Renowned Filmmaker Tells Story of the Beginning of His Career as a Trinity Student

By Nipuni Gomes

Molina and his crew working on Revelation
Photo courtesy of William Molina

Filmmaker William Molina, ’84, was among Trinity’s last cohort of film majors when, 36 years ago, the university’s Department of Journalism, Broadcast, and Film was in the process of dropping the film component and turning into what is known today as the Department of Communication.

Now an award-winning cinematographer, Molina traced the beginning of his career to his freshman year at Trinity when, although with a limited budget and resources, Molina persevered with a whole lot of passion and determination.

Young Entrepreneurs at Trinity University

Cole Evans rehearses his lines for an Under Amour
entrepreneurship commercial in Trinity’s
Center for the Sciences & Innovation
Photos by Nate Borchers 

By Nate Borchers

When Cole Evans started college at Trinity two years ago, he already had in mind a business idea.

“Coming into college I really knew that I wanted to pursue a business degree mainly because how seriously I was taking the idea of launching Plova,” said Evans. Plova is Evans’ vision of a chewing gum that can replace brushing teeth, designed for businessmen or students on the go who don’t have time to brush teeth.

Evans took this idea to the Cupid’s Cup-Under Armour Entrepreneurship Competition, hosted at the University of Maryland last year. Competing with more than 500 businesses and despite being by far the youngest team, Plova made it to the finals.

Microaggressions, Free Speech, and Political Correctness: A Growing Dialogue on the Trinity University Campus

The April 27 meeting on political correctness
Photo by Nipuni Gomes

This is Part 1 of a two-part series.

By Nipuni Gomes

Toward the end of the past spring semester, amid the stress of preparing for final exams, about 30 Trinity University students still found the time to attend a meeting regarding political correctness and free speech.

They engaged in a heated debate at the April 27 meeting.

“Political correctness is nonsense. We need to throw it out, and we need to go ‘bye-bye,’” said Reece Ringnald, a sophomore and member of Tigers for Liberty at that time, but was later dismissed from the organization.

“We were based off of free speech in this country,” Ringnald said, calling political correctness “a manufactured term.”

His view was challenged by other students at the meeting. “If you’re not able to respect where the other person is coming from, you are not going to be able to convince them of your opinion,” said Benjamin Collinger, a first year student and president of Trinity Diversity Connection.

“I just don’t care!” Ringnald replied.

“Then why are you here?” several other attendees asked in unison.

Microaggressions, Free Speech, and Political Correctness: A Growing Dialogue on the Trinity University Campus

Trinity University Dean of Students David Tuttle
(far left) meeting with students from
the Black Student Union on April 22
Photo by Nipuni Gomes

This is Part 2 of a two-part series.

By Nipuni Gomes

In early April, Tigers for Liberty, a student organization for conservative, libertarian-minded individuals, invited British journalist, entrepreneur, and controversial fringe internet icon Milo Yiannopoulos to speak about microaggressions in Laurie Auditorium.

In his lecture, Yiannopoulos articulated a number of slurs against people of color and feminists, and argued that microaggressions do not, in fact, exist. The lecture was attended by members of both the Trinity community and the wider San Antonio area. Many attendees cheered and laughed during the talk, and named it an exercise of free speech.

“Milo sort of acted like an unnecessary battering ram in that everyone knows who the club is now, so in terms of getting name recognition up, he was excellent. In terms of his lecture, I wasn’t a fan of his lecture,” said Manfred Wendt, a first year student and President of Tigers for Liberty.

Callum Squires: Passion for Soccer and Beyond

Callum Squires playing soccer for Trinity 

Photo by Nate Kizla

By Davis Mathis

Callum John Drysdale Squires has a name that couldn’t allow him to show his Englishness if he wanted. So how did this Englishman end up in San Antonio, Texas for college? The answer is soccer.

He wanted to keep playing soccer. 

“America is crazy about college sports. It’s just such a big culture here, which is weird because no one cares about college sports back home,” says Squires, a junior majoring in German Studies. “They aren’t really even a thing. So when I wanted to keep competitively playing the sport, America was the logical choice.”

TUPD Officer Laura Hernandez

Corporal Laura Hernandez
Photo courtesy of Laura Henandez

By Katie Groke

Corporal Investigator Laura Hernandez is all smiles when she talks about her time with the Trinity University Police Department. “TUPD rocks!” She is also one of only three female officers at TUPD, out of its force of 32.

Now her second year at Trinity, Hernandez has also been teaching a Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) class at Trinity, something she has done in various places for 22 years.

