I interviewed Finn Hallwood, a candidate running for Trinity Ents Officer, about his experience, vision, and plans for the role. The third-year student studying mechanical and manufacturing engineering, hopes to develop Ents into something that “fully represents the entire student body.” In Hallwood’s three years at Trinity, he has been a S2S mentor, stand-in secretary for amnesty, and treasurer of the carting society. Since his first year, Hallwood has also been a part of Jailbreak, a multiday charity event. Initially a participant, Hallwood became a director in his second year and now serves as Head Tracker, in charge of organizing challenges and coordinating logistics. He is also currently a swim team club captain.
Alongside these roles, Hallwood shares his involvement in event organising and fundraising. He has taken on “varying roles,” from organising charity initiatives from a “multiday scavenger hunt around Europe” that raised 10,000 euro for Amnesty, St. Vincent de Paul, and An Cumann Gaelach “to a “300+ person event for Movember, raising over 5,000 euro.” He has also hosted open mic events in aid of Palestine and coordinated student surf trips.
Hallwood’s main priorities as Ents officer are to expand the number and variety of events offered at Trinity to better reflect the interests of the student body. While he acknowledges that “the events thus far have been incredibly rich in experiences delivered and the people they reach,” he believes that “the vast majority of these events only reach a specific demographic.”
One way he hopes to address this is by making events more accessible. He plans to ensure that all Ents events provide “accessible seating and respite areas for those who require it” and potentially offer noise-canceling headphones for those who may need them.
To guarantee that all students can take part in Ents events, Hallwood wants to introduce once a semester event timetables that will provide accessibility, information, times, and costs for the events.” He believes this will particularly benefit students in “busier degrees” those who “require extra support in getting to and from events, or need more support on the day.” The timetable will include “clear and detailed accessibility information,… details about how to book tickets,” and “accessibility in and around the venue,” which he says will be “announced on every Instagram post.”
For longer charity events, Hallwood promises that as soon as he takes office, he will “set up dedicated sub-committees” to ensure that these events are “fully laid out and planned, with their information being available on the proposed timetable.”
Another way Hallwood intends to make Ents more representative of the student body is by increasing “support for smaller societies.” To achieve this, he plans to hold “meetings with every club and society committee at the start of both semesters. These meetings, he explains, will be an opportunity to “talk to them about their plans for the next semester” and “ask if they require any support on their events, whether that be “more publicity or help securing a venue.”
In addition to supporting smaller societies, he also wants to expand Ents’ role in assisting “charitable organisations and cultural societies and clubs by developing their individual events into university-wide events.”
One way he plans to do this is by diversifying the music played at Ents events, as he believes they currently rely too heavily “on a specific type of music.” He admires how Eurovision sparks interest in different languages and cultures, exposing people to countries “that they might not have had an interest in before.” Hallwood hopes to bring a similar approach to Trinity by introducing a broader range of musical genres at Ents events.
He points to Irish music as an example, noting that students often have to seek it out rather than encountering it at large events. He suggests that incorporating a wider variety of music could make people more engaged or interested in the culture.
While Hallwood shares his appreciation for Judith Robinson, the Ents Officer of 2019 to 2020, for establishing Pav Fridays, he expresses his hopes to expand Ents beyond club nights by increasing collaboration with societies such as Players Theatre, the jazz cave sessions of TCD Jazz, the DUAMs Open Mics, or any other events organised by the clubs and societies at Trinity.
Beyond working with societies, Hallwood wants students to have “more say in the events that are run at Trinity”, which he believes requires as much interaction with students as possible. “I don’t think I could reach everyone in Trinity with the Ents role, if I’m not meeting as many people as possible,” he says. To facilitate this, he hopes to create what he calls a “roaming office,” explaining, “Maybe I’ll have a day where I’m working in the arts block. Maybe I’ll have a day when I’m working in the business building. Maybe I’ll have a day when I’m working somewhere in the Hamilton.” Hallwood believes that “people deserve to see what Ents is.” He states, “I think they should be able to see and ask a question about any event and have it answered pretty quickly. I think they should be able to turn up to any meetings and offer their opinion.”
To encourage student involvement, Hallwood wants to increase the opening hours of the Ents office and release the minutes of each committee meeting to demonstrate that Ents is fulfilling its responsibilities.
In addition to increasing accessibility, he shares his hopes to make events safer and more comfortable for students. Hallwood plans to introduce several new initiatives, including providing “anti-spiking lids at every Ents event,” offering “free welfare training to all Trinity students throughout the year,” and inviting guest speakers to come in to discuss important topics such as “sexual and mental health.”
Hallwood’s main motivation for candidacy can be summed up in his desire for Ents to reach a “greater variety of people.” He explains, “I have always thrown myself at whatever comes my way to experience all that Trinity has to offer, and I want to provide the same opportunities that I was.”
