![\"Trinity](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2020\/files\/2020\/05\/Chapel-exterior-looking-up-John-Atashian.jpg\")
<\/a>While the Trinity College Chapel, a magnificent structure that towers over the Main Quad, has stood as an architectural icon and Hartford landmark for more than 85 years, what happens inside might be even more remarkable. The Chapel has long served as a source of comfort, inspiration, and learning for the students, faculty, and staff of the college, as well as the Greater Hartford community.<\/p>\n
The Reverend Allison Read, college chaplain and dean of spiritual and religious life, notes the positive impact the space has on the community. \u201cWe all aspire to fulfill fairly high ideals in our work at the college,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd yet the true labor rests in the day-to-day practices of studying and learning, listening and collaborating to cultivate both growth in our students and enough care and collegiality to sustain us all in community.\u201d<\/p>\n
COMING TOGETHER<\/h3>\n![\"matriculation\"](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2020\/files\/2020\/05\/Matriculation-8-31-Helder-Mira-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>Matriculation 2018. Photo by John Atashian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nNew Trinity undergraduates come in contact with the Chapel within their first few days on campus, as the Matriculation ceremony\u2014where every new student signs the official Matriculation register\u2014takes place each fall during Orientation. This tradition links generations of Trinity alumni with today\u2019s students.<\/p>\n
Throughout the year, the Chapel serves as a gathering space for the community in times of celebration as well as tragedy, a place where all are welcome to share their cares, concerns, and feelings. Events include the First-Year Candle Lighting Ceremony during Orientation that features welcoming speeches from students, faculty, and staff. A cappella concerts, holiday decorating parties, and even unexpected events such as the Spa Chapel\u2014where stations for meditation, yoga, and massages are available simultaneously\u2014draw many students. The annual Chapel Formal, a benefit dinner to raise awareness about a Hartford nutrition program, invites all members of the community to enjoy a three-course meal and a variety of musical performances.<\/p>\n![\"Matriculation](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2020\/files\/2020\/05\/Matriculation_004-300x198.jpg\")
<\/a>Matriculation 2018. Photo by John Atashian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nChristopher Hager, professor of English, says the Chapel also serves as a source of light during darker times. \u201cWhen a former student I was close to died unexpectedly at age 25,\u201d he says, \u201csome of his friends and I worked with Chaplain Read to plan a memorial service that took place in the Chapel.\u201d Other meaningful occasions include the Transgender Day of Remembrance gathering each November to memorialize those who have lost their lives to anti-transgender violence. <\/p>\n
Carrie Robinson, director of LGBTQ+ Life, says the Chapel has a \u201cfar-reaching\u201d role. \u201cIt seeks to create an inclusive environment where each individual finds a place within religious and spiritual life,\u201d Robinson says. \u201cI think that on college campuses, it is rare to find such a strong connection between a Chapel and LGBTQ+ life, but here at Trinity, it is a very strong partnership and collaboration and one that I value.\u201d<\/p>\n
A safe haven for all is how Macie Bridge \u201921 describes the Chapel. \u201cI remember just being in awe of how this beautiful space on campus could bring together so many other students like myself who wanted to share in their faith journey together,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is something I\u2019m constantly grateful for\u2014as a student body, we\u2019re incredibly lucky to have this space to come together in worship and community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Chapel also acts as a classroom. Hager is among the faculty members who integrate the Chapel into their courses. \u201cEvery time I teach my course on Herman Melville, the class does a daylong public reading of selections from Moby-Dick<\/em>,\u201d he says. \u201cEach time, we spend part of that day in the Crypt Chapel, and Chaplain Read reads the chapter called \u2018The Sermon.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n![\"Baccalaureate](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2020\/files\/2020\/05\/Baccalaureate-Ceremony-2019-73.jpg\")
