting of WOC leaders
                                  expected to take place in January 2021.
                                     Inspired by the Mellon Foundation meeting for Women
                                  of Color Presidents in Higher Education in 2017, Trinity
                                  President Joanne Berger-Sweeney; Johnnetta Cole, presi-
                                  dent emerita of Spelman and Bennett Colleges; and Mariko
                                  Silver, former president of Bennington College and current
                                  president and CEO of the Henry Luce Foundation, became              R E C E N T P U B L I C AT I O N S
                                  convinced that to connect and create more leadership oppor-
                                  tunities for WOC in higher education, it is important to reach      The Promise of the Suburbs:              Daily Life in the Industrial
                                  beyond higher education for lessons learned and for inspira-        A Victorian History in                   United States, 1870–1900
                                  tion. Berger-Sweeney is serving as the principal investigator       Literature and Culture                   Julie Husband and Jim O’Loughlin ’88,
                                  for the project.                                                    Sarah Bilston, Professor of English;     P’20; ABC-CLOI, LLC, 2019; 289 pages
                                                                                                      Yale University Press, 2019; 282 pages
                                     According to the National Center for Education Statistics,                                                Kurt Vonnegut Remembered
                                  female students of color received 32.9 percent of undergradu-       The Future of Catholicism                Edited by Jim O’Loughlin ’88, P’20
                                  ate degrees awarded in 2015–16, but only 5 percent of all col-      in America                               The University of Alabama Press, 2019;
                                                                                                      Edited by Patricia O’Connell Killen      242 pages
                                  lege and university presidents and chancellors are women of         and Mark Silk, Director, Leonard E.
                                  color. The grant will be used to collect and analyze existing       Greenberg Center for the Study of        Why Will No One Play with
                                  research about the representation of WOC leaders in various         Religion in Public Life and Professor    Me? The Play Better Plan
                                  industries and study why there is a disproportionately low          of Religion in Public Life; Columbia     to Help Children of All Ages
                                                                                                      University Press, 2019; 368 pages        Make Friends and Thrive
                                  representation of WOC in academic leadership, while devel-                                                   Caroline Maguire ’97, with Teresa
                                  oping ideas to identify and encourage WOC leaders who will          The Future of Mainline                   Barker; Grand Central Publishing,
                                  create change in academia.                                          Protestantism in America                 2019; 355 pages
                                                                                                      Edited by James Hudnut-Beumler
                                                                                                      and Mark Silk, Director, Leonard E.      Burn the Ice:
                                  The work produced by this grant                                     Greenberg Center for the Study of
                                                                                                      Religion in Public Life and Professor
                                                                                                                                               The American Culinary
                                                                                                                                               Revolution and Its End
                                  has the potential to generate                                       of Religion in Public Life; Columbia
                                                                                                      University Press, 2018; 228 pages
                                                                                                                                               Kevin Alexander ’03; Penguin Press,
                                                                                                                                               2019; 371 pages

                                  opportunities to develop a                                          Turning Tides:                           A Frog Hollow Childhood:
                                  unique, cross-disciplinary                                          Caribbean Intersections in
                                                                                                      the Americas and Beyond
                                                                                                                                               A Memoir of Hartford
                                                                                                                                               Lynn Davis M’85; Page Publishing,

                                  mentoring network for the future.                                   Edited by Heather Cateau and Milla
                                                                                                      Cozart Riggio, James J. Goodwin
                                                                                                                                               2019; 168 pages

                                                                                                      Professor of English, Emerita; Ian
                                                                                                      Randle Publishers, 2019; 344 pages       If you have a recent book, CD, or
                                     The project aims to meet an unmet need, as no existing                                                    video that you would like listed in
                                  organizations provide a network to connect WOC in top-              Bob Steele on the Radio:                 The Trinity Reporter, please submit a
                                  level positions across sectors. While a handful focus               The Life of Connecticut’s                copy to Sonya Adams, Office of
                                  on training, mentoring, and preparing WOC for leader-               Beloved Broadcaster                      Communications, Trinity College, 300
                                                                                                      Paul Hensler M’08; McFarland &           Summit Street, Hartford, CT 06106.
                                  ship positions, these organizations often focus on empow-           Company, Inc., Publishers, 2019;         Questions? Email sonya.adams@
                                  ering WOC in a specific sector. The work produced by                186 pages                                trincoll.edu.
                                  this grant has the potential to generate opportunities
                                  to develop a unique, cross-disciplinary mentoring network
                                  for the future. Other potential benefits of the project include
                                  the creation of a list of best practices for mentoring WOC
P H OTO : J O H N ATA S H I A N

