Dublin University Central Athletic Club (DUCAC) has resoundingly voted in favour of making the position of chairperson a student-only position, signifying possibly the biggest change DUCAC has seen in the past decade.
The constitutional amendment, which was voted on by DUCAC members at an EGM tonight, made the positions of chair, vice-chair, honorary secretary and honorary treasurer student-only positions.
The positions of senior honorary treasurer, char of the Pavilion Bar committee and chair of the Pavilion Member’s committee are open to “general officers”, which include past students of Trinity, the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford, members of sports clubs and staff in Trinity, as well as members of DUCAC.
A total of 41 members voted, with two spoiling their votes. Some 32 voted in favour of the motion and seven voted against.
Roger West, the current chair of the Pavilion’s Members’ Committee, urged students to “think carefully about changing an age-old rule”, arguing that there may be years “when there isn’t a suitable students to take over the role of chair”.
He also said that it should be the “student’s choice” in who they vote for.
Meanwhile, Shubhangi Karmakar, a member of the working group that created the proposed changes, spoke in favour of the motion, saying that students are “the ones who keep our clubs going and give it life”, and that she still thought “there are roles for alumni”.
“The people who are absolutely at the forefront of leading this organisation should be the students”, she argued.
DUCAC also voted in favour of a motion to limit the terms of executive members to one year, with student officers eligible to run for one more term and general officers able to run for four more terms.
Last year, Jemil Saidi, previously vice-chair of DUCAC, became the first student to serve as DUCAC chair in its 100 years of existence, winning by 49 votes to 48.
In a statement to The University Times DUCAC chair Jemil Saidi said that constitutional changes were needed to improve inclusivity and to ensure DUCAC is not the only capitation body that is not student-led. This involves necessary changes to the voting system.
“This is of particular importance as it was part of the platform I ran on for Chair 2 years ago. After a working group was set up by the DUCAC executive and a survey undertaken there were two proposals, and after a vote the Executive are proposing one of these proposals which will have four motinos to vote on through the meeting. This is the first time changes have been considered in ten years”, he added.
