For Matthew Kurt, Trinity’s new Communications and Marketing (Comms) Officer, his own experience at Trinity has shaped one of the central aims of his term—reducing the disconnect between students and the Students’ Union. Kurt sees the position as a way of changing how students interact with the Union itself, rather than a mere vessel for promoting events and social media content. “I’d like to see the position as the bridge between students and the Students’ Union” because “I spent four years having no idea what goes on here.
Kurt officially took office in April following a campaign centred on improving the Union’s online presence, strengthening in-person engagement, expanding student deals, and prioritising accessibility to ensure a wider range of student perspectives are represented at Trinity. The transition from campaigning to implementing these ideas has given Kurt a clear understanding of the challenges and practical realities involved in the role.
“The first week was definitely overwhelming in a lot of ways. It was figuring out who to email, how to respond to things.”
While the Comms role is often regarded as one of the Union’s most public-facing positions, Kurt’s first months in office have mostly been behind the scenes. A typical day involves responding to an array of emails, contacting potential partners, attending meetings and planning all things comms for the year ahead.
Student Deals
One of Kurt’s immediate priorities is expanding the range of student deals and discounts available through the Union. Kurt hopes to move beyond traditional corporate deals by “supporting more ethical alternatives”, such as working with smaller, local businesses and organisations that align closely with student interests. He points to partnerships with “taxi company alternatives to Uber,” as one example of the type of relationship he hopes to develop.
When asked about the receptiveness of businesses so far, Kurt acknowledged that many businesses have been open to collaboration, but finding the right contacts has been one of the biggest challenges. “A lot of it is just knowing where to look.” “It sucks sending 40 emails and getting two responses.”
To address this, Kurt is currently developing a sponsorship drive intended to make partnerships easier for businesses and students alike. Rather than solely relying on direct outreach from the Union, the initiative aims to encourage organisations to approach the Union themselves.
Reaching Disengaged Students and Accessibility
For Kurt, this year is about creating stronger connections between the Union and the wider community around it. A core aspect of his election campaign focused on prioritising short-form content as a means of communication. However, Kurt acknowledges that a vital balance needs to be found between creating engaging short-form content while ensuring that students remain informed about serious issues.
“The videos are great when I want to make a lighthearted and fun video.” “But when serious information comes, it’s important that it’s delivered in the way that’s most impactful.”
Instead, Kurt plans to use an “arsenal of communication tools,” including video content, email updates, infographics and potentially WhatsApp communities to reach diverse groups of students and effectively communicate information. The aim is to increase the Union’s online presence while simultaneously ensuring that information reaches students in an accessible and educational way. This will prove vital in ensuring that social media traction translates to action.
This approach also extends to the Students’ Union website, which Kurt acknowledges requires significant attention. An updated version of the website is currently underway, with accessibility as one of the key issues being addressed. “I really want to get the new website published by Freshers’ Week, even if it’s not fully complete.” For Kurt, it is vital that students know what supports are available to them and where to find them online. Accessibility is essential if the Union wants to reach and help as many students as possible.
Beyond online communication, Kurt believes that improving engagement requires creating more opportunities for direct, in-person interaction between students and the Union. One proposal he hopes to spearhead is the reintroduction of town halls, which were formerly used in Trinity to allow students to contribute to Union discussions without requiring long-term involvement in campaign committees.
“If you really care about one particular topic, you might not want to join a committee throughout the entire year.” Town halls would allow people to come in and share their ideas without requiring extensive, long-term commitment. For Kurt, this is particularly important for students who are less involved with the Union itself. The existing structures, including campaign committees, tend to attract students who already engage frequently with the Union. During his election campaign, he found that the most valuable feedback came from “just standing in the hallway of the Hamilton and chatting to students”. A successful term would mean truly listening to students and creating more opportunities for feedback. To Kurt, success can not solely be measured through social media engagement. “The students we ultimately want to reach the most are the ones who have never voted in the past four years of their time in college, the students who don’t know what the Students’ Union does.”
“As someone who essentially was one of those students who had very little engagement beyond voting in the election every year, that was the extent of my exposure to the SU”. Kurt wants to “be able to reach students like myself and like most people in college who don’t really care about what’s going on because they don’t know what’s going on. I think just being able to chat to those students and just chat to people makes a really big difference in knowing what we’re doing well and what we can do better.”
The emphasis on in-person presence and direct engagement shapes how Kurt believes students should measure his success during his term. Kurt believes that the Union should focus on whether ordinary students truly understand the role and feel able to interact with it. “I’d like a student who never expected to get involved with the Union to feel connected with the Union.”
Kurt explained that accessibility is paramount in ensuring that different groups within the student body feel represented in the Union’s communications. During Kurt’s campaign, he stressed the importance of incorporating a wide range of perspectives into the Union, particularly emphasising international students, first years and Irish-speaking students. One initiative he hopes to develop alongside the Welfare and Equality Officer, Lorenzo Cheasty, is a series of welfare guides designed around the experiences of different students. The aim is to create resources that are more relatable and accessible, as “when you’re coming here, you can find all these very corporate-feeling lists of texts and services.” By presenting welfare information through experiences students can relate to, he hopes those resources will become more approachable and more likely to be used.
Accountability
Accountability is another area where communication plays a vital role in Kurt’s approach to the position. In recent years, sabbatical officers have faced scrutiny on their ability to deliver on commitments.
The University Times asked Kurt about reasonable expectations for sabbatical officers, and at what stage it is an officer’s responsibility to resign or hold themselves accountable.
Kurt explained, “It is so imperative that we’re all held accountable.” “The more students know about what we’re working on, the more they can hold us accountable if we don’t keep our promises.” Kurt also said that the officers “hold each other to a very high standard”, checking in every week and “holding each other accountable”.
While he did not directly answer the question on when it is an officer’s responsibility to resign, he said, “sometimes success can be hard to measure, but it is so important that students know what is happening…and know what work we are doing”.
Ultimately, Kurt hopes that by the end of his term, students will see the Union as something they can engage with, especially if they never imagined themselves doing so. Kurt wants all students to feel comfortable reaching out to the Union. “If anyone ever has any questions about what the Union is doing, how to get involved, or even about college in general, they can always DM us, text us, email us- anything. I just want to make sure we’re as approachable and reachable as possible.”
“If anyone feels inspired by this article to reach out and have a chat, we’re always open.”