This course is offered as a physical education common curriculum course and is available to female students. Here she and Sylvia Villarreal, also with TUPD, teach young women different self-defense techniques. They also teach their students how to be good witnesses who can help officers get information across the radio. “Each person has something to learn from this course,” says Hernandez.

Empowering Women at Trinity and Beyond: A look Inside the Women Ambassadors Forum

By Dana McLaughlin

Ingrid Harb walked across the stage amid cheers and applauses at today's Trinity Univeristy Spring 2016 Commencement. She is graduating with a bachelor's degree in international business and marketing. However, Harb’s legacy on the Trinity campus will last long after her graduation.

Harb is the co-founder and CEO of a now international organization called Women Ambassadors Forum (WAF), which hosts an annual conference that brings female leaders from various fields to interact with aspiring young women, mostly college students, from around the world.

The inaugural WAF was held last July, when 30 young women from universities across the U.S. and Mexico gathered for five days at Trinity University.

Trinity Faculty and Students Debate Activity Blocks

Dr. Sheryl Tynes

Photo by Nancy Li

By Nancy Li 

Every semester, professors and students witness over-involvement and burnout among students here at Trinity.

Mark Lewis, a professor in the Computer Science department, has seen these problems starting from many students’ first year. Some young freshman, seeing that they spend only 15 hours per week in class, decide to sign up for multiple organizations. Many of them later see extracurricular activities and academic commitments clash.

By the time they realized that they didn’t have a lot of free time, they would end up being in a bad position “because they over committed their time,” says Lewis.

Professor Jenny Browne, the Newly Named San Antonio Poet Laureate, Talks about Trust in Her Creative Process

By Nancy Li

Seated in her office which was littered with various books, papers, and bumper stickers that carried phrases such as "Obamanos" or "united we art," English Professor Jenny Browne found inspiration for her poetry practice in all corners of life.

Browne, interested in what she called the "music of language," says, “Poetry is about paying better attention, to both the outer and inner landscape. It helps me to be awake, aware of the hook of the language, feeling, or image that might spark a poem.”

Amidst the whirlwind that includes family, kids, teaching, and multiple other commitments, Browne always finds a time to write and process her thoughts. “I sit down and try to say something honest, precise, and maybe even interesting,” she says. 

Growing Greener Generations, Trinity Embraces Change

By Robert Smith

The Trinity University Community Garden outside the Storch building may not seem fancy, but has a significant purpose.

The garden is just one of the projects that are in the work as Trinity University embraces changes that would allow the university to run and grow in a more environmental friendly and sustainable way.

The garden has seen tremendous growth in past years, both in plants and popularity. “Other colleges and universities have begun to make use of urban space in the interest of sustainability and energy saving practices,” says garden director and senior student Nathan King. “We hope to use the garden as a vehicle to bring sustainability to the forefront.”

Trinity Joins the National Debate on Safe Space and Trigger Warnings

By Katie Groke

Trinity University has joined the national debate on safe space in educational settings, which has been a contested topic recently in higher education and beyond.

On March 29, the Collaborative on Learning and Teaching hosted a closed discussion for 19 students, faculty, and staff members to discuss trigger warnings and safe spaces.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss some guidelines for creating a safe environment in classrooms. The main points of the guideline include creating a conducive interactive environment, expecting participants to be active listeners, respectful of other people’s opinions, and “accept other people’s experiences as the truth.”

Women Leaders Share Success Stories at Annual Women’s Leadership Summit

By Amy Drozdiak

Three renowned female leaders formed a panel at the annual Women's Leadership Summit, held at Trinity University on Saturday, to share their experiences of achieving success being successful in prominent positions of leadership.

At the panel were State Representative Ina Minjarez, president, CEO, and chairman of the board of CST Brands, Kim Lubel, and president of H-E-B San Antonio/West Division, Suzanne Wade. The discussion was moderated by Trinity alum Trish DeBerry, CEO of The DeBerry Group.

All three women leading the panel discussion work in traditionally male-dominated industries: oil & gas, politics, and retail operations management. 

Ryan Gray Named D-III Baseball All-American and Pitcher of the Year

By Trevor Griffin

Ryan Gray, Trinity baseball’s left-handed pitcher, was recently named Division III Baseball America Preseason Pitcher of the Year.

A Tucson, Arizona native, Gray, 21, knows how to keep his cool on the mound and has showcased his skills over the past three years on the baseball team. He finished last year with a flawless 8-0 record while being credited with two saves. In addition, he pitched 67.2 innings with a 2.00 ERA, leading the team in strikeouts by fanning 75 batters over the course of the season.