Proponents of the ongoing debate on whether Trinity College Dublin’s Student Union (TCDSU) should maintain political neutrality argue that it will foster a progressive shift, ensuring that those with differing views and political identity to the Union are also fully represented. Inclusivity, therefore, is what they believe the motion addresses; supporters argue that any Trinity student should feel included by the Union regardless of their beliefs or values. It must thus be asked whether the SU’s current political tendencies affect its ability to deliver on issues of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), or, more fundamentally, whether the SU is doing enough to efficiently address EDI?
While Hamza Bana, Welfare Officer, is the primary face and engagement figure on the five-person Sabbatical Team, the majority of people seeking to represent students directly impacted by these issues and improve their conditions, are the SU’s Part-Time Officers (PTOs). Unlike the Sabbats, these volunteers are current students, and are not paid.
PTOs are critical, and represent issues of EDI in Union Forum (UF), a bimonthly council meeting which discusses SU business. As stated on the SU’s website, PTOs “exist so that students with an interest in a particular area can channel that energy into intersectional campaigns, ensuring that the Union is working for everyone who needs it.” For EDI, they include the Gender Equality Officer, Officer for Students with Disabilities, LGBT Rights Officer, Ethnic Minorities Officer, International Officer, Access Officer and Ents Welfare and Equality.
However, despite committing to represent the student body, when asked to interview, most of these PTOs were unable to respond.
International Officer, Patrick Keegan underscored the vital role of these PTOs in actively representing their demographic. His work often involves “casework, including signposting, but the vast majority of my work surrounds campaigns. I sit on UF, and a lot of work done by PTOs relates to UF — whether that’s through organising campaign weeks or other, one-off campaigns.” These campaigns consist of initiatives that are organised by the SU and reflect their values, such as its recent protest against the lack of Irish language on campus, or its Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, of which Keegan is the Chair.
‘“For all of us, our goal is to end our terms with Trinity being a better place than before.’”
Regardless, Keegan believes that “for all of us, our goal is to end our terms with Trinity being a better place than before. It’s about improving things for everybody, and working to find what issues exist, and then from there it’s about how you can address it.” For Keegan, this ranges from seeking to combat the “extortionate tuition rates” international students pay, to successfully laying the “groundwork for a guide for international students to help them better adjust to college.”
Dive further into the layers of the TCDSU, and you will find the Diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Committee, chaired by the Deputy STEM Convenor who is currently Eve Martin. For Martin, the fundamentally political nature of any students’ union should not have an impact on its ability to represent issues of inclusivity and diversity.
This Committee’s primary purpose “is to run campaigns and events to highlight and promote representation of different backgrounds and identities within STEM, and to combat and raise awareness about the various barriers to entry … that exist in both academia and industry.”
An Arts, Humanities and Social Science (AHSS) counterpart does not exist, according to Eve, mainly because “AHSS courses usually have a higher proportion of female students than STEM ones. The Diversity in STEM committee was initially set up as the Women in STEM committee, and then transitioned to cover all historically underrepresented identities. This is likely part of the reason for AHSS not having one, despite there definitely still being issues surrounding diversity and inclusion there, especially in more senior roles.”
This Committee also actively seeks to engage and understand students’ views on issues of EDI. This year, Martin “hope[s] to help raise money to help address some of the hidden costs associated with STEM degrees that students [who were] interviewed last semester spoke about during ‘access to education week’”. In the longer term, she hopes to “establish connections with some local secondary schools and host events promoting careers in STEM to those who wouldn’t have previously considered it.”
However, all these proposals require long-term planning. The Diversity in STEM Committee Chair last year similarly had aims for “outreach with secondary schools” and to “host panels for different guests”, as stated in last year’s Committee meeting minutes. These initiatives did not come to fruition, highlighting the inherent structural issues that result from the temporary nature of college Union Officers.
“‘Inefficiency in the SU comes from the rotating door of officers.’”
Ruaidhrí Saulnier, current STEM Convenor reinforced this, agreeing that “some of the inefficiency in the SU comes from the rotating door of officers. People don’t tend to be in their role long-term to be able to see everything they want to do. Leah Keogh ran for president partially on this [problem].” With the PTOs and Convenors who champion these issues all working part-time, the rotating door issue is also compounded by their lack of pay.
Other challenges identified were structural. The Diversity in STEM Committee met for the first time of the 2024/25 academic year, last week. Martin recognised: “delays in its activities each year is often due, in part, to the nature of the appointments to the Committee. Positions are assigned based on written applications as opposed to elections, which understandably take longer to review. A later opening of the application processes and the time taken by the several individuals who must review the applications can lead to delays.”
Regardless, Saulnier still believes that the “SU is doing a good job at prioritising these issues, with dedicated Officers representing various marginal groups.” Saulnier himself seeks to be an approachable figure, independent of the work of the Diversity Committee, stating that “EDI is important to the role [of STEM Convenor], as people should feel comfortable when engaging with the Union, and I ensure meetings I hold are accessible to accommodate everyone, such as [having] suitable venues and remote attendance.”
Keegan confirmed this sentiment, attesting that the “TCDSU is effective in prioritising issues of diversity, inclusion and equality, but of course, there is always more that can be done. It’s especially important for all students from many different backgrounds to engage with the Union to help bring to light issues, both within the college and beyond, that need to be addressed.” Stressing the need for students to be active in bringing their cases to the TCDSU for Officers to have the most impact, Keegan also identified the success of some of the SU’s initiatives, which have ranged from an “Ethnic Minorities Support Group to Irish language classes to Culture week to information campaigns about [Learning Educational Needs (LENS)] reports”, to name a few.
While the TCDSU has already made strides this academic year to address issues of EDI on campus, all interviewed expressed their hopes for further progress. Many of the obstacles facing PTOs to perform effectively arise from the structural challenges fundamental to a students’ union run by other students who are simply striving to do the best they can. As Keegan affirmed, “in TCDSU we work to represent all students … I’d encourage everybody to engage with the Union as much as possible, as the more engagement we have, the better we’ll know which issues are most affecting students, which could turn into future campaigns.”