<\/a>Baccalaureate 2019, Photo by Nick Caito<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAs one might expect, the Chapel holds a variety of religious services and ceremonies. The diverse team in the Office of Spiritual and Religious Life provides resources to carry forward the Episcopal tradition and to support Roman Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist life as well as diverse expressions of Protestant Christianity. The team welcomes and engages students with all kinds of backgrounds and interests, and the Charleston House of Interfaith Cooperation emphasizes bringing together people from across different worldviews. <\/p>\n
Hillel Director Lisa Kassow recalls a concert held at the Chapel during the spring of 2019. \u201cThe Chapel Singers performed Chichester Psalms<\/em> by Leonard Bernstein, a magnificent Hebrew choral piece,\u201d she says. \u201cStudent participants in both Hillel and Chapel Singers suggested an additional performance on Shabbat at the Zachs Hillel House followed by Shabbat dinner together, creating a deeply enriching experience for all.\u201d<\/p>\nOther recent collaborations included the hosting of Ramadan Iftar, the evening meal Muslims shared to break their fast, and an Interfaith Friendship Feast that fostered discussions about shared values such as community, justice, equality, and hospitality.<\/p>\n
THE POWER OF MUSIC<\/h3>\n
Musical expression is a mainstay of Chapel life. Members of The Chapel Singers, founded in 1825 and the college\u2019s oldest student organization, come from a wide variety of backgrounds and academic disciplines. The group sings regularly at Chapel services, performs at major college occasions and at concerts on campus, and tours throughout the United States and occasionally abroad. Christopher Houlihan, John Rose College Organist-and-Directorship Distinguished Chair of Chapel Music and adjunct professor of music, has directed this group since 2017, when he took over the role from longtime college organist John Rose.<\/p>\n![\"Lessons](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2020\/files\/2020\/05\/Trinity-College-046-1024x706.jpg\")
<\/a>The holiday tradition of Lessons and Carols. Photo by John Marinelli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHoulihan, an internationally known organist who maintains a concert career, says he\u2019s proud that visitors to the Chapel include members of the Greater Hartford community in addition to individuals from Trinity. \u201cThe Chapel is one of Hartford\u2019s great spaces for music, and a glance at the variety of performances here over the course of a year shows how much the community values this space,\u201d says Houlihan. He pointed to the Hartford Symphony Orchestra\u2019s two sold-out concerts last fall during the Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival Hartford, the 60-year-old Festival of Lessons and Carols, the Trinity Organ Series, and the summer chamber and carillon concerts as examples of open-to-the-public offerings. The carillon, consisting of 49 bronze bells played from a keyboard in the tower of the Chapel, has been at Trinity for almost a century.<\/p>\n
Borden W. Painter Jr. \u201958, H\u201995, professor of history, emeritus, and former president of the college, says he fondly remembers the time he spent in the Chapel during his undergraduate years, particularly during Evensong services. \u201cI came in as a first-year in 1954,\u201d he said, \u201cand, as with many places at that time, Chapel attendance was required. There was daily morning prayer and services on Sunday mornings, but Evensong [a centuries-old service of sung prayer] was the service everyone wanted to attend.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sounds of the Chapel also were important to Mathilde Sauquet \u201918, valedictorian of her class and an active member of the Catholic community. \u201cFor lovers of music, this space is a vessel for transcendent experiences, followed by intercultural exchanges, meaningful conversations, and joyous meals,\u201d she says. \u201cAs a student, I greatly enjoyed attending concerts in the Chapel and the dinners that would often follow. As an international student, the Chapel became a place where I could find kind, patient, empathetic people to talk to and receive guidance from.\u201d<\/p>\n
PRESERVING HISTORY<\/h3>\n![\"An](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2020\/files\/2020\/05\/0008_trinity_lessons_and_carols_2019_mike_shauck_photoiris-e1589989152708.jpg\")
<\/a>An intricately carved pew end. Photo by Mike Shauck<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nChapel architect Philip Frohman, who also designed the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., included both spiritual and historical themes in his design. The intricately carved pew and kneeler ends commemorate college traditions, presidents, and alumni, as well as accounts from scripture; stained-glass windows uniquely memorialize both biblical history and figures including transcendentalists Emerson and Thoreau; and wood carvings depict pilgrimages, including Chaucer\u2019s The Canterbury Tales<\/em>. Yet, Chapel Curator Christopher Row \u201991, who wrote his senior thesis at Trinity on the Chapel and, later, his dissertation at Harvard University on Frohman, notes that the Chapel, due to the Great Depression, was not completed according to the original plans. \u201cThe Trinity College Chapel is a great\u2014and sadly unfinished\u2014architectural and theological jewel,\u201d says Row. \u201cWe have drawings, narratives, and blueprints for the building.\u201d<\/p>\nThe college is beginning a campaign to provide for the necessary renovation of the Chapel, stemming rainwater intrusion and securing the building\u2019s structural integrity. Repairing the building and endowing its maintenance, staff, and programming strongly merit the support of Trinity\u2019s alumni, says William Reynolds \u201971, chair of the Chapel campaign. Reynolds, a former trustee and secretary of the college, recalls that he spent many hours studying in the Crypt Chapel, where the sounds of the organ served as background music. Reynolds says such memories and the Chapel\u2019s iconic visual importance inspired him to get involved in the effort to save the building and to allow its spiritually broad programs for all students to flourish for generations to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe very construction of this magnificent building represents idealism and faith in the future,\u201d Reynolds says. \u201cThe Chapel, like the historic architecture of the Main Quadrangle\u2019s buildings, provides a connection to the best inspirations of the past that continue to evolve into Trinity\u2019s vibrant future.\u201d<\/p>\n
A NEW CHAPTER<\/h2>\n![\"Allison](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2020\/files\/2020\/05\/Read-Allison-250x300.jpg\")
<\/a>The Reverend Allison Read, college chaplain and dean of spiritual and religious life.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe Reverend Allison Read, college chaplain and dean of spiritual and religious life, will be leaving Trinity College this month to assume the position of chaplain at Groton School in Groton, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been a blessing to work alongside the team in the Office of Spiritual and Religious life to create beauty through music and liturgy, form circles of care and belonging, and collaborate to build inclusive community,\u201d says Read. \u201cIt has been a special privilege to develop partnerships with so many faculty members on unique educational opportunities, campuswide initiatives, community events, and service opportunities. I am only grateful for my time at Trinity College.\u201d <\/p>\n
Joseph DiChristina, dean of campus life and vice president for student affairs, says that Read led with compassion and was ever present for all members of the community. \u201cChaplain Read cares deeply about affirming and respecting all persons,\u201d he says. \u201cThrough her presence and strong leadership, Trinity College is an exceptional place for all of us to live and learn together.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Joanne Berger-Sweeney, in her February 25 announcement to the Trinity community about Read\u2019s upcoming departure, said that the college would organize a team of students, faculty, staff, and alumni to begin a search for a new college chaplain.<\/p>\n
Trinity\u2019s Advancement Office is actively working with alumni partners to raise awareness and funds for this pressing need on campus. For more information, contact Ellen Hart M\u201918 at <\/em>ellen.hart@trincoll.edu<\/em><\/a> or 860-297-4148.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Historic space continues to be key part of campus life By Emily Dowden \u201918 While the Trinity College Chapel, a magnificent structure that towers over the Main Quad, has stood as an architectural icon and Hartford landmark for more than 85 years, what happens inside might be even more remarkable. The Chapel has long served … <\/p>\n
<\/a>New Trinity undergraduates come in contact with the Chapel within their first few days on campus, as the Matriculation ceremony\u2014where every new student signs the official Matriculation register\u2014takes place each fall during Orientation. This tradition links generations of Trinity alumni with today\u2019s students.<\/p>\n
Throughout the year, the Chapel serves as a gathering space for the community in times of celebration as well as tragedy, a place where all are welcome to share their cares, concerns, and feelings. Events include the First-Year Candle Lighting Ceremony during Orientation that features welcoming speeches from students, faculty, and staff. A cappella concerts, holiday decorating parties, and even unexpected events such as the Spa Chapel\u2014where stations for meditation, yoga, and massages are available simultaneously\u2014draw many students. The annual Chapel Formal, a benefit dinner to raise awareness about a Hartford nutrition program, invites all members of the community to enjoy a three-course meal and a variety of musical performances.