                                  leaders and the forging of connections between WOC in               The convening participants will include approximately 50
                                  academia, who are teaching talented students, and WOC             WOC who are presidents in higher education and leaders in
                                  in other sectors, who are able to offer jobs to those students    other sectors, including government, nonprofit, arts and cul-
                                  upon graduation.                                                  ture, and media.

                                  W I N T E R 2020                                                                                                                                     9
50
                                  Women at the Summit
                                           YEARS OF COEDUCATION

       ADVOCATES
                                             AT TRINITY COLLEGE

      FOR EQUALITY
             These alumni work to empower women
                   BY M AU R A K I N G S C U L LY • I L LU ST R AT I O N S BY J O E L K I M M E L

      How do you measure the impact of coeducation at Trinity College? You
      could look at the facts: Trinity has 11,844 female graduates, constitut-
      ing a full 42 percent of living alumni. You could consider the difference
      coeducation has made on all graduates—no matter the gender—who
      have traversed the Long Walk over the last 50 years. Or you could, as
      we do in this issue of The Trinity Reporter, take a slightly different tack,
      looking at a small sampling of graduates who are working in the wom-
      en’s empowerment space.
        Some focus their efforts on a specific industry or city; others pursue a
      broader agenda on the global stage. No matter their bailiwick, one and
      all demonstrate the power of a Trinity education as espoused in the col-
      lege’s mission statement, that it prepares bold, independent thinkers
      who lead transformative lives. In the case of these nine graduates, their
      transformative lives are proving to be game changing worldwide.

10                                                                                                 THE TRINITY REPORTER
DONNA HAGHIGHAT ’89
                                                                CEO, Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts;
                                                                Springfield, Massachusetts

                                                                The daughter of Iranian immigrants, “I never took edu-
                                                                cation for granted,” Donna Haghighat explains. Her
                                                                mother, Parvaneh, was married at 16, at which time
                                                                Haghighat’s grandfather insisted she drop out of high
                                                                school. Thanks to her persistence (and with help from
                                                                her mother), Parvaneh finished high school and went
                                                                on to complete college in the United States while rais-
                                                                ing four children. Inspired by her example, Haghighat
                                                                now leads the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts,
                                                                where she strives to elevate local women to take charge.
                                                                The Women’s Fund does this through fundraising for two
                                                                initiatives: grant making to area organizations that share
                                                                the Women’s Fund’s vision and training women through
                                                                its Leadership Institute for Political and Public Impact
                                                                (LIPPI). To date, more than 250 women have completed
                                                                LIPPI training, and 3 million women and families have
                                                                been impacted through its grants. “I love making connec-
                                                                tions with people who share my passion for advancing
                                                                women and girls,” she notes.

CHARLOTTE (FOUCH) FOX ’06
Director of Communications, International Women’s
Media Foundation (IWMF); Washington, D.C.

A tireless advocate of gender equity with a lifelong pas-
sion for the news, Charlotte (Fouch) Fox notes that she
is “supremely happy” to have landed at IWMF. “My pro-
fessional work is now my life’s work, which is incredi-
bly validating,” she says. The IWMF is an organization
that breaks barriers for women journalists, transforming
global news media. The IWMF’s fellowship and grant
programs support women in media—both freelance and
staff journalists—helping them become experts in report-
ing in underserved regions, generate must-read stories,
and bring critical issues affecting women and others to
light. The organization is the sole provider of safety train-
ing, byline opportunities, and emergency support tai-
lored to female journalists and photographers around the
world. In addition to working directly with journalists,
the IWMF studies why journalism remains dominated by
men and advocates for inclusive practices that help pro-
pel women and minorities into leadership roles.

W I N T E R 2020                                                                                                            11
ADVOCATES
                                                                   FOR EQUALITY

                                                                                  MARY KATE MORR ’12
                                                                                  Volunteer Coordinator, Rocky Mountain MicroFinance
                                                                                  Institute (RMMFI); Denver, Colorado

                                                                                  Growing up in Denver, Mary Kate Morr watched the gen-
                                                                                  trification of the Mile High City unfold around her. After
                                                                                  earning a master’s degree in social work, Morr decided
                                                                                  she “wanted to work in a place where I was pushing back
                                                                                  on that gentrification.” Enter RMMFI, an organization
                                                                                  that helps people with an idea transform into serious
                                                                                  entrepreneurs through personal, business, and financial
                                                                                  investments. Through its 12-week business boot camp
                                                                                  and mentorship program for under-resourced entre-
                                                                                  preneurs, RMMFI builds community wealth by reimag-
                                                                                  ining social and economic inclusion. Start-ups run the
                                                                                  gamut from products like candles and soaps, to services
                                                                                  like cleaning, as well as graphic design and food carts.
                                                                                  “Part of our mission is to build up female business own-
                                                                                  ers along with entrepreneurs of color,” says Morr, who
                                                                                  recruits mentors for RMMFI. “Our entrepreneurs are
                                                                                  diverse in every sense of the word, and part of my role
                                                                                  is to build a pool of mentors with shared life experience
                                                                                  reflecting that diversity.”

      CHRISTINE QUINN ’88
      President and CEO, Women in Need (WIN);
      New York, New York

      What do you do after you’ve served as speaker of the New
      York City Council—the first woman and openly LGBT
      person to hold the position? Four years ago, Christine
      Quinn grappled with that question and decided she
      wanted to keep doing advocacy work for issues she cared
      about. WIN, the largest provider of shelter and services
      to women and families in New York City—with 11 shelters
      and more than 300 supportive housing units across the
      city—checked all of her boxes. WIN’s vision is to break
      the cycle of homelessness by providing safe housing and
      critical services to help homeless women and their chil-
      dren rebuild their lives. “Homelessness is the significant
      crisis of our time,” Quinn says. “New York cannot be the
      greatest city in the world if 60,000 people have to sleep
      on the street every night. Our job is to stand with those
      experiencing homelessness and eradicate the underlying
      conditions that cause it.”

12                                                                                                                     THE TRINITY REPORTER
50
                                                      Women at the Summit
                                                             YEARS OF COEDUCATION
                                                               AT TRINITY COLLEGE

                                                                                    VALERIA MCFARREN PIPER ’05
                                                                                    Co-founder, TheSheLab; Charlottesville, Virginia

                                                                                    “It’s amazing what happens when you bring women
                                                                                    together from around the world and are able to form
                                                                                    relationships built on trust and respect.” So says
                                                                                    Valeria McFarren Piper about TheSheLab, a community
                                                                                    of practice and women’s network that is committed to
                                                                                    female empowerment and equality. Born and raised in
                                                                                    Bolivia, Piper started the organization after spending
                                                                                    a decade in Washington, D.C. There, she worked at the
                                                                                    Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. foreign aid
                                                                                    agency, where she oversaw strategic communications
                                                                                    in 24 countries. Piper and a partner tapped into that
                                                                                    global network to form TheSheLab; the 13 members on
                                                                                    the organizing committee hail from countries ranging
                                                                                    from the Dominican Republic to Tanzania. The project
                                                                                    is starting small, hosting monthly TED-type talks—for
                                                                                    women, by women—in Charlottesville, where she and
                                                                                    her co-founder live. “We now have 400 members and
                                                                                    plan to open 10 other chapters in the new year [2020],”
                                                                                    Piper notes. “We are each other’s sounding boards,
                                                                                    thought partners, and support system.”

MELINDA LEONARD REED ’95
Executive Director, Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice
(WIGJ); The Hague, the Netherlands

After graduating with a B.A. in public policy and a mas-
ter’s in international affairs from Columbia University,
Melinda Leonard Reed worked overseas doing humanitar-
ian aid work for many years. She then moved back to the
United States and directed a domestic and sexual violence
shelter in Helena, Montana—a position that she described
as “domestic humanitarian aid work.” When the posi-
tion opened at the WIGJ two years ago, “it was a way to
take my slightly divergent career paths and marry them,”
Reed says. The WIGJ is a nonprofit international women’s
human rights organization that advocates for gender jus-
tice through the International Criminal Court (ICC). It also
is active in individual countries around the world in peace
negotiations and justice processes. The WIGJ works with
victims of sexual violence in conflicts under investigation
by the ICC and collaborates with more than 6,000 grass-
roots partners across multiple armed conflicts. “This work
is profoundly important,” Reed says. “Sexual violence is
the most widely used weapon of war—and it’s perpetrated
with total impunity.”

W I N T E R 2020                                                                                                                             13
ADVOCATES
                                                                    FOR EQUALITY

                                                                                   RICK ZEDNÍK ’93
                                                                                   Managing Director, Women Political Leaders (WPL);
                                                                                   Brussels, Belgium

                                                                                   “For millennia, social networks have helped people get
                                                                                   ahead—largely men,” explains Rick Zedník. “At WPL,
                                                                                   we’re making our small contribution to changing that.”
                                                                                   Headquartered in Iceland, WPL’s mission is to increase
                                                                                   both the number and the influence of women in political
                                                                                   leadership. An independent, international, and nonpar-
                                                                                   tisan foundation, WPL bills itself as a global champion
                                                                                   of equality between women and men. It is the only orga-
                                                                                   nization that brings together all female political leaders,
                                                                                   seeking to tackle international challenges by harnessing
                                                                                   their collective power. Through conferences, a summit,
                                                                                   and advocacy, WPL builds communities of knowledge for
                                                                                   thousands of women politicians everywhere: members
                                                                                   of national legislatures, cabinet ministers, and heads of
                                                                                   state and government. In all of its activities, WPL strives
                                                                                   to demonstrate the positive impact of more women in
                                                                                   positions of political leadership. And to Zedník, a fem-
                                                                                   inist “at least since Trinity,” “it’s important to try and
                                                                                   rebalance the equation.”

      ZORAIDA LOPEZ-DIAGO ’03
      Co-creator, Women Picturing Revolution (WPR);
      Beacon, New York

      When Zoraida Lopez-Diago was growing up, dinner con-
      versations swirled around gender equity, LGBTQ rights,
      and similar topics. With her mother heading up affirmative
      action for a Connecticut state agency, she says, “I always
      knew that I would do something that dealt with shedding
      light on issues that are overlooked.” Lopez-Diago, a pho-
      tographer, curator, and consultant, has taught photogra-
      phy to female inmates at a maximum-security prison in
      Medellín, Colombia, lectured about her work at Harvard
      University and other institutions, and co-founded Women
      Picturing Revolution (WPR), an organization that brings
      to the forefront the work of female photographers who
      have documented conflicts, crises, and revolution. She
      and co-founder Lesly Deschler Canossi lead seminars
      and curate discussions in locales including New York and
      the United Kingdom. Lopez-Diago also is the co-editor of
      Representations of Black Motherhood and Photography, a
      book that gives voice to the intersection of photography,
      black motherhood, and the ways in which black mothers
      have navigated gender, race, and class. This edited collec-
      tion is due to be published in 2021 by Leuven University
      Press in Belgium and distributed by Cornell Press.

