The next provost of Trinity, Prof Linda Doyle, was yesterday joined by a group of jubilant supporters and College’s most senior officials in Front Square to celebrate her victory. Mixed with the jubilation, however, was an apprehension. The enormity of the task ahead of Doyle is lost on no one.
Firstly, it is worth raising a glass to what Doyle has achieved. She has broken the 429-year grip men have had over the university’s highest office with a massive mandate and plenty of fanfare. She has ushered in a new era for Trinity.
But she has also ushered in the new era with a message of change that is wholly unrelated to her gender. She ran on a platform heavily critical of how things stand in Trinity. A large majority of staff voted for her message of decentralising power and moving away from a focus on Trinity’s – declining – rankings.
She promises to be a champion of ordinary staff and students, and she is just about detached enough from the most senior ranks of the College for this to be a believable promise. Staff and students are fed up with the direction College has been going in and have put their faith into Doyle to change things.
The obstacles to these changes are well known at this stage. The coronavirus – while omnipresent – did not play as large a role in the election as expected. Candidates spent most of the campaign laying out their optimistic visions for Trinity, but by the time the college community is vaccinated, such visions could be outdated.
The government’s proposed restructuring of how universities run themselves may also speed up the expiry date on Doyle’s vision. The Provost currently has what is essentially papal infallibility. If the government decides to step up its control over higher education institutions, this power will diminish – in fact, this could be the last Provost election we ever have.
Climate change played a surprisingly big role in the election, and was one of Doyle’s weaker points. She refused to pledge getting Trinity to net zero emissions by the end of her time as Provost, and promises of a vice-provost for sustainability and a new office to deal with climate change sound a lot like kicking the can down the road.
However, the spirit of her campaign was a good one. Giving power back to the Trinity community is a noble aspiration. Staff and students – rightly or wrongly – often feel ignored by College, so a more open dialogue between the people who give orders and those who follow them is welcome.
A shift away from a rankings-first approach to running the university is also welcome. College shouldn’t make major strategic decisions to appease QS and Times Higher Education, two unaccountable private companies. Doyle’s assertion that “our behaviour should drive rankings”, as opposed to the other way around, was simplistic, but the overall sentiment is commendable.
As uncertainty abounds, Doyle will likely have to throw her rulebook out the window. Compromises – both ideological and financial – are sure to be coming down the tracks and the realities of being Provost – even in the good times – are harsh. However, what we can be sure of is that Doyle is well qualified and has a hopeful message. If she can stay true to it, Trinity can, in Doyle’s own words, “be so much more”.
