Trinity College Dublin administration and student protesters reach historic agreement

12 May 2024

TCD senior management and student protesters reached an agreement earlier this month which should serve as a model for universities everywhere. Here we reprint in full their agreement with addenda.

Student encampment and blockade at Trinity to end

Posted on: 03 May 2024

Update at 7pm, 8 May 2024

The encampment and blockade on Trinity College Dublin’s campus will end today following successful talks between the university’s senior management and the protestors.

The agreement was reached at a meeting this afternoon.

With the encampment and blockade of the Book of Kells removed, plans are being put in place to return to normal university business for staff, students, and members of the public.

Senior Dean Prof. Eoin O’Sullivan, who led the talks for Trinity, said: “We are glad that this agreement has been reached and are committed to further constructive engagement on the issues raised. We thank the students for their engagement.”

Trinity will continue to engage with all students and staff who are impacted by these issues.

Trinity reaffirms its position on the following issues:

Gaza

We fully understand the driving force behind the encampment on our campus and we are in solidarity with the students in our horror at what is happening in Gaza. We abhor and condemn all violence and war, including the atrocities of October 7th, the taking of hostages and the continuing ferocious and disproportionate onslaught in Gaza. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the dehumanisation of its people is obscene. We support the International Court of Justice’s position that ‘Israel must take all measures within its power to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide in relation to members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip.’

A real and lasting solution that respects the human rights of everyone needs to be found.

Divestment

Trinity will complete a divestment from investments in Israeli companies that have activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and appear on the UN Blacklist in this regard. This process is expected to be completed by June.

Trinity will endeavour to divest from investments in other Israeli companies. This issue will be considered by a taskforce (more below) as a first step.

On review, Trinity can confirm that its supplier list currently contains just one Israeli company which will remain until March 2025 for contractual reasons.

Supporting Palestinian scholars

Since January 2024 we have been working with local and international stakeholders including We Are Not Numbers (WANN), a youth-led, Palestinian non-profit project in the Gaza Strip to facilitate access to Trinity for students from Gaza seeking to continue their education. To date, we have identified places for eight scholars – six postgraduates and two undergraduates.

All fees have been waived for these scholars and Trinity will use its Sanctuary Fund to provide accommodation. The places are in the School of Business, School of Law, School of Medicine, School of Languages, Literatures & Cultural Studies, School of Linguistic, Speech & Communication Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the International Foundation Programme.

We are committed to doing more and indicated this to the Palestinian authorities via the Ambassador earlier this year.

Taskforce

As outlined in our previous statement (dated 6 May 2024), Trinity is setting up a taskforce to address a number of issues. This taskforce will operate within the formal structures of the College as its recommendations will ultimately need to be made to relevant principal committees, which is in accordance with the academic governance of the university.

The student and staff voice will be essential to inform the terms of reference of the taskforce.

The taskforce process will also review Trinity’s student exchanges with Israel. Recommendations from the taskforce will be brought to the relevant principal committees of the university.

This taskforce will have an external chair and will include student and staff representatives.

Further measures will include:

The Associate Vice Provost for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion will work with students to tackle concerns that have been expressed regarding all forms of racism.
The Chair of the Trinity Legacies Review Working Group has agreed to receive a late submission in relation to renaming The X Library.
Trinity welcomes the resolution of this matter.
Trinity welcomes the engagement with students and looks forward to resuming the normal activities of the College.

Statement issued at 6.15pm on Monday 6 May

Trinity welcomes reports of Gaza ceasefire
Trinity condemns the onslaught on Gaza and supports International Court of Justice’s finding on genocide
Trinity to align with Government decision to divest from investments in Occupied Palestinian Territory
Trinity Task Force to be established to consider links to Israeli universities and institutions in other states
8 Palestinian scholars already placed on Trinity courses and more will follow

Trinity management representatives Senior Dean (Eoin O’Sullivan) and the Dean of Students (Richie Porter) met student representatives this afternoon [May 6, 2024] to discuss the issues raised by those protesting on campus and to share our perspective on them.

Trinity sought the meeting to discuss the issues raised by protestors and to facilitate the return to normal university services for all staff, students, and members of the public.

Trinity respects the strong stance expressed by those participating in the encampment and the right to peaceful protest in accordance with College rules. We also continue to engage with our Jewish staff and students who are impacted.

In the interests of clarity, the Trinity representatives set out the university’s position on the following issues:

Gaza

We fully understand the driving force behind the encampment on our campus and we are in solidarity with the students in our horror at what is happening in Gaza. We abhor and condemn all violence and war, including the atrocities of October 7th and the continuing ferocious and disproportionate onslaught in Gaza. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the dehumanisation of its people is obscene. We support the International Court of Justice’s finding that ‘Israel must take all measures within its power to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide in relation to members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip. A real and lasting solution that respects the human rights of everyone needs to be found.

Divestment

Trinity has initiated a process to divest from investments in companies that have activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and appear on the UN Blacklist in this regard. This process is expected to be completed by June. In April, the National Treasury Management Agency confirmed to government that it had taken a similar approach regarding the Irish Strategic Investment Fund.

Supporting Palestinian scholars

Trinity will continue to work with stakeholders to provide further places.

Links to universities in Israel

Trinity is setting up a Task Force, including student representatives, to discuss how we continue to preserve academic freedom while understanding better how we engage – or not – with states that are in contravention of human rights. This task force will have an external chair. Academic freedom is the cornerstone of our identity, and we value it hugely. Some in our community argue that Trinity should ensure all ties with Israeli institutions are cut. Such decisions rest with individual academics. Some colleagues will see value in maintaining a free exchange of ideas; others will feel deeply uncomfortable having any relationship at all. These conflicting perspectives must be explored in a formal setting.