14                                                                                                                       THE TRINITY REPORTER
50
                                                     Women at the Summit
                                                         YEARS OF COEDUCATION
                                                           AT TRINITY COLLEGE

                                                                         FINAL THOUGHTS …
                                                                         Without equal representation of women in
                                                                         journalism, there is no full story. The journalists
                                                                         I work to support are truth tellers who fight with
                                                                         their pens.—CHARLOTTE (FOUCH) FOX ’06

                                                                         How do you keep empowering women and girls
                                                                         relative to the wider world? That’s a challenge, and
                                                                         I like a good challenge.—DONNA HAGHIGHAT ’89

                                                                         I love spending time with clients. These are some of
                                                                         the toughest, strongest women you could ever meet.
                                                                         I find them endlessly inspiring and impressive.
                                                                         —CHRISTINE QUINN ’88

                                                                         Entrepreneurs are skewed toward upper-class
                                                                         white males. We need to tap into the talents outside
                                                                         that network—in women, people of color, and
                                                                         working-class individuals—or we’re missing out.
                                                                         —MARY KATE MORR ’12

                                                                         I don’t think I understood gender inequality when
                                                                          I was at Trinity. I felt relatively equal. But the world
                                                                          isn’t like Trinity.—MELINDA LEONARD REED ’95

DYLLAN MCGEE ’93
Emmy-award winning filmmaker; Waccabuc, New York
                                                                         At Trinity, I learned the importance of creating
                                                                         space for conversations and building bridges
                                                                         between communities. There was power in each
                                                                         of the communities I was involved in—international
Throughout her career, Dyllan McGee has been dedicated                   students, minority students, and my sorority.
to telling compelling and immersive stories. But good sto-               —VALERIA MCFARREN PIPER ’05
rytelling isn’t enough. It also has to matter. Every proj-
ect McGee has brought to life was born from a vision of a                I was fortunate to have studied with faculty including
fairer and more equitable world. With two Emmys to her                   Brigitte Schultz and Michael Niemann, two professors
credit, she is founder and executive producer of McGee                   who have had a lasting impact on how I approach
Media, a documentary film company whose recent projects                  my work and photography endeavors. Seeing Trinity
include Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. (PBS);             professors, such as Johnny Williams and Vijay
Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman (Discovery); and Reconstruction               Prashad, fight for social justice continually inspires
(PBS). McGee also is the founder and executive producer                  me to deepen my photography practice and continue
of MAKERS, a media brand that accelerates the women’s
                                                                         long-term projects.—ZORAIDA LOPEZ-DIAGO ’03
movement through the stories of real-life experiences.
MAKERS has produced short documentaries on more than
400 groundbreaking women from all walks of life, including
                                                                         As a senior at Trinity, I was one of five men to
Gloria Steinem, Oprah Winfrey, and one of New York City’s                take ‘Women’s Studies 101.’ It was the first time
first female firefighters. MAKERS hosts an annual confer-                I experienced being totally outnumbered. It was
ence that brings together more than 500 women for a three-               instructive.—RICK ZEDNÍK ’93
day global event, which is subsequently viewed online by
more than 20 million people.                                             If you had asked me at Trinity if I was a feminist,
                                                                         I would have said ‘no.’ That’s changed. My two
                                                                         teenage sons have been calling themselves feminists
                                                                         since they could talk.—DYLLAN MCGEE ’93

W I N T E R 2020                                                                                                                    15
CELEBRATING

Cines
16       THE TRINITY REPORTER
Cinestudio patrons enjoy
                                                                                a “Moonlight Movies”
                                                                                screening of the 1986
                                                                                cult classic Ferris
                                                                                Bueller’s Day Off.

The student-founded movie theater marks 50 years on campus
ST O RY BY A N D R E W J. C O N C AT E L L I • P H O T O S BY H E L D E R M I R A

