Every year, the University Times reinvents itself. Perhaps it’s by virtue of the fact that a new Editor is democratically elected by the student body each Hilary term – or maybe it’s just that news and culture is constantly changing. This year was defined by national elections, student direct action and wins (and losses) for the College community by way of Campanile construction, Trinity Ball lineups, and the newly named Boland library . To serve as Deputy Editor of this paper has been a marked challenge, but also a marked privilege: I feel very lucky to be surrounded by such an engaged, intelligent College community that supports student journalism, however nosy we may be!
There’s a lot of work to be proud of this year, and I’ll dive into as much of it as I can, but first it’s absolutely essential that I acknowledge the extremely hard work of our contributing writers. These contributing writers – those who don’t hold a masthead position and generously allow us to publish their work – give us the ability to source news and opinions from every corner of the college. This is so important to good journalism – we’re not just the Arts Block, people! Some of the highlights of our contributors’ work include TCDSU Oifigeach Gaeilge Pádraig Mac Brádaigh discussing the importance of Irish language reform, TCD BDS Chair Patrick Keegan on the housing crisis, and work featured from Palestinian poet Abdallah Said. We had countless stories spanning arts and culture, politics, climate change, student finance, and of course, our wonderful Comment section – which thrives off of students’ opinion and voices.
This year also saw the return of the Trinity Access Programme (TAP) Journalism School, where 15 transition-year (TY) students joined the University Times to learn about everything from writing features to managing social media. They even had the chance to tour the Irish Times office, where they heard from working journalists Conor Pope, Conor Capplis, Rebecca Daly and Patrick Freyne. It was a true honour to mentor these young journalists and help them understand what student journalism is all about.
Our interview pieces were also plentiful this year: Politics Editor Eoin Connolly spoke to Senators Lynn Ruane and Tom Clonan and Assistant Editor Eliora Abramson sat down with Professor Eve Patten to discuss Ireland’s Border Culture Project. Other notable interview pieces included former Minister for Health Tony Holohan, newly elected Trinity Senator Aubrey McCarthy, and poet and friend of the late Eavan Boland, Paula Meehan.
One of the highlights of the year was working on the many (many) elections that plagued Trinity and Ireland this year. From some of the most-contested TCDSU elections in recent history, to a historic general election, to Trinity’s final Seanad election, there was no shortage of votes to tally and candidates to interview.
For the first time since 2021, the University Times received Newspaper of the Year at the Student Media Awards. Also awarded that night was Eve McGann, our Food and Drink turned Deputy News Editor who was awarded Features Writer of the Year. Awards aren’t everything, but I can’t deny that it feels good to have our hard work recognised in any capacity. That night was also marked with nine wins for Trinity overall – huge!
Perhaps one of the most meaningful achievements of the University Times staff this year, though, was the work News Editor Isabella Roussell did with Ezzeldeen Alswerky. Roussell broke the story of Alswerky’s being trapped in Gaza, despite his status as a Trinity scholarship recipient. Through that work (which was picked up by national news sources), College was encouraged to get into contact with Alswerky to assist his safe transport to Dublin and the Hist raised over 700 Euro for his financial support. That support was ready for him when he arrived safely in Dublin on April 18th. This was a huge testament to the power of original student journalism, and I’m so proud of that work.
There are never enough words to describe the insanely hard work that the staff has put into the paper this year, and the achievements listed above are simply a highlight reel of the amazing student writing that comes out of this college. As mine and many of the masthead’s time as benevolent leaders of The University Times comes to an end, I’m beyond excited to see what the future of this paper has in store. There is such a strong base of journalistic talent in this college – I wish so much good luck and many busy news days to our fantastic new Editor-in-Chief Charlie Hastings, and to every writer who will have their work published in the paper in the coming year. Please don’t burn down Teach 6 (Simon will have your head!).
