[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 135 (Thursday, October 2, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1901]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CONGRATULATING TRINITY COLLEGE ON ITS 100TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BARBARA B. KENNELLY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 30, 1997

  Mrs. KENNELLY of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to 
congratulate my alma mater, Trinity College of Washington, DC, which 
this year is celebrating its centennial anniversary of providing 
quality higher education to women in the Nation's Capital, across the 
country, and around the world.
  Trinity College was founded in August 1897 by the Sisters of Notre 
Dame de Namur as the Nation's first Catholic liberal arts college for 
women. Chartered by an act of Congress, Trinity has a rich tradition of 
academic excellence, specializing in preparing women for roles of 
leadership and service.
  The Sisters of Notre Dame had a vision of an institution for women, 
built on a challenging liberal arts curriculum that assumed that women 
are the intellectual equal of men, and composed of a student body 
national in scope. One hundred years later, as Trinity proudly 
celebrates its centennial, the work and beliefs of the community of the 
Sisters of Notre Dame live on.
  Trinity welcomed its first students in 1900. In 1966, Trinity 
established its coeducational graduate program, and in 1984 created 
Weekend College, an undergraduate degree program designed to meet the 
educational goals of the Washington area's working women.
  Today, with a diverse enrollment of nearly 1,500 students in its 
undergraduate and coeducational graduate programs, Trinity is a 
nationally recognized leader among the Nation's women's colleges and in 
the education of adult women. Using Washington, DC, as an extended 
classroom, generations of Trinity students have walked these very 
corridors, providing valuable services as interns and staff in so many 
of our offices.
  In addition to its degree programs, Trinity also educates thousands 
of students each year through its nondegree and affiliated programs, 
including graduate workshops for teachers, Washington Very Special 
Arts, Upward Bound, Education for Parish Service, Notre Dame Education 
Center, and Elderhostel. The college is also home to the Pan American 
Symphony Orchestra, which performs concerts during the year for music 
lovers throughout the Washington area.
  Carrying on the tradition of the Sisters of Notre Dame in helping 
those in need, Trinity students, faculty, and staff participate in 
various community service projects, including caring for boarder 
babies, tutoring and delivering meals to the homeless, and spending 
school breaks living and working with migrant farmworkers at the 
Farmworker Ministry run by the Sisters of Notre Dame in Apopka, FL. 
Trinity's graduate education students are active in partnerships with 
area schools, and undergraduate students conduct after-school programs 
for the children at neighborhood elementary schools, where faculty 
provide teaching assistance and mentoring programs.
  Trinity graduates, including my esteemed colleague from the great 
State of California, Nancy Pelosi, are using their education to make a 
difference in their communities--across the country and around the 
globe--in corporate boardrooms, courtrooms, classrooms, laboratories, 
and families.
  In 1997, the work of the Sisters of Notre Dame continues to thrive as 
Trinity College remains an institution centered around women, and 
enriched by the Catholic tradition, a place where women can gain the 
knowledge and tools necessary to succeed in their own lives and give 
back to their communities. As a member of Trinity's class of 1958, I am 
proud to wish Trinity College continued success as it celebrates ``A 
Century of Women Leading the Way,'' and prepares to move forward into 
the 21st century.

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