Trinity College to Add Varsity Fencing, Joining Growing List of NCAA Programs

NEW YORK — Trinity College and USA Fencing jointly announced Thursday night that the Hartford, Connecticut, liberal arts college will add varsity fencing, beginning with a women's program in the 2027-28 academic year and, if successful, a men's program in 2028-29.

The announcement came at the U.S. Fencing Foundation Fête, the Foundation's annual gala, held this year at the New York Athletic Club with a theme celebrating college fencing. In a moment built for drama, a banner displaying the logos of every NCAA fencing school was unveiled to the room. Guests then spotted a new logo alongside the familiar names: Trinity's Bantam.

With this announcement, Trinity will become the 47th NCAA varsity women's fencing program in the country when it launches in 2027-28, and the 40th men's program when it follows in 2028-29. 

Trinity is also the fourth new collegiate fencing program announced through USA Fencing's collegiate development efforts in the 2025-26 season — a pace never before seen in the sport — joining recently announced programs at Arcadia University, Fairleigh Dickinson University and Denison University.

Trinity's announcement comes at a difficult moment for college athletics. Following the House v. NCAA settlement and a national enrollment cliff, schools across the country are cutting varsity programs. Tennis, swimming, diving, track and field, softball and baseball have all seen schools eliminate teams in recent years.

Fencing is moving in the opposite direction.

It is one of just a handful of sports currently in the net positive for new program additions. And every new program means something concrete and important: more roster spots, more scholarship opportunities, more chances for high school fencers to keep competing at the next level.

For families navigating the recruiting process, the math is simple. A high school fencer in 2027 will have more college fencing options than that same fencer would have had in 2024. That's not happening by accident.

The momentum behind collegiate fencing is the result of years of relationship-building, data analysis and quiet persistence by USA Fencing staff and the broader fencing community.

Brad Suchorski, USA Fencing's Director of Membership, Service and Growth, leads the organization's collegiate development work. He and CEO Phil Andrews have spent the last several years in hundreds of conversations with athletic directors, university presidents, senior women's administrators and deputy ADs across the country — making the case for fencing as a sport that fits the academic profile, financial realities and strategic priorities of forward-looking institutions.

The four new programs announced this season represent thousands of hours of outreach, follow-up and relationship-building.

"Trinity is exactly the kind of partner we love working with. It’s a school with serious academic credentials, a thoughtful athletic department and a real commitment to building this the right way," Suchorski says. "These conversations don't happen overnight. They take months, sometimes years, of working through facilities questions, recruiting plans and long-term sustainability. Trinity asked all the right questions, and the answers added up."

"College fencing is having a moment, and Trinity is helping to define it," Andrews says. "We saw it at the NCAA Championships this spring, when a women's team title was awarded for the first time in program history. We're seeing it in the pipeline, with our membership surpassing 50,000. And every time another school adds fencing, another generation of young fencers gets to keep going. That is the whole point of this work, and Trinity is a school we're proud to welcome to the family."

“Trinity is excited to partner with USA Fencing to bring intercollegiate fencing back to our campus as part of the sport’s rapid expansion in 2026,” says Gavin Viano, Director of Athletics & Recreation. “The addition of varsity fencing aligns with several of the College’s institutional strategies as we enter our third century of higher education. Women’s Fencing has the highest cumulative GPA of any NCAA sport, and Trinity is ready to attract a new cohort of scholar-athletes who are passionate about pursuing the blend of academic and athletic excellence that the NESCAC membership is known for globally.” 

Fencing is not new to Trinity. The story stretches back generations, as documented in a 2020 Trinity Tripod feature on the history and future of fencing at Trinity College.

According to Glenn Weaver's The History of Trinity College, the gymnasium built on campus in December 1871 was home to "short-lived Fencing and Boxing Teams," even though the building was famously unheated in winter. In December 1904, students gathered for "an exhibition of fencing in the gymnasium" by Lieutenant J. Marczi de Zoldy.

The most enduring chapter began in February 1948, when the Trinity Tripod, the school's student newspaper, reported that "A small but determined group of devotees has inaugurated an informal fencing team at Trinity College." A few weeks later, in the March 3, 1948 issue, Tripod writer Dick Avitabile celebrated the team's early success by noting, "At least Trinity has come up with an athletic squad able to defeat Wesleyan!"

That informal club competed uncoached through the 1950s, defeating Clark and Wesleyan, and entered the National Intercollegiate Fencing Championships in 1952. A decade later, Trinity finished 22nd of 36 schools at the NCAA Fencing Championships at Ohio State. The team gained its first coach in 1968 with the arrival of Gerald Pring, who had learned fencing at Blackrock College in Dublin and founded the Kenya Sword Club. A women's club emerged in the 1980s and sought varsity status as early as 1984.

Now, more than 75 years after that first Tripod article, Trinity fencing becomes a varsity program.

That long history has already produced a Hall of Famer. Robert Blum OLY, who fenced at Trinity before continuing his career at Columbia University, went on to compete at the 1964 Tokyo and 1968 Mexico City Olympics in men's saber, became the first American to reach the individual saber finals at a Fencing World Championship in 1958, and was inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame in 2010. Blum, who died in 2022 at age 94, is a reminder that Trinity has been producing serious fencers for decades. 

The varsity program that begins in 2027 will give the next generation of Trinity fencers a clearer path to follow in his footsteps.

Trinity, a NESCAC member founded in 1823, is known for its strong academic profile and its commitment to a broad varsity sports offering. The Bantams will join a regional fencing landscape that includes nearby NCAA programs at Yale, Brown, Sacred Heart and Boston College, opening additional competitive opportunities across New England.

The 2026 NCAA Championships at Notre Dame featured separate men's and women's team titles for the first time, expanding the championship format and creating new pathways for student-athletes at schools that field a women's program only.

Resources including the College Connect database, recruiting panels at North American Cups and college fairs at major USA Fencing events are designed to help fencers navigate the recruiting process.

Recruiting timelines, coaching announcements and competition schedules will be shared in the coming months.

About USA Fencing

USA Fencing is the national governing body for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of fencing in the United States, dedicated to inspiring a lifetime enriched by fencing. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA Fencing is recognized by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) and World Abilitysport and serves more than 50,000 members and 750 clubs nationwide. For more information, visit usafencing.org.

About Trinity College

Trinity is a highly selective, independent, nonsectarian liberal arts institution located in the capital city of Hartford, Connecticut. The college maintains a rigorous academic profile complemented by a vibrant co-curricular program.  With more than 2,100 full-time undergraduate students, representing forty-three states and ninety-one countries, we consider our location in a culturally and socioeconomically diverse capital city to be among Trinity’s most distinctive assets; and we cultivate strong connections with our surrounding neighbors and with institutions and organizations throughout Hartford and the region. As a preeminent liberal arts college in an urban setting, Trinity College prepares students to be bold, independent thinkers who lead transformative lives.