Campus prepares for Gage Paine's move to UTSA
Students, staff, Paine, reminisce over time spent improving student life, campus
Carrie Joynton
Issue date: 1/19/07 Section: Trinity Pulse
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The Taskforce resulted in significant changes on the physical campus, like the renovation of Mabee Dining Hall, Beze Underground, redesigning the CCI office space and the complete overhaul of the Commons.
Paine's vision for the campus was always to "make the environment more student-friendly," Spurlock said.
Paine developed the Resident Mentor Program, which focuses on creating a welcoming community environment for first year students. She also created the Community Initiatives Program, which "was intended to focus on self-governance," Paine said.
Paine's work with the recent implementation of the Honor Code and the Honor Council has also distinguished her as a skilled mediator on campus. Nina Ekstein, professor of French and former faculty adviser for the Honor Council, spoke of Paine with the highest regard.
"I just have the utmost respect for her in how she's handled difficult situations where different constituencies have different viewpoints," Ekstein said. "She's great at bringing people together and helping them come to agreement."
According to Ekstein, Paine is the only person on staff with firsthand experience in dealing with an honor code.
"I constantly relied on her good sense and on her experience," Ekstein said.
Even with her bent for productivity, Paine's influence on campus has been felt far beyond her official duties. Dean Tuttle, who says he shared an office suite with her when she first arrived, describes her as having an "easy style to work with."
"I think that you don't often use the words 'laid back' and 'vice president' in the same sentence," Tuttle said.
But apparently in Paine's case, he does; especially when he remembers the e-mail fiasco of her first year on campus.
"One time, she was just going through her e-mails, and she opened up something that turned out to be a virus or something. When she opened it, it launched this e-mail to all the students that had "Sexxyy Screensaver" in the subject line. Everyone thought it was just hilarious. She'll never live that one down," Tuttle laughed.
Paine is "definitely a person you want around in a crisis situation," Spurlock said.
She would certainly know - Paine escorted her "calmly" to the hospital after Spurlock's water broke five weeks early while she was on campus.
"And then, two weeks later, the same thing happened to Marcella Leung!" Spurlock said.
Students have also cheered Paine's easy personality. Junior Stephen Hampton invited Paine to one of his Residential Life programs that focused on health, since, after all, Paine is a certified yoga instructor.
Paine said she was looking forward to her upcoming opportunities at UTSA but that she's going to miss the community she has been a part of at Trinity.
"I'm very excited to go to UTSA, but it's also hard to leave," Paine said. "It's right across town, so I hope to stay connected to this wonderful group of people."
Paine's vision for the campus was always to "make the environment more student-friendly," Spurlock said.
Paine developed the Resident Mentor Program, which focuses on creating a welcoming community environment for first year students. She also created the Community Initiatives Program, which "was intended to focus on self-governance," Paine said.
Paine's work with the recent implementation of the Honor Code and the Honor Council has also distinguished her as a skilled mediator on campus. Nina Ekstein, professor of French and former faculty adviser for the Honor Council, spoke of Paine with the highest regard.
"I just have the utmost respect for her in how she's handled difficult situations where different constituencies have different viewpoints," Ekstein said. "She's great at bringing people together and helping them come to agreement."
According to Ekstein, Paine is the only person on staff with firsthand experience in dealing with an honor code.
"I constantly relied on her good sense and on her experience," Ekstein said.
Even with her bent for productivity, Paine's influence on campus has been felt far beyond her official duties. Dean Tuttle, who says he shared an office suite with her when she first arrived, describes her as having an "easy style to work with."
"I think that you don't often use the words 'laid back' and 'vice president' in the same sentence," Tuttle said.
But apparently in Paine's case, he does; especially when he remembers the e-mail fiasco of her first year on campus.
"One time, she was just going through her e-mails, and she opened up something that turned out to be a virus or something. When she opened it, it launched this e-mail to all the students that had "Sexxyy Screensaver" in the subject line. Everyone thought it was just hilarious. She'll never live that one down," Tuttle laughed.
Paine is "definitely a person you want around in a crisis situation," Spurlock said.
She would certainly know - Paine escorted her "calmly" to the hospital after Spurlock's water broke five weeks early while she was on campus.
"And then, two weeks later, the same thing happened to Marcella Leung!" Spurlock said.
Students have also cheered Paine's easy personality. Junior Stephen Hampton invited Paine to one of his Residential Life programs that focused on health, since, after all, Paine is a certified yoga instructor.
Paine said she was looking forward to her upcoming opportunities at UTSA but that she's going to miss the community she has been a part of at Trinity.
"I'm very excited to go to UTSA, but it's also hard to leave," Paine said. "It's right across town, so I hope to stay connected to this wonderful group of people."
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