We hope that today’s meeting and our firm commitment to implement the series of measures outlined above will lead to a resolution. A further meeting has been scheduled for tomorrow. In view of the disproportionate response we have seen at some institutions overseas, Trinity is committed to addressing the issue of the encampment as an internal process. We wish for a return to normal services for our students, staff, and the public as soon as possible.

The email below was sent to all Trinity students and staff at 4pm on Monday 6 May:

Dear students and staff

In readiness for our return to work tomorrow, following the Bank Holiday weekend, we would like to provide an update as to how we are managing the situation on campus for the moment. Please read carefully as this is a more detailed message than the previous ones.

These plans are underpinned by the desire to enable a return to campus life as normal, but also to be mindful to the duty of care we owe to the university community.

Access/egress from campus tomorrow will be via Front Gate, Printing House Square Gate and Lincoln Place Gate only. All other points of access/egress will remain closed;
You will need to present a student/staff ID card to gain access on to campus (we will permit expired cards to be presented for the time being);
Student- and staff-only events can proceed; if a student or staff event includes external attendees, a list of these must be provided to Security and the event organiser. Additionally, the event organiser will need to be present at the agreed entry point to the campus and must provide at least two attendants to meet and accompany non-Trinity guests to the event. The event organiser is, as always, responsible for their guests;
If an event involving external guests does not have a guest list and cannot be facilitated in accordance with item 3 above, then the event unfortunately cannot proceed;
The contemporary libraries will move to summer operating hours as planned and will be open from 9.30am-5pm, except for Kinsella Hall and the 1937 Reading Room which will remain open 24/7. This is standard procedure for the summer months;
The Sports Centre will open tomorrow and you will need your College ID to access the facilities;
The PAV Bar will remain closed;
External contractors and deliveries will be permitted on site, subject to the necessary authorisations being in place; and
Finally, if you are planning to vacate your room, please email the Accommodation Office with the date and approximate time you wish to move out, names of those helping you, and vehicle and registration details.

We are aware that some members of our community may not feel comfortable visiting campus at this time and we want to assure you that we will accommodate anyone who feels this way. If you are affected, please contact your Head of School or Head of Area who will make necessary accommodations. You will not incur any penalties.

Thank you for your continued understanding and we will provide further updates should there be any changes to our current plans.

Kind regards,

Mike Clark
Director of Campus Infrastructure

Update at 4.50pm, Saturday 4 May

Trinity respects the strong stance expressed by the people participating in the encampment protest and blockade, and we support the right to peaceful protest. There are also, however, many good reasons why the university’s policies, including health and safety, dignity and respect must be followed when doing so.

Our duty of care to students and staff is paramount. In order to ensure we can deliver on that duty of care for our students, we are ensuring that those protesting on campus are members of the college community so access to campus has been restricted to students and staff with valid college ID cards only. We have not made this decision lightly.

Regrettably, this will have a direct impact on our students and staff. Our libraries, Sports Centre, Book of Kells Experience, Old Library and the Pavilion Bar have been closed until further notice while sports fixtures, a concert and social events have been cancelled, postponed or moved to another venue.

Trinity shares concerns about the ferocious onslaught in Gaza and the ongoing dire humanitarian crisis. We have taken a number of practical steps in response to the war in Gaza. These range from updating our investment portfolio with a view to excluding UN blacklist companies, to providing supports for students from Gaza coming to study in Trinity.

Trinity is always open to engaging with staff and students on these issues: in the past week alone, the Provost has met with Academics for Palestine and also with the Students’ Union President and Students’ Union officers to discuss these issues. We also continue to engage with our Jewish staff and students who are impacted.

The email below was sent to all Trinity students and staff at 3.30pm on Saturday 4 May:

Dear staff and students

As you will be aware, a BDS encampment is taking place in Fellows’ Square.

Trinity supports the right to peaceful protest and there are many good reasons why the university’s policies, including health and safety, dignity and respect, must be followed when doing so.

Our duty of care to students and staff is paramount. To ensure that those protesting on campus are members of the college community, access to campus has been restricted to students and staff with valid college ID cards only. We have not made this decision lightly but felt it was necessary following calls for external groups to join the encampment protest, and the protest outside Front Gate this afternoon.

We regret this decision but the safety of all is our priority and unfortunately it has had a direct impact on our students and staff. Our libraries, Kinsella Hall, the 1937 Reading Room, Sports Centre, Book of Kells experience and Old Library and Pavilion Bar are closed until further notice.

The Arts Building is also closed and staff and students who need to access (e.g. to mark exam papers) can do so by speaking with the attendants at the Arts Building reception area. 

On-campus activities such as sports fixtures, concerts and social events scheduled to take place this weekend have been cancelled, postponed or, where possible, relocated.

Please note that student spaces in House 6 and the GMB remain open providing access to toilet facilities.

Residents who have requested guests thus far will still be allowed access, but no new requests will be approved until further notice.

Thank you for your understanding and we will provide further updates as circumstances dictate.

Kind regards

Mike Clark

Director of Campus Infrastructure

Statement at 11.50pm, Friday 3 May

An unauthorised BDS encampment is in place in Trinity.

While Trinity supports students’ right to protest, protests must be conducted within the rules of the university.  

Trinity has responded to the war in Gaza in several ways. Details are available here.

To ensure safety, access to campus is restricted to students, staff, residents and Department of Sports Members with college ID cards only.

As custodians of the Book of Kells, Trinity has an obligation to protect this national treasure at all times. The Old Library and Book of Kells Experience will be closed on Saturday, 4 May. All ticket holders have been refunded.

As stewards of the Old Library, Trinity has a duty to protect the building and the Long Room. The closure of the Old Library impacts on researchers, whether they are students, staff or visiting international researchers.  It also impacts on the staff working there, many of whom are students themselves.