<\/p>\n Christopher Hager, professor of English, says the Chapel also serves as a source of light during darker times. \u201cWhen a former student I was close to died unexpectedly at age 25,\u201d he says, \u201csome of his friends and I worked with Chaplain Read to plan a memorial service that took place in the Chapel.\u201d Other meaningful occasions include the Transgender Day of Remembrance gathering each November to memorialize those who have lost their lives to anti-transgender violence. <\/p>\n Carrie Robinson, director of LGBTQ+ Life, says the Chapel has a \u201cfar-reaching\u201d role. \u201cIt seeks to create an inclusive environment where each individual finds a place within religious and spiritual life,\u201d Robinson says. \u201cI think that on college campuses, it is rare to find such a strong connection between a Chapel and LGBTQ+ life, but here at Trinity, it is a very strong partnership and collaboration and one that I value.\u201d<\/p>\n A safe haven for all is how Macie Bridge \u201921 describes the Chapel. \u201cI remember just being in awe of how this beautiful space on campus could bring together so many other students like myself who wanted to share in their faith journey together,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is something I\u2019m constantly grateful for\u2014as a student body, we\u2019re incredibly lucky to have this space to come together in worship and community.\u201d<\/p>\n The Chapel also acts as a classroom. Hager is among the faculty members who integrate the Chapel into their courses. \u201cEvery time I teach my course on Herman Melville, the class does a daylong public reading of selections from Moby-Dick<\/em>,\u201d he says. \u201cEach time, we spend part of that day in the Crypt Chapel, and Chaplain Read reads the chapter called \u2018The Sermon.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n As one might expect, the Chapel holds a variety of religious services and ceremonies. The diverse team in the Office of Spiritual and Religious Life provides resources to carry forward the Episcopal tradition and to support Roman Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist life as well as diverse expressions of Protestant Christianity. The team welcomes and engages students with all kinds of backgrounds and interests, and the Charleston House of Interfaith Cooperation emphasizes bringing together people from across different worldviews. <\/p>\n Hillel Director Lisa Kassow recalls a concert held at the Chapel during the spring of 2019. \u201cThe Chapel Singers performed Chichester Psalms<\/em> by Leonard Bernstein, a magnificent Hebrew choral piece,\u201d she says. \u201cStudent participants in both Hillel and Chapel Singers suggested an additional performance on Shabbat at the Zachs Hillel House followed by Shabbat dinner together, creating a deeply enriching experience for all.\u201d<\/p>\n Other recent collaborations included the hosting of Ramadan Iftar, the evening meal Muslims shared to break their fast, and an Interfaith Friendship Feast that fostered discussions about shared values such as community, justice, equality, and hospitality.<\/p>\n Musical expression is a mainstay of Chapel life. Members of The Chapel Singers, founded in 1825 and the college\u2019s oldest student organization, come from a wide variety of backgrounds and academic disciplines. The group sings regularly at Chapel services, performs at major college occasions and at concerts on campus, and tours throughout the United States and occasionally abroad. Christopher Houlihan, John Rose College Organist-and-Directorship Distinguished Chair of Chapel Music and adjunct professor of music, has directed this group since 2017, when he took over the role from longtime college organist John Rose.<\/p>\n Houlihan, an internationally known organist who maintains a concert career, says he\u2019s proud that visitors to the Chapel include members of the Greater Hartford community in addition to individuals from Trinity. \u201cThe Chapel is one of Hartford\u2019s great spaces for music, and a glance at the variety of performances here over the course of a year shows how much the community values this space,\u201d says Houlihan. He pointed to the Hartford Symphony Orchestra\u2019s two sold-out concerts last fall during the Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival Hartford, the 60-year-old Festival of Lessons and Carols, the Trinity Organ Series, and the summer chamber and carillon concerts as examples of open-to-the-public offerings. The carillon, consisting of 49 bronze bells played from a keyboard in the tower of the Chapel, has been at Trinity for almost a century.<\/p>\n Borden W. Painter Jr. \u201958, H\u201995, professor of history, emeritus, and former president of the college, says he fondly remembers the time he spent in the Chapel during his undergraduate years, particularly during Evensong services. \u201cI came in as a first-year in 1954,\u201d he said, \u201cand, as with many places at that time, Chapel attendance was required. There was daily morning prayer and services on Sunday mornings, but Evensong [a centuries-old service of sung prayer] was the service everyone wanted to attend.