Visit to the Provost of Trinity College
On March 3rd myself and my fellow peers on the student council set off to Trinity College as we were invited by the Trinity Access Programme to meet the new Provost. We started the day with a lovely tour of Trinity, learning all about the campus. Then it was time for us to go to the residence of the Provost. Linda Doyle is the 45th Provost and is also the First Female Provost in Trinity College. This is a great achievement for her and it is inspiring for females to finally see such change.
Once we went into the residence, we stared in awe at the building. There was a red carpet on the stairs and a fancy chandelier leading up to the room where we would be served our snacks.
Linda spoke to us about when she was in college and how nervous she was to be on such a big campus. She gradually settled in and built her way to where she is now. She discussed the course that she studied which was Engineering and expanded briefly on that. Linda said ‘back then women would have been encouraged to do nursing and medicine but she followed her heart’, and look at where she is now!!
She discussed the highs and lows of being a provost. She explained how she tries her best to enforce rules that will accommodate the students and workshops, clubs and events. She said that there is always something missing and the best way to handle this is listening to the students. As well as that she explained how she hated the whole professor and student hierarchy and that the professors and students should be treated equally.
Towards the end we presented her with a badge commemorating this moment and we were free to ask her questions. I was a bit nervous to ask questions but I did anyway. I asked what she thinks the importance of the student council is and she said that its to give students a voice to express their concerns within the schools and I was impressed to hear that. She asked a few of us how the student council runs in our school and we gave her a brief explanation of how many times we meet in a month, our accomplishments and our goals. She was really impressed to hear this.
Afterwards we ate some snacks and were given a further tour of the Provost’s house. We went to the Provost Saloon and stared in awe at how majestic it looked. The Provost told us that it’s the room that she used to stay on Zoom and participate in meetings online. The room consists of a very big sofa chair and portraits of all the past Provosts.
Subsequently we said Goodbye to the Provost and went to see the Book Of Kells. Eventually we got a keyring of the Trinity Gates from the Trinity souvenir shop. It was a lovely way to finish the day. I really enjoyed the experience and it was truly one to remember.
Kathy Okoeguale
