As the Take Back Trinity campaign escalated this evening, with security arguably kettling students in the Dining Hall, Trinity bizarrely found itself embroiled in an unprecedented propaganda war against its own students, as it attempted to aggressively rebuff reports that students have been locked in the Dining Hall this evening.
Throughout the evening, Trinity struggled to keep up with the fast-paced nature of tonight’s events. On Twitter, the College first called students’ claims of being locked in the Dining Hall “untrue”. This was followed by an additional post claiming that a number of non-students had been invited into the building.
So far, Trinity’s attempts to spin the story in its favour have been robustly denied by students. As is the nature of a campaign that has ridden on memes and mockery, College’s response this evening was met largely with derision and bemusement.
So far, Trinity’s attempts to spin the story in their favour have been robustly denied by students
On RTÉ last night, Vice-Provost Chris Morash was bullish in his defence of supplemental exam fees, laughing off the occupation as misguided. Tonight, Trinity seemed more shaken, unsure how to respond in the face of national media attention.
Trinity’s handling of the entire situation has been incompetent, as the haphazard attempts at damage control has only served to add further fuel to the fire. Issuing something that looks like a direct attack on the intentions of your own students is never going to be a good look and by tempting to distort the reality of the occupation, Trinity stumbled into a delicate situation.
As the protests continue, and both sides seek an agreement, there will be a need for a working relationship between Trinity and the protesters. Unfortunately, College’s response is completely counter-intuitive, as the attacks seem certain to pile further pressure on an increasingly strained student-college partnership.
Perhaps more worryingly for Trinity, the optics here are terrible. For a College that has made such a concerted effort in recent years to cultivate a positive image as it attempts to attract philanthropy and financial support, such actions are disastrous. If tonight’s heavy-handed response is anything to go by, Trinity’s charm offensive is looking increasingly superficial.
