Trinity's Mulberry House
On May 13, 1952, students, faculty, community volunteers, and movers transferred Trinity University property to the present site, a 107-acre hilltop location with a scenic view of downtown San Antonio (“Trinity University History,” 2019). On moving day, the new campus consisted of a dormitory housing 60 residents, a classroom building that lacked a heating system, a barren library, an uncompleted student union, and a woman's dormitory under construction (“Trinity University History,” 2019). However, the housing transition for Trinity’s new home was not quite as seamless. A 1978 article illustrated Trinity’s housing situation at the time, “Few students lived on campus. The new campus had only one women's dorm in the fall of ‘52; Murchison. The men were housed in a motel called the Grandee Courts, which if it was standing now would be across from Bombay’s. Athletes lived in the Mulberry House” (Anderson, 1978).
In the summer of 1952, the large Mulberry House or “old Slick” house was purchased to house students on athletic scholarships. When the trustees had great visions of Trinity being a middle-size college football power (Kluttz, 1974). The Mulberry House became home to twenty male student-athletes at the time (Schofield, 1967). Residents of the Mulberry house were automatically inducted into the Mulberry House Fellowship, an organization that shared the responsibility of regulating citizenship and social life in the dormitory (“Dormitory,” 1952). The establishment of the Mulberry House Fellowship served as a tool to reinforce a balanced college experience. The fellowship encouraged students to participate in extracurriculars outside of sports such as greek life and service groups, in hopes of creating a more well-rounded student-athlete.