UCDSU’s first council meeting was held on October 18th over Zoom and consisted primarily of laying the formal groundwork for the year, and candidates for the Entertainments and Campaign Forums introducing themselves.
UCDSU President Conor Anderson began proceeding by nominating former President Joanna Swierska as Secretary. This motion was seconded by Welfare Officer Ruairí Power and was deemed to have passed without the need for an against-vote, as a 90-strong majority voted in favour. No one spoke against the motion.
Anderson then proposed former Graduate Officer Niall Torris as Chairperson. This motion was seconded by Graduate Officer Carla Gummerson and was deemed to have passed with 100 votes.
Save for the change of “he/she” to “they”, the Standing Orders for Council were adopted unamended. Torrid ruled that the changing to gender-neutral language made no practical difference to the implementation of the orders, and therefore did not require a separate vote as an amendment.
The Council then heard short speeches from all candidates for the roles of The Entertainments Forum and the Campaigns Forum. Voting was carried out online for 24 hours from the end of Council. Candidates were given three minutes to make the case for their election, and no further campaign material was provided.
At the time of publication, the results of the Entertainments Forum races have not been announced. UCDSU’s website currently lists members of the outgoing team. Once results are announced, the Entertainments Forum will consist of: The Production Officer, The Promotions Officer, The First Year Promotions Officer, The Non-Alcoholic Events Officer, The Entertainments Rep Coordinator, and The RAG Committee Coordinator. The Entertainments Forum will be chaired by Entertainments Officer Sarah Michalek, who will also act as the spokesperson.
As of writing, the results of the Campaigns Forum race have not formally been announced, although the UCDSU website lists some incoming Campaign Coordinators. Josh Kerr has been elected LGBTQ+ campaign Coordinator, Aisling Hudson has been elected Mature Students Campaign Coordinator, Molly Greenough has been elected Mental Health Campaign Coordinator, and Liya Ye has been elected International Students Campaign Coordinator.
This leaves five Campaign Coordinator positions unannounced. They are Gender Equality Campaign Coordinator, Disability Rights Campaign Coordinator, Diversity & Inclusion Campaign Coordinator, and Student Residences Campaign Coordinator.
According to Article 21.6 of the UCDSU constitution, “Where a Campaign Coordinator position is unfilled, or in the event that one of the Campaign Coordinators vacates or is removed from their position, the position in question shall be filled by Council at the earliest practicable opportunity”. It is possible that elections for unannounced posts were won by Re-Open Nominations (RON).
One Item for Noting was proposed. Education Officer Hannah Bryson noted that she is looking to fill as many seats as possible on program boards within UCD, and asked council members who were interested to contact her.
One Item of Discussion was proposed. Campaigns and Engagement Officer Leighton Gray proposed a discussion on appropriate alternatives to Post-Council pints in the Clubhouse. Zoom games and a discord server for members of Council were all proposed, although concerns were raised for on-campus residents as Discord is blocked on UCD Wifi.