Trinity University (Texas) Information

Trinity University is a private liberal arts university in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 1869, its campus is located in the Monte Vista Historic District adjacent to Brackenridge Park. The campus is three miles north of downtown San Antonio and the River Walk and six miles south of the San Antonio International Airport. The student body consists of approximately 2,300 undergraduate and 200 graduate students. Trinity offers 42 majors and 57 minors among 6 degree programs and has an endowment of $1.29 billion, the 89th largest in the U.S.

Trinity is a member institution of the Annapolis Group, a consortium of national independent colleges that share a commitment to liberal arts values and education, and the Associated Colleges of the South, 16 southern liberal arts colleges that collaborate on staff and curricular enhancements.

Cumberland Presbyterians founded Trinity in 1869 in Tehuacana, Texas from the remnants of three small Cumberland Presbyterian colleges that had lost significant enrollment during the Civil War. John Boyd, who had served in the Congress of the Republic of Texas from 1836 to 1845 and in the Texas Senate from 1862 to 1863, donated 1,100 acres of land and financial assistance to establish the new university.

Believing that the school needed the support of a larger community, the university moved in 1902 to Waxahachie, Texas. In 1906, the university, along with many Cumberland Presbyterian churches, affiliated with the United Presbyterian Church. The Stock Market Crash of 1929, however, severely hindered the universitys growth. Enrollment declined sharply, indebtedness and faculty attrition mounted, and trustees began using endowment funds to maintain daily operations. Consequently, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed Trinitys accreditation status on probation in 1936, jeopardizing its future. Once again, its leaders began to consider relocation to a larger community to improve the universitys viability.

Meanwhile, in 1942, the Methodist-affiliated University of San Antonio was failing. San Antonio community leaders, who wished to maintain a Protestant-affiliated college in the city, approached Trinity with a relocation offer. The university left Waxahachie and took over the campus and alumni of the University of San Antonio. (The old Waxahachie campus is currently home to Southwestern Assemblies of God University). For the next decade the Woodlawn campus, on the citys near-west side, was Trinitys home while it developed a permanent home. Lacking adequate facilities, the university functioned by using military barracks and Quonset huts to house students and to provide library and classroom space.

In 1945, Trinity acquired a former limestone quarry for a new campus and hired Texas architect ONeil Ford to design a master plan and many of the buildings. Construction began in 1950, and the current campus opened in 1952.

When it moved, the campus was largely undeveloped (one classroom building, one dorm, and a nearly empty library were the only completed buildings). Yet, under the leadership of Dr. James W. Laurie, the universitys 14th president, Trinity took advantage of its new location in a rapidly growing major urban center to grow in academic stature. Dr. Laurie was responsible for drastically increasing Trinitys endowment, largely funded by the James A. and Leta M. Chapman Charitable Trust of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The stronger endowment allowed Trinity to construct a new, modern campus on its “University on the Hill” location and to increase the quality and range of its faculty while maintaining a high faculty to student ratio. In 1969 Trinity entered into a covenant agreement with the regional synod of the Presbyterian Church (USA) that affirmed historical connections, but transformed Trinity into a private, independent university with a self-perpetuating board of trustees. The campus continues to be a "historically connected" member of the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities.

Trinitys growth continued under Ronald Calgaard, who followed Lauries successor, Duncan Wimpress. Under Dr. Calgaard, the university implemented a number of changes to raise its profile. For example, Trinity transformed into a residential undergraduate school, requiring all freshmen to live on campus and cutting the number of masters programs offered from more than twenty to four. As well, Trinity decreased its student population from about 3,300 to 3,000 (and eventually to 2,700), increased merit scholarships, increased the focus on national student recruitment, and began scheduling a strong series of speakers and cultural events open to the public.

Calgaards successor, John R. Brazil, focused on replacing outdated campus buildings and improving the schools financial resources. The "Campaign for Trinity University", which launched in September 2005, sought to raise US $200 million for a variety of purposes. At its conclusion on September 25, 2009, the Campaign raised $205.9 million, surpassing the original goal. Dr. Brazil served as Trinitys President in through January 2010. Upon announcement of his retirement, the Board of Trustees awarded him Trinitys Distinguished Service Award, Trinitys most prestigious honor.

Dennis A. Ahlburg served as president from January 2010 to January 2015. During Ahlburgs presidency, Trinity developed and executed a strategic plan to shape the future of the university. Academically, Trinity refined its curriculum in order to further define a liberal arts education, developed an entrepreneurship program, and realigned the business program. As well, Trinity refocused its marketing to raise the universitys national profile. Finally, under Ahlburg, Trinity built the Center for Sciences and Innovation, which modernized and combined science facilities to ease collaboration across disciplines.

Danny J. Anderson, a Latin American literature scholar and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Kansas, succeeded Ahlburg as president in May 2015. Vice President Michael Fischer served as the interim president.

Trinity overlooks Downtown San Antonio and is adjacent to the Monte Vista Historic District and just south of the cities of Olmos Park and Alamo Heights. The 125-acre (0.5 km2) Skyline Campus, the universitys fourth location, is noted for its distinctive red brick architecture and well-maintained grounds, modeled after an Italian village, by late architect ONeil Ford.

The environmental movement at Trinity is known as Red Bricks, Green Campus. Trinity is a member of the Presidents Climate Commitment and is actively working toward carbon neutrality. Trinity was ranked 5th in the RecycleMania Challenge. Students pushed for fair trade options, and now all coffee sold at the university is certified fair trade. In 2011, Trinity University scored a B- on the College Sustainability Report Card, also known as the Green Report Card.

Miller Residence Hall, home to first-year students at Trinity University, was renovated and updated in 2010, earning gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by the U.S. Green Building Council in the process. In addition, Calvert Hall, the Thomas-Lightner complex, and The Center for the Sciences and Innovation have been registered with the Green Building Councils LEED program and are awaiting certification.

In 2011, Trinity undertook the development of a comprehensive ten-year strategic plan, Trinity Tomorrow, to ensure the long-term sustainability of the university. The board of trustees approved the plan in May 2013, which details four strategic objectives:

and four foundations in order to achieve them:

Administrators have begun enacting the details of the plan with positive outcomes. Among other highlights, Trinity:

As defined by the Carnegie Foundations classification, Trinity University is a small, highly residential university with a majority of enrollments coming from undergraduate students. The full-time, four-year undergraduate program is classified as "more selective, lower transfer-in" and has an arts and sciences focus with some graduate student coexistence. Trinity is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Full-time undergraduate tuition is $44,680 for the 2019-20 academic year; room and board are an additional $13,584.

Trinity offers 47 majors and 59 minors in the traditional liberal arts, business, sciences, fine arts, and engineering, and graduate programs in accounting, teaching, school psychology, school administration, and health care administration and is the only university in San Antonio to offer a minor in creative writing. Trinity stresses close interaction between students and faculty members across all disciplines, with a 9:1 student/faculty ratio. The full-time faculty numbers 228, 98% of whom hold a Ph.D. or other terminal degree in their field. About 47% of the student body has studied abroad in over 35 countries.

All undergraduates must demonstrate proficiency across a broad range of academic disciplines, regardless of major. At its core, the Common Curriculum provides the liberal arts foundation for all undergraduate degrees awarded by Trinity. The Common Curriculum consists of the following components: