Rachel Merriman has been elected as the new Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) Mature Students Officer at tonight’s council in a strongly contested race.
Competing against Aratrika Ahuja and Catherine Ryan, Merriman ran on a platform of her own experience as a mature student. All three candidates talked about the issues faced by mature students, such as finances, work commitments and family ties.
Addressing the crowd gathered, Merriman said that mature students, in her experience, are “really bad at asking for help”. Having left school after her Junior Certificate, she insisted that she was the right person for the role as she has “navigated” being a full-time mature student. She was also a participant in the Trinity Access Programme.
Ahuja, a second-year undergraduate, cited her experience as an international student and said that she was keenly aware of the issues faced by mature students in Trinity.
Ryan, who was not able to attend council due to work commitments, sent a speech which was read out. She said that “it is a big decision to enter third-level as a mature student”. Talking about the financial concerns involved as well as the time commitment, she said that “Trinity has recognised the need to take care of mature students”.
A new officer had to be elected after Carly Bailey stepped down from the role. The Mature Student Officer is a part-time officer for TCDSU. Bailey was previously the Student Parents’ Officer and was responsible for many reforms such as the redecoration of the Trinity creche.
Council also elected Eoin Butler – who was uncontested – as a new ordinary committee member of the Oversight Commission.
