On Monday, March 19, the Trinity College Meeting (TCM) voted to revoke $500 from the $1500 honorarium of the current Female Head of Arts, Julianne de Gara.
The motion was brought forward to the TCM following the recommendation of the Finance Committee, who reviewed feedback from the Honoraria Committee on the performance of student leaders during its consultation period.
From the feedback received, the Honoraria Committee made the recommendation to cut de Gara’s honorarium by one third, claiming that de Gara had not fulfilled her duties as a head. Previous TCM Chair Adil Abdulla and current TCM Chair Leila Martin recommended that the issue be brought forward to the TCM for a vote.
The TCM is the college’s direct-democracy student government.
Prior to the start of the meeting, de Gara posted in the Trinity College Class of the 2021 Facebook page stating she would not be attending the meeting, citing threats to her safety.
“Over the past two weeks, I have received hateful messages, threats to my safety and well-being, and on one occasion, had someone attempt to break into my residence room while screaming hateful insults through the door,” de Gara wrote.
“As a result of this, I feel incredibly unsafe at the college right now, and therefore will not be attending the TCM, for my own physical and emotional well-being.”
Trinity College has six student heads who are responsible for the highest level of student governance at the college. The remaining five heads all received the complete $1500 honorarium.