tudio       W I N T E R 2020                                                                              17
“I DON’T THINK THEY QUITE
                rom across Trinity College’s Main Quad,     UNDERSTOOD WHAT WE HAD PLANNED”
                a gleaming new sign beckons.                Entering an unmarked door in a hallway
                                                            of the Clement Chemistry Building, James
                  Inside, seating in the balcony offers a   Hanley ’72 climbs the narrow staircase
                                                            up to Cinestudio’s projection booth, as
                respite from the busy world.                he’s done countless times over the last
                  The grand golden curtain rises on the     50 years. “We had to take this door off its
                                                            hinges to get into the booth for the first
      37-by-16-foot screen as the projected image blinks    time,” he says.
                                                               In 1969, students in the Trinity Film
      to life and the film begins to play.                  Society—of which Hanley and his
        This is Cinestudio, the independent movie           Cinestudio co-founder Peter McMorris ’73
                                                            were both enthusiastic members—had
      palace that celebrates its 50th anniversary this      secured permission from the Chemistry
                                                            Department to show films in the chem-
      year. And to its intrepid founders, dedicated stu-    istry lab auditorium after finding them-
      dent volunteers, and passionate patrons, there’s      selves without a screening venue. “I don’t
                                                            think they quite understood what we had
      no other place like it.                               planned,” Hanley says with a grin. The

18                                                                                 THE TRINITY REPORTER
Left: Students meet outside the campus
landmark. Right: James Hanley ’72 and Peter
McMorris ’73, Cinestudio co-founders and
co-executive directors, pose amid the theater’s
new seats.

problem was, nobody had a key to the
booth, which had fallen into disuse.
   “We went at 2:00 in the morning and
got in there. We found two 35mm projec-
tors from the 1930s, when the building
went up,” Hanley says. “Soon, students
were hanging up bedsheets as a tempo-
rary screen as we prepared for a theater
that would serve both students and the
community. At the time, there was such
a whirlwind of activity here on campus,
and this took on a life of its own.”
   The first public screening on February
16, 1970, was a double feature of Yellow
Submarine and Alice’s Restaurant, for             ments while engaging in a historical              Hanley adds, “When we first started
which the Film Society’s faculty adviser,         mission, bringing back older film              out, one of our goals was to show films
Lawrence “Larry” Stires of the Modern             titles, preserving a vital legacy of the       in a much better setting than most the-
Languages Department, put up $500                 past, and showing the films exactly            aters, with a high technical quality. Over
of his own money to secure the pub-               as originally presented to ever-new            the years, we’ve been able to not only
lic rights. “We sold out every night for          audiences—all while staying true to            maintain that but enhance it.”
a week. We even turned away lots of               its independent origins.
people,” Hanley says. “We put on a big                Hanley and McMorris worked at other        “STUDENTS HAVE GOTTEN THEIR
picture with really good sound, and we            jobs at first and ran Cinestudio unpaid        EDUCATION AT CINESTUDIO”
always have; it just was the ethos of the         for many years. “Everybody was doing           Today—in addition to being an art house
place. We hit at the right time and the           it for the love of it,” Hanley says, “but at   cinema open to the public—Cinestudio
right place.”                                     a certain point the students and alumni        is a part of both the academic and social
   McMorris adds, “Trinity was going              wanted to have a more permanent struc-         worlds of the college, with faculty, staff,
through huge changes in that time, from           ture so they knew Cinestudio would             and students all taking advantage of a
one kind of college to another. We were           continue for future students. The first        special facility in the heart of campus.
part of that change, part of the new. This        stage [around the late ’80s] was to hire       “Cinestudio has been the ground on
space provided us a venue to express              us and Larry Stires—we weren’t being           which we’ve built the film program,”
ourselves. Even today, if there’s a film          paid much—and we provided an ongo-             says Associate Professor of English
out there that needs to be seen, we will          ing presence and leadership.” Interest         Prakash Younger, director of Trinity’s
show it.”                                         from donors in making tax-deductible           Interdisciplinary Program in Film
   At first, the student-run organization         donations directly to Cinestudio, rather       Studies and a member of the Cinestudio
was met with trepidation by some on               than through a fund at Trinity, led to its     Board of Directors. “We see film as a lens
campus. “There were a few conservative            establishment as a nonprofit 501c3 orga-       into everything. We include philosophy,
faculty members who were uneasy about             nization in 2005.                              political science, and classical studies
us,” Hanley says. “We were showing                    Today, the venue features approxi-         courses in our curriculum,” he says.
some political things. It wasn’t just enter-      mately 450 new seats that were installed          Milla C Riggio, James J. Goodwin
tainment; we were showing films that              in 2018 and is equipped with a legendary       Professor of English, Emerita, who
were enlightening people. And we did              Dolby sound system and state-of-the-           helped to create the film studies pro-
things that shocked people, like paint-           art digital projector, while retaining its     gram at Trinity and now serves as sec-
ing the lobby red. But [former Trinity            35mm and 70mm film projectors for clas-        retary of Cinestudio’s board, taught
President] Ted Lockwood [’48, H’81] was           sic movie presentations.                       several film courses that made use of the
a great supporter of ours and [former                 “It’s hard to describe this place,”        theater. “I taught ‘Film Noir’ and ‘The
Trinity Vice President] Tom Smith [’44,           McMorris says. “I learn something new          Western Film,’ among other courses.
H’88] went to bat for us over our freedom         every year. It’s an industry that is chang-    James [Hanley] and I taught a first-year
of speech.”                                       ing constantly, and to keep this place         seminar in Cinestudio, where we held
   In the ensuing 50 years, Cinestudio            going, you have to anticipate those            the classes, focusing on films shown at
has embraced technological advance-               changes and make adjustments.”                 Cinestudio,” she says.

