Business as Unusual

Trent University Alumni Benefits and Services Continues to Roll Out Programming During COVID-19 Physical Distancing

While the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying physical distancing has created a world of uncertainty, we want to offer this bit of reassurance: the Alumni Engagement and Services team is still here for you. While we are away from our physical home at Alumni House, we’re still available to answer questions about your alumni benefits and programing. Simply drop us a line at alumni@trentu.ca and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!

We’ve been busy while working away from our homes. Days after emergency measures were taken by our country, province, and home communities, we started rolling out #TrentUCares, a social media campaign aimed to lift the spirits and encourage our current students as they became the first cohort to ever have to complete assignments, exams, and other assessments completely online. Hundreds of messages of encouragement were shared with students as they entered exams.

But sometimes words are not enough. We were also pleased to launch the brand-new Trent University Student Rapid Relief Fund (SRRF), which raised over $50,000 to assist students affected by COVID-19 (including $10,000 from the Trent University Alumni Association). The SRRF is currently available to Trent students based on financial need, and will provide support toward groceries and supplies, unexpected travel home, job loss or reduced earnings, medical costs, and mental health services.

With no immediate end in sight to physical distancing practices, we’re going to continue to share the many ways that #TrentUCares.

We’ve already seen stories about how Trent University and Trent University Durham GTA have been giving back to their communities, such as Trent/Gzowski College offering temporary housing to frontline medical workers, Trent delivering a large donation of personal protective equipment to the Peterborough Regional Health Centre, and Trent Durham GTA supporting the Back Door Mission in Oshawa; and how alum are showing their Trent spirit by volunteering as frontline workers, helping kick start local economies, and offering music to both raise money soothe frayed nerves.

We want to share more of these stories. And we want to hear from you!

Are you, or an alum you know, a frontline worker or volunteering time/energy to help out in your community during this period of physical distancing? We’d love to hear about it and share your story in a news article or on social media. We’ll also be presenting podcasts, interviewing some of these Trent University/#TrentUCares alumni heroes. Email TRENT Magazine editor, Donald Fraser at donaldgfraser@trentu.ca today.

As well, we hope to offer a bit of social programming for this time of social distancing. While we are currently unable to offer in-person alumni events, we will also be rolling out a series of informal social events and house concerts, featuring some of our most talented alum. Hosting an online show or interested in participating? Reach out to donaldgfraser@trentu.ca

Working with faculty and alum, we are pleased to be launching Trent Talks – a weekly interactive video series offering timely, reliable and thought-provoking information about COVID-19, as well as other topics related to our rapidly changing world. Each episode will challenge the way we think, offering captivating insights from faculty and alumni experts. These curated talks will be presented in two integrated video formats: a moderated Q&A, hosted by Trent chancellor, Dr. Stephen Stohn ’66, featuring viewer-submitted questions; as well as a 10-minute mini-lecture by a stand-alone faculty expert.

New videos will be posted each Wednesday at noon, beginning April 22, 2020, at https://mycommunity.trentu.ca/trenttalks.

Finally, there is plenty of archived Trent Alumni media to keep you informed and entertained while spending extra time at home. Please find over 50 alumni podcast interviews (including conversations with Order of Canada members, Governor General Award winners, senior politicians, Juno winners, award-winning scientists, world-renowned journalists, Canadian Screen Award winners, and so many more), as well as back issues of TRENT Magazine.

Do you have ideas for content that you think alumni would find valuable? Drop us a line!

We look forward to hearing from you.