When it comes to experience, Nina Crofts has plenty. Crofts is hoping to bring their three years of Students’ Union experience to the role of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) Welfare and Equality Officer, for which they are one of four candidates. Crofts is a third-year Politics and Sociology student; in their second year, they served as LGBTQ+ Rights Officer and this year serves as Citizenship Officer for the Union. I sat down with Crofts, oversized cappuccino for them and piping hot mint tea for me, to discuss their campaign, motivation, and what it means to be the Welfare and Equality Officer.
Both the LGBTQ+ and Citizenship Officer roles require constant communication with students, Crofts explained. That communication gave her the opportunity to spot which issues are the most pressing for students across campus. That, combined with their status as Co-Sex and Relationships Editor for Trinity News and former Equity and Inclusion Officer for the Hist, certainly cements one idea: Crofts knows College.
“I’ve seen the real direct impact that we can have on campus life in the Students Union, but I’ve also seen that that direct impact comes when we actually talk to students to figure out what’s affecting students,” Crofts said.
One of the points highlighted in Crofts’ manifesto is increased mental health support – the key word there is “increased,” not “improved.” Crofts explained that she knows of several students who have had great experiences with Student Counselling Services, and emphasised that the problem lies not with the service itself, but with its funding.
“Student counselling is an incredible resource, but so poorly underresourced,” Crofts said. The number of students I’ve had come to me in my roles as a [Part-Time Officer] telling me they are struggling and they need counselling but they can’t get a SNAP appointment– they’re telling them it’s three weeks out, or they get a SNAP appointment and then they’re told ‘we can’t give you the six sessions you probably need’. It’s really disheartening and it’s something that college absolutely can change, can fund.”
They also highlighted the importance of active, timely action alongside more long-term projects like the pressuring of College and the government to reform issues like the housing crisis. Crofts said that ensuring students have resources which help them right now, rather than in the long run, is key.
“[Regarding] the issue of cost of living and food insecurity, how can we help people who are struggling right now? What sort of financial supports and loans can we get people? What funds can we introduce?”
As Welfare & Equality Officer, one of the most important parts of the job is visibility: whether through office hours, postering, or online campaigns, students need to understand the support that is available to them in order to avail of it, Crofts said. Though they don’t think that all visibility and engagement methods are created equal.
“I’ve been enlightened by previous Welfare officers that honestly, office hours isn’t, in some ways, the best way to go about [student engagement] in a really public way,” Crofts said. “I more think it’s about being really visible both online and through postering and making it clear to anyone on campus that as a welfare officer, I’m a resource you go to and these are all the things I can do– because a lot of people really don’t know all of the connections your officer has for you.”
Part of Crofts’ expertise comes from the work she’s done with past Welfare Officers Chloe Staunton and Aoife Bennett, and current Welfare Officer Hamza Bana. She said it’s given them a unique perspective from which to approach the work.
“I was just seeing the really different but impressive takes they’ve all had on the role, and how versatile it can be depending on what your priorities on campus are,” Crofts said.
Projects Crofts is keen to continue from past Welfare Officers include the period product campaign initiated by Bennett, which has seen success but which Crofts claim should see more reach.
“The period products initiative needs to be more comprehensive,” Crofts said. “I’ve got several friends in [Trinity Business School] who always tell me ‘I have to go to the arts box if I suddenly get my period’. That’s not the point. The point is that you should be able to go to any bathroom on campus and get one.”
Crofts also cited issues with consent training as a major oversight from College, though she acknowledged that the problem is complicated. The FRIES guidance (Freely given, Retractable, Informed, Enthusiastic, Specific), Crofts says, is too narrowly useful to comprehensively cover students’ welfare.
“I’ve toyed with the idea, but also never really loved it of doing mandatory consent training in first year for all students. I thought that’d be really important. But then I also know that’s something that if you are a survivor of sexual violence, it’s incredibly uncomfortable. So I want avenues to get that connection for different people in different ways,” Crofts said. “Sometimes sexual violence is unfortunately something people tend a blind eye to, and that’s really something that can be changed. If we work on building community, that’s a fantastic way to stop it.”
Most sabbatical officers have a mark they hope to leave after their year in office is up – a project completed, an action taken, a demand granted. What is Crofts’ goal? It’s perhaps not as tangible as a period products initiative, a direct action or an encampment. It certainly comes back to the building of community that they’re so passionate about.
“My main thing that I would just love to see even in a more abstract way is a more connected campus. People feeling more like they belong on campus. That starts with first years, post-grads, people in their first year of studying anything,” Crofts said. “And [that starts with] the Union actually reaching out to them, the Union making it so we are a safe space we can go to. I’ve got in my manifesto a bit about improving campus culture and I think a huge part of that is from the get go, letting people know that the SU has different ways for you to meet people through all of your different groups of entering college.”
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