W I N T E R 2020                                                                                                                              19
Hanley works the projector, as he has for some
      50 years.

         Younger adds, “Students have got-
      ten their education at Cinestudio. I was
      part of a very special first-year course
      that was taught there called ‘Thinking
      through Film,’ which helped to enhance
      the connection between Cinestudio and
      the academic offerings.”
         Connections are made at Cinestudio
      between Trinity and the Hartford com-
      munity as well. “With Cinestudio as
      such an independent place—though
      very much supported by the college—
      it’s a portal into the broader culture out-
      side of the campus,” Younger says. “It
      is truly a gem of the area in terms of the
      quality that generations of people both
      from Trinity and the community have
      enjoyed. Watching a movie there is like
      nothing else.”
         The theater hosts regular daily
      screenings and special film festivals,
      including the “Reel Youth Hartford
      Film Festival” for local high school
      and middle school students; the
      “Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival,”
      founded at Cinestudio in 1988 and pre-
      sented by Out Film CT; and the “April in
      Paris [French] Film Festival,” organized
      by Trinity’s Department of Language
      and Culture Studies. Cinestudio also
      screens live events from Moscow’s
      Bolshoi Ballet and London’s Royal
      Opera House and National Theatre.
         Trinity Film Festival (TFF), held at
      Cinestudio each spring since 2012, is
      a platform for undergraduate student
      filmmakers from across the country
      to network and see their films on the
      big screen. John Michael Mason ’12,
      M’14, now Trinity’s head track and field
      coach and chair of Cinestudio’s Board
      of Directors, founded TFF as an under-
      graduate. “Cinestudio was one of the
      reasons I chose to attend Trinity,” he
      says. “Seeing a film in a theater with
      other people is a profoundly different
      and better experience than watching in
      your own home, on a computer, or on a
      phone. The communal aspect of it, the
      darkness, and the clarity of image and
      sound are all things Cinestudio holds
      paramount, unlike any theater I’ve
      ever experienced.”

20                              THE TRINITY REPORTER
“
I t is truly a         of the
 area in terms of the quality that
                                  gem                                                                  BEHIND
                                                                                                     THE SCENES
 generations of people both from
                                                                                                 HOW DID CINESTUDIO GET ITS NAME?
                                                                                                              James Hanley:
                                                                                                 We liked the name because it sounded

 Trinity and the community have                                                                 like a film production studio. There was
                                                                                               a theater in New York already called Ciné
                                                                                                  Studio, so we decided to go with one

enjoyed ”
                                                                                                  word. We argued over whether to put
                                                                                                 an accent on the e, but [it] was tedious
                                                                                                to do with an accent, and it unbalanced

                                                             .                                   our logo and didn’t look right. We still
                                                                                                 say Cin-ay-studio, but most people say
                                                                                                              Cin-ah-studio.

