Trinity will elect its Scholars and Fellows – a longstanding tradition that takes place every year as part of Trinity Week – online next Monday, amid the ongoing shutdown of the College due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In an email to staff and students today, College Secretary John Coman said that “regrettably only some of our annual events can take place next week while others will be rescheduled in the next academic year”.
Provost Patrick Prendergast will announce the election of Fellows and Scholars at 10am next Monday, at an event that will be followed by a commemorative service in the Chapel.
All of next Monday’s events will be available online, Coman said. He added: “I hope that as many of you as possible can participate remotely.”
Last year saw the election of 58 Scholars, 15 Fellows, five Professorial Fellows and two Honorary Fellows.
To be eligible for scholarship in most cases, a second-year student must achieve an overall mark of 70 per cent or higher in a set of optional “searching” examinations, with the majority of their papers also receiving a mark of 70 per cent or higher. The remaining papers must receive a mark of 65 per cent or higher.
Trinity says election to scholarship is “the most prestigious undergraduate award in the country”.
The announcement typically takes place on the steps of the Exam Hall.
Last summer, as part of the filming of Normal People – the BBC adaptation of Sally Rooney’s award-winning novel – on campus, a second list of Scholars was announced for the first time in Trinity’s history, by an actor playing the role of provost.
The plummy-voiced lookalike read the list of new Scholars as a bemused crowd of onlookers and extras watched the scene unfold.
Each name was met with applause from the crowd, with the crew encouraging increasingly raucous applause.
Meanwhile Connell, one of the story’s protagonists, watched on as his long-term love interest, Marianne, kissed her boyfriend metres away.
Normal People, directed by Trinity graduate Lenny Abrahamson, will air next week.
