Jacob Barron, a fourth year Economics student, is running for Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU/AMLCT) President. In an interview with The University Times, Barron said he wants to “change the role of the president”, which he believes has been “tarnished in recent years”.
In his manifesto, Barron described himself as a libertarian, stating that he believes in “individual freedom” and has adopted what he calls a “live and let live attitude”. “I don’t believe in telling people what to do or how to live their lives”, he said, adding that he values “the unique personalities of the student body”.
Barron has served on the Chess Society committee for three years and as its President for the past two. During this time, he has been responsible for organising society events such as a 150-person tournament, which he said taught him how to “delegate tasks” and coordinate large-scale events.
Alongside this role, Barron recently became a local coordinator for Students for Liberty, a large global network for libertarian students. Barron described this as “quite the social experience”. Through this position, he said he has “met students from across Europe”, and “travelled to countries such as Ukraine and Germany”. He believes these experiences have helped him “build bridges and make friendships” with people from different cultural backgrounds. Barron hopes to bring the same collaborative spirit to the Students’ Union, stating that with “20,000 students” in Trinity “from around 100 countries”, the Union should be” focused on “uniting them”.
However, he described the current Students’ Union environment as “toxic”, believing that those within it have a “certain agenda” and “they dislike anyone who wants to be moderate, or wants to just advocate for regular student issues”. He also opined that the union has been involved in “scandal after scandal”.
Barron also described his involvement with the controversial campus group Freedom For Students, which seeks to make membership with the TCDSU optional for Trinity students. Currently, all Trinity students are represented by TCDSU, per the TCDSU Constitution.
Barron further explained that students pay a “mandatory” subscription to the Union, and said that this amount has been “repeatedly asked” about by the creator of Freedom For Students, but claimed that the Union refuses to “tell [them]” the amount. Barron expressed that his frustration with how “the SU was run” is why he joined the Freedom For Students group chat, not because he is “against a Student Union existing”.
In his manifesto, he critiqued the actions of past Presidents, citing protests such as the disruption of KPMG employment events by former TCDSU President Jenny Maguire’s administration, which he believes “negatively affected students who attended” in the hopes of finding a job. He also argued that “the President should not spend” their time “blockading the Book of Kells” as he thinks such actions reduce “college revenue”, damage ‘‘the College’s reputation”, and take “time away from students who may need the President’s help”.
In relation to the Students’ Union’s involvement with the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement, Barron stated: “I’m very happy that there are students who support the BDS movement, but it’s something that they must do in their own time”. When asked about his own opinion of BDS, Barron stated: “What is going on in Palestine is horrible.” However, he added that he “does not care for BDS” believing that “they are a society of bullies”. He then went on to say that “a lot of their members would rather a state of Israel didn’t exist” and claimed that they were part of the reason “Seán had to resign”, citing the recent resignation of former TCDSU President Seán Thim on October 31st. Thim, in their resignation statement, pointed to struggles with mental health as the main reason they left the Presidency.
Barron criticised the Union for becoming a “vehicle for radical political activism” and said he fails to understand “why the Student Union has to bother itself with these sorts of politics”. Barron wrote in his manifesto that this kind of political focus also diverts “time and energy away from services students rely on”. He expressed frustration that many of these existing services are “largely unknown to students”. “Freshers students know more about the political goings-on of the student union than they do about the services it provides”, he said, adding that “up until last year”, he himself didn’t know that Trinity “had a laptop loan service”.
He also said he didn’t know there was a site where students “can buy or sell books”, or that there’s a site for students to find jobs, which he noted “seems to be completely deserted”. Barron believes that events like the Freshers’ Fair could be better used to inform students about these existing supports which he said are ‘‘a lot more important to students who may need cheaper things, discounts or jobs”. While the Union currently offers some discounts, Barron mentioned the other previous partnerships, such as the Domino’s Pizza deal, that “have been discontinued”.
“The role of the Union should be to offer students opportunities to fund themselves through college in a cheaper way”, he said, adding that partnerships with popular local businesses “would help students”. While Barron said he does not personally have connections to nearby businesses he stated that “it’s not hard to go door to door, saying, hello, I’m the President of the Students’ Union. We love your fillets, or we love your cookies, or we love your coffee, and we would really love” to ‘sponsor’ or ‘partner with you’”.
He believes a Students’ Union should help students “pay for things”, build connections, and “thrive in college”. For Barron, “an effective” SU President is someone “who loves to meet new people and engage in new cultures”, and who brings “a positive view, and instead of a negative view to the college”.
