PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has ended its sponsorship of the Dublin University Philosophical Society (the Phil), having partnered up with the society since 2015.
Through their partnership with PwC, the Phil offered students opportunities to meet PwC representatives and gain key insights into their world-renowned graduate programme.
PwC, the largest professional services firm in Ireland, has also hosted events such as pizza nights and presentations in conjunction with the Phil where it shared information about its application and interview process, in order to give students a better chance of securing a highly-coveted place on the programme.
In an email to The University Times, PwC said: “As part of our continued sponsorship programme for education, we support a range of universities across Ireland, including Trinity College. We continue to keep this programme under review to ensure cross representation of a range of stakeholders we work within, including third level institutions.”
President of the Phil Kate Maher said in an email to The University Times: “PWC were disappointed to end their sponsorship with us but unfortunately they have been hit hard financially by COVID-19 and can no longer afford to continue with their headline sponsorship.”
“There was no wrongdoing or upset on either side, it is just an unfortunate reality that COVID is hitting the economy hard and costs need to be cut”, Maher said. “We maintain a great relationship with them and hope to work with them again in the future.”
Although the sponsorship has been a welcome financial supplement to the Phil in recent years, Maher is confident that the Phil will continue to move forward without it.
“We have been in talks with a number of other exciting graduate firms and we are excited about the future of the Phil in linking students to graduate and internship opportunities”, said Maher.
Although they will not be directly partnering with the Phil from now on, PwC has said that they “look forward to continuing to work with Trinity College with the Student Management Fund Society”.