                                                                                                       WHO OWNS THE BUILDING?
PRAKASH YOUNGER, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH
                                                                                                           John Michael Mason:
                                                                                                 It’s Trinity’s building, and the college
                                                                                                 allows Cinestudio to operate there in
                                                                                               return for having this great resource that
       With Hanley, McMorris, and two             Yellow Submarine. Alumni and past vol-
                                                                                                 attracts students and the community.
    part-time projectionists as the only paid     unteers of Cinestudio also will be invited
    staff, Cinestudio is run largely by stu-      to a reception on May 2 that coincides               WHAT’S THE MEANING OF
    dent volunteers. Claire Pritchard ’20,        with this year’s TFF. The gathering will                THE LION SYMBOL?
    who is double majoring in biochem-            serve as a recognition of all those who                    James Hanley:
    istry and theater and dance, serves as        have helped the organization succeed         We were inspired by the movie The Lion in
    Cinestudio’s lead student volunteer           in its first 50 years.                       Winter [1968] and found a public domain
    coordinator. “Cinestudio is an amazing           “I can’t say that I’ve ever regret-        heraldic running lion to use as our logo.
    venue and opens people up to the fact         ted it for a minute,” Hanley says. “It
    that movie theaters are alive and well,”      started with a student impetus and           WHO WRITES THE MOVIE DESCRIPTIONS
                                                                                                    FOR THE FLYER AND WEBSITE?
    says Pritchard, an Elizabeth Elting ’87       has remained student centered right
                                                                                                             Peter McMorris
    Bantam Bold 1823 Scholar. “I’ve learned       down the line. I’m very optimistic that
                                                                                                It’s a family affair. Christine McCarthy
    a lot about working on teams, communi-        Cinestudio will continue as an integral      McMorris [’79] was a student manager at
    cations, publicity, and being able to mar-    part of the campus.”                         Cinestudio who moved to N.Y.C. to get an
    ket anything.” Student volunteers pro-           As Hanley and McMorris begin to            M.F.A. She moved back to Hartford, and
    gram the “Moonlight Movies” series one        think about retiring from their roles as      we got married, and now she works at
    Friday night per month. Sponsored by          executive directors of Cinestudio in the         Trinity’s Greenberg Center as well
    the college’s Office of Student Activities,   coming years, plans are being made to            as researching and writing up the
    Involvement & Leadership (S.A.I.L.),          ensure that the organization they cre-                   movie descriptions.
    these movies are funded so they are free      ated will go on.
                                                                                               WHERE DID THE NEW SIGN COME FROM?
    to students with a Trinity ID. “We try to        “The 50th anniversary is in many
                                                                                                              James Hanley:
    make it as accessible as possible for stu-    ways a celebration of all that James
                                                                                                    An alumnus named Wilfred “Bill”
    dents,” Pritchard says.                       and Peter have done over the last five         Talbot III ’82 reached out to us about
       Hanley adds, “It’s a very rare combi-      decades,” Mason says. “We’re work-            donating toward a Cinestudio marquee.
    nation for a college campus to have a         ing hard as a board to put ourselves in        He recommended acclaimed designer
    nonprofit movie theater open to the pub-      the position to continue that legacy for        Coco Raynes in Boston, and we hired
    lic, with students who actually manage        another 50 years. Cinestudio could only         her to design a sign that would be a
    it and also are a part of its future.”        exist and grow because of what Trinity         signature artwork in its own right and
                                                  is: a place where people with ingenu-          a fine enhancement to the distinctive
    “CINESTUDIO WILL CONTINUE AS AN               ity are supported, where there’s a larger      architecture of the McKim, Mead, and
                                                                                                   White [designed] building. It was
    INTEGRAL PART OF THE CAMPUS”                  community outside of the college, and
                                                                                               installed last year, and people fell in love
    To celebrate its 50th anniversary,            where students are given the room and
                                                                                               with it right away; it’s become part of the
    Cinestudio will host special screenings       encouragement to take their dreams                         campus already.
    on February 22 of the two films that          and turn them into reality.”
    started it all, Alice’s Restaurant and

    W I N T E R 2020                                                                                                                 21
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