Trinity College Matriculation Convocation 2026 will be held on Monday, August 31. At the ceremony, the College will formally admit and welcome our incoming students (first-year Faculty of Arts & Science and Faculty of Divinity students) and invite them to sign the Trinity College Register.
The College will confer: honorary degrees of Doctor of Sacred Letters (honoris causa) upon Trinity alum Gay (Tugwell) Loveland and Norman Loveland in recognition of their visionary philanthropy, dedicated advocacy for education, and steadfast commitment to supporting underrepresented communities; and honorary fellowship upon Dr. Robert Selkirk Bothwell whose scholarship on Canadian political and diplomatic history has shaped the field and earned the nation’s highest academic and civic honours.
Matriculation Convocation – Academic Procession: Trinity College faculty and staff are invited to join the Academic Procession – complete this RSVP form (includes details) by Thursday, August 27.
Gay (Tugwell) and Norman Loveland
Passionate advocates for education and proud Trinity and U of T alumni, Gay (Tugwell) and Norman Loveland, respectively are recognized for their vision and generosity as members of the Chancellor’s Circle, and for their contributions to Trinity College and the University as a whole.
Friends and supporters of Trinity, Gay and Norman made a transformational $1-million gift to create the Tugwell Loveland First Generation Awards. This gift will provide dedicated resources to support students who are the first in their families to attend university. As the first in each of their own families to pursue higher education, this award is highly personal to them as they understand firsthand the challenges and financial sacrifices of studying. Through their gift, they will help students who are trailblazers in their families to achieve their goals with less financial pressure. This award is the first of its kind at Trinity College.
The Lovelands are also eager to enhance the student experience to facilitate connection and community. With their gift to support the Gay Tugwell and Norman Loveland Welcome Desk at the Lawson Centre for Sustainability, their priority was to ensure friendly spaces where students can gather, feel at home and connect with others and the College.
Robert Selkirk Bothwell
Fellow Emeritus of the College, Professor Robert Selkirk Bothwell is one of Canada’s foremost historians whose scholarship on Canadian political and diplomatic history—spanning more than fifty years and over twenty-five influential books—has shaped the field and earned the nation’s highest academic and civic honours. A founding architect of Trinity College’s International Relations Program, he has been a transformative teacher, mentor, and institution-builder, serving the College and the University of Toronto with exceptional leadership and generosity. He exemplifies Trinity’s ideals of intellectual excellence, community, and engaged citizenship, and is most fittingly honoured with an Honorary Fellowship.
