Strategic Management MSc Student and current Business College Officer Simon Van Beek is running to be UCDSU’s next Graduate Officer. His manifesto is centred around collaboration and Smurfit, but his controversial stance on Palestine raises some key issues in regards to his place in the union.
24-year-old Strategic Management Masters Student Simon Van Beek is running to be UCD Students Union’s next Graduate Officer. The current Business College Officer hopes to build on the work done by Marc Matouc over the past two years, with a similar emphasis on the enhancement of the Smurfit Campus if elected.
Van Beek has played a prominent role in the improvement of Smurfit’s services this year, most notably the return of the shuttle buses. However, his plan of action for the Belfield campus, which acts as home to more than 8,000 Graduate students, is limited.
Van Beek has played a prominent role in the improvement of Smurfit’s services this year, most notably the return of the shuttle buses.
Since he “stumbled” into the position of Business College Officer last September, Van Beek believes he has ‘made the best out of it so far’. This year he worked on repairing the water fountain in the centre of the cafeteria in Smurfit and has submitted two motions to the SU Council. The first of such motions promised “to improve the university toilet life” by introducing “toilet brushes” in “all UCD toilets”, as well as campaigning for “four-layered toilet paper”. Van Beek admits this motion was “more of a joke-y thing”.
The manifesto Van Beek provided The University Observer contained the line, “Engaged in recent debates within council being SU´s devil’s advocate” as Business College Officer this year. When asked what this line referred to, he cites his involvement in UCDSU Council on November 6th when SU President Martha Ní Riada brought forward a ‘Motion on Solidarity with Palestine’. During the discussion around the motion, Van Beek “stated a speech for the Israeli side”.
Van Beek continued, stating that his “first very big culture shock” was coming to terms with Irish people’s support for Palestine, and continues to believe that “the truth is always somewhere in the middle”. Van Beek cites the “German Position” as his reasoning behind his intial muted support for Palestine, as he believes that “on both sides, people are suffering”.
The Business College Officer then offered up the following comment: “It’s not OK to do genocide on both sides”. His position contrasts the position of the union which has been vocally supportive of Palestinian liberation since 2018.
"It’s not OK to do genocide on both sides."
Van Beek’s manifesto advocates “focus on the core needs of students rather than political campaigning”. When asked if this was in reference to the union’s activity on Palestine, Van Beek confirms, stating, “it’s more important to solve student needs than doing political campaigning”. He would not be opposed to attending various demonstrations, but he admits he would prefer to spend his time “improving the university life, to give students, for example, “toilet brushes in their toilets, to give them benches to sit on”.
He would prefer to spend his time “improving the university life, to give students, for example, “toilet brushes in their toilets, to give them benches to sit on".
The Business College Officer goes further to criticise the Union’s handling of the crisis in Gaza, claiming it has been “a little bit too harsh, but that's probably because I come from a German context”, and that “the truth is somewhere in the middle”. Van Beek would not elaborate on if he would do anything further to pressure UCD to cut its ties with Israeli institutions, again affirming his preference to “focus on the needs of the students”.
When it comes to Van Beek’s plans if elected, “collaboration” is his buzzword. The 24-year-old believes that it is “the most important thing you can do if you want to achieve your goals”. One example of this “collaboration” is his proposed “robot fight competition”, that would see collaboration between various societies and the Entertainment Officer to put on such an event.
Reading Van Beek’s manifesto, the Smurfit campus emerges as a clear priority. He admits that in his role this year, “sadly not a lot” was done for students in Belfield due to “issues with the committees at Lochlann Quinn School of Business”, and he was “pretty sad” more couldn’t be done. Van Beek feels that there has “not been a big focus” this year on graduate students in Belfield. His proposed policies, however, do not suggest a change to this pattern.
Van Beek feels that there has “not been a big focus” this year on graduate students in Belfield.
One of Van Beek’s main manifesto points is to “Revive Dublin’s Social Scene, beginning with UCD”. A rather long-term and ambitious goal, Van Beek states that he is “more excited about getting stones kicked off” to organise “out-of-the-box” events to get the ball rolling.
Another area of focus in Van Beek’s manifesto is the housing crisis. He argues that “sustainable solutions” are needed for students rather than emergency accommodation, and calls for blocks A, B and C of The UCD Village to be built. Given that the average price of a room in the UCD Village currently stands at around €11,000, Van Beek was asked if he believed the new blocks would be affordable for many students. “The only solution will be in the long term to have more flats, regardless of the price”, he responded.
Whilst his enthusiasm is evident, his proposed policies lack depth. Similarly, his position with regards to Israel-Palestine places him at odds with the views of the current Students’ Union.
The University Observer makes note that the manifesto shared by the candidate was a preliminary version submitted ahead of the materials deadline. The manifesto currently in use does not feature any mention of a "Devil's Advocate".