\u201d<\/p>\n The sounds of the Chapel also were important to Mathilde Sauquet \u201918, valedictorian of her class and an active member of the Catholic community. \u201cFor lovers of music, this space is a vessel for transcendent experiences, followed by intercultural exchanges, meaningful conversations, and joyous meals,\u201d she says. \u201cAs a student, I greatly enjoyed attending concerts in the Chapel and the dinners that would often follow. As an international student, the Chapel became a place where I could find kind, patient, empathetic people to talk to and receive guidance from.\u201d<\/p>\n Chapel architect Philip Frohman, who also designed the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., included both spiritual and historical themes in his design. The intricately carved pew and kneeler ends commemorate college traditions, presidents, and alumni, as well as accounts from scripture; stained-glass windows uniquely memorialize both biblical history and figures including transcendentalists Emerson and Thoreau; and wood carvings depict pilgrimages, including Chaucer\u2019s The Canterbury Tales<\/em>. Yet, Chapel Curator Christopher Row \u201991, who wrote his senior thesis at Trinity on the Chapel and, later, his dissertation at Harvard University on Frohman, notes that the Chapel, due to the Great Depression, was not completed according to the original plans. \u201cThe Trinity College Chapel is a great\u2014and sadly unfinished\u2014architectural and theological jewel,\u201d says Row. \u201cWe have drawings, narratives, and blueprints for the building.\u201d<\/p>\n The college is beginning a campaign to provide for the necessary renovation of the Chapel, stemming rainwater intrusion and securing the building\u2019s structural integrity. Repairing the building and endowing its maintenance, staff, and programming strongly merit the support of Trinity\u2019s alumni, says William Reynolds \u201971, chair of the Chapel campaign. Reynolds, a former trustee and secretary of the college, recalls that he spent many hours studying in the Crypt Chapel, where the sounds of the organ served as background music. Reynolds says such memories and the Chapel\u2019s iconic visual importance inspired him to get involved in the effort to save the building and to allow its spiritually broad programs for all students to flourish for generations to come.<\/p>\n \u201cThe very construction of this magnificent building represents idealism and faith in the future,\u201d Reynolds says. \u201cThe Chapel, like the historic architecture of the Main Quadrangle\u2019s buildings, provides a connection to the best inspirations of the past that continue to evolve into Trinity\u2019s vibrant future.\u201d<\/p>\n The Reverend Allison Read, college chaplain and dean of spiritual and religious life, will be leaving Trinity College this month to assume the position of chaplain at Groton School in Groton, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been a blessing to work alongside the team in the Office of Spiritual and Religious life to create beauty through music and liturgy, form circles of care and belonging, and collaborate to build inclusive community,\u201d says Read. \u201cIt has been a special privilege to develop partnerships with so many faculty members on unique educational opportunities, campuswide initiatives, community events, and service opportunities. I am only grateful for my time at Trinity College.\u201d <\/p>\n Joseph DiChristina, dean of campus life and vice president for student affairs, says that Read led with compassion and was ever present for all members of the community. \u201cChaplain Read cares deeply about affirming and respecting all persons,\u201d he says. \u201cThrough her presence and strong leadership, Trinity College is an exceptional place for all of us to live and learn together.\u201d<\/p>\n President Joanne Berger-Sweeney, in her February 25 announcement to the Trinity community about Read\u2019s upcoming departure, said that the college would organize a team of students, faculty, staff, and alumni to begin a search for a new college chaplain.<\/p>\n Trinity\u2019s Advancement Office is actively working with alumni partners to raise awareness and funds for this pressing need on campus. For more information, contact Ellen Hart M\u201918 at <\/em>ellen.hart@trincoll.edu<\/em><\/a> or 860-297-4148.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Historic space continues to be key part of campus life By Emily Dowden \u201918 While the Trinity College Chapel, a magnificent structure that towers over the Main Quad, has stood as an architectural icon and Hartford landmark for more than 85 years, what happens inside might be even more remarkable. The Chapel has long served … <\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>THE POWER OF MUSIC<\/h3>\n
<\/a>PRESERVING HISTORY<\/h3>\n
<\/a>A NEW CHAPTER<\/h2>\n
<\/a>