Trinity College students who are occupying the college may be igniting a new wave of student radicalism.
Their protest began over a decision by the authorities to introduce a special supplemental exam fee.
In January 2018, Trinity College proposed a fee of €200 per exam for students who needed to repeat. They suggested a cap of €1,000 on these repeat exams.
The Students Union put this proposal to their members and it was rejected by an overwhelming 82 percent of students.
Despite this, Trinity College went ahead and introduced a €450 supplemental flat fee.
This decision revealed the elitist and out-of-touch world that Trinity authorities inhabit.
Huge number of students who are already stressed out paying for rent. Many work to pay for their living expenses.
The students who work are the most likely to have difficulties in keeping up with their academic work.
Yet Trinity College wants to hit them with extra fees of €450 which students from working class backgrounds cannot afford.
One indication of the culture that pervades the top echelons on Trinity came with the revelation in 2017 that its Provost, Paddy Prendergast had moved out of the
€ 1.95 million property the college had purchased in Grafton St.
He moved into a city centre apartment, with the expenses paid by the college to escape the noise from the Luas works!
And while the college authorities impose new fees on students, they have not condemned a government decision to raise the salaries of some ‘superstar’ academics to a staggering €337,000 a year.
All of this provides an eye opener on what has been happening to our universities in recent years.
They have become corporate institutions where students are regarded as ‘customers’ and where research is increasingly subordinated to profit making.
Instead of standing up against the growing inequality in Irish society, the authorities collaborate and celebrate it.
The occupation of Trinity College is the first major blow against the corporate university. Let’s hope it spreads.
