Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 19, 2026 15 graduates in the region. About one in five Trinity College graduates stays in Connecticut, Lugo said. Investing in campus Upgrading Trinity's grounds is another piece of Lugo's plan. He said the college had been patching prob- lems rather than fixing them. "For a while there, we were accumu- lating a fair amount of what I would call capital and physical debt," he said. "And we're getting on the positive side of making those investments and taking that debt down." This year's $20.6 million invest- ment covers infrastructure, athletics, academic buildings, housing, dining, the library and the chapel, the college said. Trinity rebuilt classrooms in Seabury Hall, gutted and refurbished McCook Hall, home to social sciences and physics, and renovated four of its eight first-year residence halls, with the remaining four planned for next year. The school is also putting up its first new academic building in years, the Elizabeth Elting Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on Vernon Street. The 4,870-square-foot facility will house classrooms, meeting rooms and spaces where students can develop business ideas and work on projects with faculty, alumni and community partners. The frame is up, the roof is being installed and the center is on schedule to open in fall 2027. Additional projects could follow. The college is drafting a strategic plan, tentatively called "Trinity 2040," which Lugo hopes trustees will approve by year's end. He expects it to call for new science facilities and renovations to arts spaces. The cost has not been determined. Lugo has also rebuilt his senior staff to carry out that plan. The team includes Chief Financial Officer Scott Jordan, who previously worked at Harvard and UConn; Vice President for Advancement Ben Anderson; athletic director Gavin Viano; and Rich Majerus, vice president for strategic planning and marketing and commu- nications, who led strategic planning at Queens while Lugo was president. Donor support Trinity closed its most recent capital campaign, "All In," last summer. Lugo said the multiyear drive brought in about $440 million for financial aid, academic programs and facilities. A new campaign will be announced after the board approves the strategic plan. Trinity secured $39 million in new donor commitments in Lugo's first year and raised a record $10.5 million for the Trinity College Fund, which supports day-to-day operations. Alumni participa- tion rose to 24% in fiscal 2026 from 23%. Decades ago, nearly half of alumni at highly selective colleges gave every year, Lugo said. Those rates have since fallen by double digits. He attributes the national decline to competition for charitable dollars and to younger alumni who give differently from their parents. "This generation is much more impact-oriented," he said. "Colleges have to get better at showing that through line." Case for liberal arts Lugo said Trinity made no sweeping academic changes this year, though it now offers a data science major. Summer meetings between faculty and incoming students helped boost enrollment and reduce withdrawals before classes began, he said. One change Trinity isn't pursuing is a shorter degree. Several states allow reduced-credit, three-year bach- elor's degrees to lower costs, and Connecticut's independent colleges have urged lawmakers to permit them here. Lugo said he supports experimen- tation but sees nothing to cut from Trinity's four-year degree. Courses across disciplines help students evaluate information, work in teams and ask better questions, he said. "We actually don't believe we have any fat in what our experi- ence is," he said. He cites graduates' earnings as evidence of the degree's value. U.S. News & World Report ranked Trinity 12th in earnings by major. Graduates who received federal financial aid have median earnings of about $84,000 four years after graduating from Trinity, according to federal College Scorecard data. Trinity's engineering program — offered by few liberal arts colleges — illustrates how that education can complement career prepara- tion, Lugo said. "You're going to get a slightly more thoughtful, a slightly stronger engineer from having a better human perspective," Lugo said. Opening Doors Capitol Squash helps Hartford students see a future at Trinity College By Andrew Larson alarson@hartfordbusiness.com F or some Hartford children, Trinity College is just blocks from home, but its campus is unfamiliar territory. A nonprofit based there is working to change that — and help them prepare for college. Capitol Squash, which pairs squash instruction with academic support, recruits students as early as third grade and supports them through college, providing tutoring, homework help and SAT prepa- ration. It has operated on Trinity's campus for more than a decade. The college provides the space but no funding, Capitol Squash Executive Director Meg Taylor said. "This might be the first time those students have ever stepped on campus, and it's in the neighborhoods that they live," Taylor said. "They start to feel like this is a place for them, that they are welcome, that they belong." Trinity College's new Hometown Hartford program could help make that possibility more concrete. Announced in September, it will cover full tuition, housing and meals for Hartford residents admitted to the college, starting with students entering in the 2027-28 academic year. Taylor said families often don't know what a school will actually cost until they receive financial aid letters in the spring of senior year. The guarantee gives families that information earlier. "Rarely do we see this complete of a package," she said. "We don't know that until they're in the final stages and they're getting their financial aid packages. So this definitely changes the conversation." Of Capitol Squash's 27 alumni, 19 are attending or have graduated from college. Two are at Trinity, including Angel Salgado, a member of the class of 2029 who became the program's first student to enroll there last year. Taylor said the low number of Trinity College students reflects the program's age: Its first cohort did not reach college until 2022. Capitol Squash's first three college graduates, who finished this spring, all went to work in Hartford, at Hartford Steam Boiler, St. Francis Hospital and The Hartford. More than 300 Hartford students toured Trinity College through Capitol Squash this fall. "We've always asked the kids: Do you want to go to college?" Taylor said. "But this time their hands are shooting up. We're asking them what colleges they want to attend, and the majority are saying Trinity." Meg Taylor

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