Samuel Riggs | Editor
The 44th Provost of Trinity College Dublin, Dr. Patrick Prendergast, has agreed to attend a Q&A session with students, at an event jointly organised between the Phil and the Students’ Union (SU). Running on October 6th in the GMB, the event marks the first time the Provost will have attended a Students’ Union event since just after his appointment to the position in 2011.
A similar talk took place in 2011, organised by the SU at the time. The event comes following widespread criticism of college authorities surrounding the Identity Initiative, proposed increases to replacement of the TCD student card, and the potential introduction of fees for resits and repeat exams.
Speaking exclusively to The University Times, the Provost said “I look forward to participating in the Q&A event with our students in what I hope will be an informative and lively debate for all of us.”
SU President Domhnall McGlacken-Byrne noted that it was a landmark in college-student relations. “We hope this will be the start on the road to recovery for relations between the college body and the student body. In my three years in Trinity, I have already seen an alarming degradation in the dialogue between the people who govern this college, and the people on whom it depends – its students.”
He noted with concern that this is a problem that transcends the Students’ Union, and affects students from all walks of life, be they involved in academia, societiy life, or sports clubs.
Issues expected to be addressed include cuts to the five capitated bodies, queries regarding the upcoming announcement of the strategic plan, and questions regarding the intensive globalisation strategy that has been embarked upon by the college in recent years.
