Traill College Fall Dinner: A Celebration of the Collegiality, Music and Dance
Traill Visiting Fellow Dr. Paul Duro honoured with special guest President Leo Groarke in attendance
On November 20, Bagnani Hall was transformed from a lecture hall into an elegant dining room for 80 graduate students, alumni, and faculty of Trent University’s Traill College for the annual Traill College Fall Dinner. The doors of the adjacent Bagnani Room were also opened so guests could be greeted with music from the College’s 1910 Bechstein grand piano played by Trent University’s own Daniel Collins.
Each year, a visiting fellow is chosen to live at Traill and promote the graduate mission of the College. At this year’s Fall Dinner Dr. Paul Duro, from the University of Rochester, was officially welcomed as the Traill College Visiting Fellow for 2015-2016. Professor Duro, who had given a lecture earlier in the week, is the first scholar in Cultural and Visual Studies to receive the annual fellowship. He will return in March 2016 to offer a public lecture on eighteenth-century art and facilitate a career seminar for graduate students.
As has been the recent tradition, the dinner was lighthearted and formally informal. Second-year Indigenous Studies student and world-renowned hoop dancer, Crystal John, had the audience transfixed with a special performance during the meal. Dr. Michael Eamon, Traill College principal, hosted the evening’s events with humorous anecdotes and ended the meal asking everyone to stand up and together make a series of toasts. Recipients of the toasts included College namesake Catharine Parr Traill, founding president Tom Symons, current president Dr. Leo Groarke and the students of the College.
In a more serious moment, Professor Eamon encouraged all present to take a moment and reflect upon the events happening around the world and in the Peterborough community, saying, “Education is the process of learning, but also of realizing there is more to learn. Knowing that there is more to know is the foundation of one of the greatest things the College can foster: humility. Only when we are humble can we be open to education; only when we are educated, can we help others. And there is no greater goal than knowing in part, doing our part, and then improving the whole.”
The majority of student tickets were sponsored through the generosity of Trent University’s graduate departments of Cultural Studies (PhD), History, Public Texts, Anthropology, Materials Science (PhD), Theory, Culture and Politics, Education, Environmental and Life Sciences and the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies.
At the end of the evening, the popular student alt-rock band Television Rd. performed a rare acoustic set. The food was expertly prepared for the evening by BE Catering, who also run the popular College pub, The Trend. The next College Dinner will be in April and promises to again promote collegiality through food, fellowship and fun.