President’s Newsletter, Spring 2009

April 10, 2009

Dear Alumnae and Alumni, Families and Friends of Trinity

Signs of hope and renewal are blossoming all over Washington: cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin, daffodils and tulips in abundance all over town, and a flood of a welcome sort right here at Trinity – more applications than we’ve seen in decades, along with a rising tide of student, faculty and alumnae achievements.

Applications for the Fall 2009 new class in the College of Arts and Sciences have surged by more than 22% over this same time last year. Applications to our professional programs in the School of Education and School of Professional Studies are also soaring. Trinity is on the move! With gratitude for the generous support of our large community of benefactors, I am pleased to provide this brief summary of the remarkable ways in which Trinity achievers reflect the continuing strength of our mission.

Student Achievements

Without a doubt, the achievements of Trinity seniors this year set a high bar for the rising classes. Among the many notable accomplishments of the Class of 2009:

• Brigid Otieno, an International Affairs major, has won a Fulbright Fellowship to teach in South Korea next year. Ms. Otieno’s Fulbright is the capstone of a hugely successful Trinity career in which she also earned an invitation last year to the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Summer Program at Howard University, an internship at the Department of Labor International Affairs Bureau, a “People For” Fellowship through People for the American Way, and selection as an Intelligence Scholar with Trinity’s Intelligence Community Center of Academic Excellence.
• Elizabeth Zamorski, a Political Science major, won a scholarship to attend Drexel Law School. Additionally, Ms. Zamorski has been accepted to the law schools at Villanova University, Temple University and the University of Houston.
• Christina Harper, an English major, has been accepted into the graduate program in Media, Culture and Society at DePaul University in Chicago.
• Stephanie McRae, a Language and Cultural Studies major, will study for her master’s in Student Personnel at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
• Laura Regester, a Chemistry major, is going to work towards her master’s in Forensic Chemistry. She will be choosing among these graduate programs where she has already received acceptances: Michigan State, George Washington University, Drexel University, Marshall University, University of New Haven and Virginia Commonwealth University.
• Allison Dobbs, an International Affairs major, will enter the master’s program in Applied Intelligence at Mercyhurst College.
• Nzinga Lawrence, a Psychology major, will take her master’s in Counseling at Howard University.
• Jamie LePak, a Sociology/Criminal Justice major, will pursue her master’s in Criminal Justice at Northeastern University in Boston.
• Makaii Kellogg, a History major, will earn her M.A.T. degree in Trinity’s School of Education.

Rising fast behind these seniors are some immensely talented younger students who will soon take charge. One of our most outstanding rising seniors is Sydney Cross, Class of 2010. She has gained admission to the highly competitive Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Summer Program at Howard University. She has also recently become Vice Chairman of the Black Caucus of the College Democrats of America organization, stepping up from her position as secretary, to which she was elected last summer, at the Democratic National Convention.

Faculty Achievements

Trinity’s faculty are gaining increasing recognition in Washington and around the country as experts in the education of new populations of students entering higher education today. College of Arts and Sciences Dean Dr. Elizabeth Child and Associate Deans Dr. Cristina Parsons and Dr. Carlota Ocampo have made major presentations on the effectiveness of Trinity’s new general education curriculum and First Year Experience program at conferences of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, and the National Symposium on Student Retention. Dr. Deborah Harris-O'Brien, Associate Professor of Psychology, and Dr. Stacey Baugh, Assistant Professor of Psychology, also made a presentation at the Eastern Psychological Association conference on their work in adapting a psychology course as a Critical Reading Seminar, one of Trinity’s requirements in its General Education requirements for the College of Arts and Sciences.

Other notable recent faculty achievements include:

• Dr. Liliana Losada, Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Biology, has received a highly prestigious Science and Technology Fellowship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a distinction earned through a rigorous application process. The program in which Dr. Losada will participate has the goals of involving scientists and engineers in policy making and having policymakers become more knowledgeable about scientific issues. Dr. Losada will work in the area of bioterrorism and will participate in the program through work in one of the relevant agencies (Defense, Homeland Security, or the Federal Bureau of Investigation) during the 2009–2010 academic year.
• Dr. Ray Adomaitis, Assistant Professor of Counseling, received the C. Harold McCully Counselor Educator Recognition Award at the 44th Annual Conference of the District of Columbia Counseling Association.
• Dr. Robert Maguire, Associate Professor of International Affairs, is spending his sabbatical year as the Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace. A Haiti specialist, Dr. Maguire has written extensively on issues in U.S. relations with Haiti and Caribbean affairs.

Many other faculty achievements and scholarly works are published on Trinity’s website as part of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence.

Alumnae Achievements

The change of administrations in Washington has led to several significant appointments for Trinity alumnae, including:

• Kathleen Sebelius, Class of 1970 and formerly Governor of Kansas, now becomes Secretary of Health and Human Services. Secretary Sebelius has already played significant roles on the national stage, serving a term as chair of the Democratic Governors Association and delivering the Democratic response to the State of the Union Address in 2008. Prior to her first election as Governor, she was the Kansas State Insurance Commissioner, a position that helped to establish her credentials for the HHS leadership spot.
• Susan Flood Burk, Class of 1976, Deputy Coordinator for Homeland Security in the Office of the Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism at the Department of State, is President Obama’s nominee for Special Representative of the President, with the rank of Ambassador. Prior to assuming her present duties, Ms. Burk was the Department of State’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nonproliferation Controls in the Bureau of Nonproliferation where she led efforts to respond to and prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and advanced conventional weapons. Ms. Burk also served in various positions in the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency where she focused on regional and functional nuclear nonproliferation issues.
• M. Patricia Smith, Class of 1974, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Labor and Co-chair of New York State’s Economic Security sub-cabinet is President Obama’s nominee for Solicitor, Department of Labor, the #3 position in that department. Currently, she oversees the New York State Department of Labor with an annual budget of $4 billion, with 3,700 employees in 80 offices throughout the state and serves as advisor to Governor David Paterson on workforce and labor policy. Previously, she served for 20 years in the Labor Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office, the last eight as Bureau Chief.

Congratulations to our alumnae in public service!

Please Help Trinity Continue to Support Such Great Achievements!

The achievements of students, faculty and alumnae mentioned in this newsletter are representative of a much larger record of great accomplishments that occur through the mission and outreach of our great Trinity community every day. Ensuring the continuing vitality of this great mission requires everyone who loves Trinity to contribute to the strength of alma mater in every way possible.

In this historic era of the deepest recession since the 1930s, I know that many Trinity families are stressed. At the same time, Trinity herself is feeling the effects of the economic crisis in many ways. We are delaying much-needed building projects to concentrate our resources on supporting our students, who need more financial assistance than ever before, and we are striving to retain the great faculty and staff who make Trinity’s mission come alive each day.

Your support for Trinity’s Annual Fund always makes a difference, and this year such support is absolutely critical to sustaining Trinity’s work. I am profoundly grateful to all of our alumnae and friends who have already given so generously, and in the same way I express Trinity’s great thanks to those whose gifts will come in the months ahead.

With Gratitude, Patricia McGuire