Prof.
f
Ken Hinchcli
The College Oak stands spreading forth its branches to the sun. And here are joy and laughter and loyal friends as well.
These two lines from the College song particularly resonate in this COVID year; capturing essential elements of Trinity that have been so important as we have risen to the challenges presented by the pandemic. The Oak serves as an enduring emblem of the resilience of the College, and joy and laughter revealing the strength of our community. The College demonstrated its spiritual, cultural and community resilience this year and will emerge in 2021 as a slightly different, but stronger, community. Tough times often bring out the best in people and institutions, and we have seen this at Trinity. As the Oak begins to sprout new leaves in September and add girth and strength to its limbs, the institutions of our College also refresh themselves and grow stronger each year, and 2020 was no different. Sure, some things change to adapt to the times, so, just as the Oak might grow more leaves on one unshaded branch one year, in 2020 we have combined the Bulpadok and Fleur-de-Lys publications to convey a strong message about this unusual and memorable year.
Trinity’s community has remained strong this year, and in ways that we could not have imagined in an earlier time. The community has adapted to social distancing restrictions, including severe limits on the size of gatherings of people, a ‘lock-in’, which meant no one was permitted to leave or enter the Trinity College grounds for more than two months, and cancellation of all intercollegiate sporting and cultural activities. Study was exclusively online and the size of the student cohort in the College was diminished. Nevertheless, we stayed connected, and we thank those who chose to remain in residence and those who decided home was a better option. We thank everyone for staying in touch through electronic media, games of Survivor and Dragons and Dungeons, Zoom tutorials, FaceTime corridor parties, and much much more. And we thank everyone for writing and reporting on this very unusual year. This year has defined our College, and we have, in so many ways, fulfilled the admonishment of the final lines of our College song: And make us worthy of your name, O glorious Trinity.
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