Trinity College students have passed a near-unanimous motion of non-confidence in the Office of the Dean of Students. The motion was brought forward at the Trinity College Meeting (TCM), Trinity’s direct democracy student government, on September 25. The motion passed with 209 votes in favour, seven votes opposed, and five abstentions.
As a result of the motion, the TCM will send a letter to the Office of the Provost, the Board of Trustees at Trinity College, all committees of Senate, and members of Trinity College Corporation, to inform them of the students’ vote and to call for action.
According to TCM Chair Leila Martin, the TCM does not have the power to enact any punitive action against the Office of the Dean of Students. “What we can do is basically pass on our collective decisions to another governing body, which includes a number of very powerful alumni and people that can make decisions about potential punitive actions.”
The motion was put forward by former Trinity Head of Arts Thomas Robson in response to an incident on September 23 that involved current Trinity Head of College Bardia Monavari being allegedly assaulted by a campus police officer, as well as Trinity College’s alleged mishandling of a sexual assault case involving Tamsyn Riddle.
The incident allegedly occurred after a residence party at Trinity ended in a fire alarm being pulled. According to Monavari, two Assistant Deans pointed him out to campus police, and did not act when he was allegedly assaulted.
Monavari has filed a complaint with campus police, saying that he wants Trinity to support him in “pursuing justice and holding this officer accountable.”
The Varsity has reached out to campus police and the Office of the Dean of Students of Trinity College.
This story is developing, more to follow.
Editor’s Note (September 26): This article has been updated to reflect that Thomas Robson’s motion was also put forward in response to the sexual assault case involving Tamsyn Riddle.
