Browse Exhibits

A summary of the rise and fall of Field Hockey with its arrival on campus in 1972 and then its departure four years later in 1976. This looks into why it could have failed and if it has a chance of ever returning in the future. 

This exhibit describes the evolution of the Men's Soccer program at Trinity University under the guidance of Paul McGinlay, who was hired in 1991.

Dr. Calgaard became the 16th President of Trinity University and was in charge from 1979-1999. President Calgaard was elected into the Trinity University Athletic's Hall of Fame in 2005. He is the only University President who has been inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame and had a profound impact on athletics and the athletic department at Trinity University. 

To this day Trinity University continues to have a nationally competitive Division III athletics program, because of the influence and direction of President Calgaard. Throughout his 20 year tenure as President of Trinity University, Dr. Calgaard developed and approved the plans for the William H. Bell Center, oversaw the transition as the school joined the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, and created a community environment where students and student-athletes could interact and learn together. Without the guidance of President Calgaard, who knows where Trinity would be today.

During the 1990s, the Trinity women's soccer program (TUWS) started their dominating run that continues into the current day. This exhibit dives into the state of women's soccer at the time and the inner workings of the program itself that gives insight into what has made the program into the powerhouse that it is today.

“…It is for that daring soul who is tired of American football and wants something more demanding and exciting” (Woodruff, 1974).  Those were the words of Chuck Butterick, president of the 1974 Trinity University Rugby team, expressing his attitudes about the sport.  Just that year, the “Ruggers” from Trinity won their division, beating a strong Austin team, and finished second in the state behind the Dallas Harlequins, making them one of the single most successful rugby teams of Trinity’s History.  Rewind to April of 1968.  The makeshift Trinity University rugby team, made up of an assortment of athletes who had little to no experience playing the sport, were facing the experienced, English influenced University of Texas team on their very own E.M. Stevens field.  Not only was this Trinity’s first attempt at rugby in over forty years, but according to the 1968 edition of Trinity’s school newspaper, the Trinitonian, this was “the first English football match ever played in San Antonio” (Corbitt, 1968).  13-11, Trinity comes out on top.

            Having reminisced of successful moments in the history of Trinity rugby like those previously mentioned, it would not be out of the ordinary to question the sport’s lacking presence at Trinity today.  Alternatively, a better question might be: what made rugby a popular phenomenon at Trinity in its prime years? To answer this, and in order to fully appreciate rugby’s presence at Trinity, we will take a stroll through the history of rugby at Trinity beginning in the 1960’s and ending in the early 1990’s.  The construction of this exhibit will not only present the high points of rugby at Trinity, it will also discuss why the sport was popular at Trinity during those years, drawing on societal issues and events that most likely influenced students’ interest in the game.