A portion of the Hartford skyline shines in the glow of the partial solar eclipse of June 10, 2021. Photographer Nick Caito climbed the steps of the Chapel tower to gain his vantage point.
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.
Features
Julie Mason ’93, deputy assistant to U.S. President Joe Biden and chief of staff to Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff. Photo by Stephen Voss
‘At the helm’
Julie Mason ’93 serves as chief of staff to country’s first second gentleman
Every Action done in Company, ought to be with Some Sign of Respect, to those that are Present. — Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, an investment executive turned novelist, describes a clever, brash heroine who is introduced to upper-class 1930s New York society through an unusual and somewhat unfortunate set of events. The story follows the heroine as she defines her own values and observes the strict rules of civility to which others adhere. These rules, and the title of the novel, were based on the Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, a book containing 110 principles that originated from a set of guidelines authored by French Jesuits in the late 16th century. The guidelines were popularized when our country’s first president, George Washington, a teenager at the time, handwrote a copy of them. It is said that Washington’s actions helped him internalize the ideas, albeit imperfectly, in turn molding his character. While it should be said that Washington didn’t practice all of what he learned, I was struck by rule number one—the excerpt at the top of this letter—and its relevance for our Trinity community today.