Symbols of President's Office

President Joanne Berger-Sweeney receiving the symbols of the President's Office in 2014. Photo credit: Trinity College

When a new Trinity College president formally takes office, during the service of investiture they are given the symbols of authority of that office: a book, a key, a mace, and a medallion (collar).

Book

Each year at the Commencement ceremony, every Trinity College student touches the Book, which represents the delegation to the president the responsibility for educational activities for which the College was founded. The Book contains the order of graduation written by the president for the first Trinity College Commencement ceremony in 1827. Legend has it that the president forgot his Bible at the ceremony that day, so students touched their hand to this book instead.

Key

The key, once the opener of the giant lock on the Williams Memorial administration building, is made of bronze and symbolizes turning over the physical properties of the institution to the president's care.

Owen Morgan Mace

On Honors Day in 1950, the Morgan family presented a ceremonial mace to Trinity College in memory of Owen Morgan, Class of 1906, who served Trinity as a member of the Board of Fellows, a trustee, and treasurer of the College. Historically, maces were first used as weapons in warfare and later became a symbol of a sovereign's power. One of the first known uses of a mace by an educational institution was at Cambridge University in the 13th century. Today a number of colleges use the mace as a symbol of authority and of the power invested in the president by the faculty and trustees. The mace precedes the president in academic processions.

Crafted by the Gorham Company in Providence, the Morgan Mace is made of ebony, signifying endurance; bronze, for power; and gold, symbolizing dignity and glory. It is 44 inches long and weighs 20 pounds. The fluted staff represents the various components of an enduring education. It is bound by a gold ribbon and inscribed with the names of every Trinity president. Six seals of the sources of life and growth of the college adorn the mace's head, or urn: the Great Seal of the United States; the Seal of the State of Connecticut; the Charter Oak; the original seal of the City of Hartford; the Washington Coat of Arms; and the seal of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut. At the top of the Gothic urn is the Trinity College seal crowned by an eagle about to take flight, symbolizing the freedom and power of an educated person.

Presidential Collar

The collar was presented to Trinity College at the opening of the 1953 Commencement exercises by former President G. Keith Funston, Class of 1932, in memory of his grandmother, Maria Briggs Keith. It was received by Mr. Newton C. Brainard, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and dedicated by the Right Reverend Walter H. Gray, Bishop of Connecticut. Intended to be worn on ceremonial occasions, it is the visible symbol of the president’s high office and authority.

Mr. Funston and Professor John E. Candelet, faculty mace bearer, planned and designed the collar which was made by the Gorham Company of Providence. The golden seal of the Trinity President hangs from the collar, which is fashioned of seven silver seals and twenty replicas of the Trinity Elms in sterling silver washed in gold. The Elms rise from scrolls engraved with the initial “T.” At the center is the Trinity College seal superimposed on a triangle representing the Holy Trinity–the religious foundations of the college–crowned by a sun signifying enlightenment. In the lower corners of the triangle are the Book, representing knowledge, and a pair of student’s hands extended to receive it, symbolizing the desire of youth to receive an education.

Other seals forming silver links in the collar are the United States seal, the original seals of Connecticut and the City of Hartford, the seal of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, and the Washington Coat of Arms, with a special seal representing the Charter Oak.