Graduates Reunion Banquet
Dining Hall, Trinity College Dublin
Saturday, 25 August 2012
Ladies and Gentlemen, Alumni and friends,
This time last year, I began my official engagements as Provost with the Graduates Reunion Dinner, and here we are again, in what, for me, is one momentous year later!
I don’t know if it’s by accident or design but I must congratulate the Alumni Office on the timing of this annual dinner. The academic year is about to begin. We’re refreshed from our vacations and excited about the coming year. The College has that calm but excited air of expectancy before the students return. There could be no better time for me to be meeting graduates - and ones who demonstrate, as you do by your presence here tonight, just how much Trinity means to you.
Because I know everyone in this room is joined in their loyalty - I don’t think it’s too strong a word - to Trinity, this dinner presents the perfect opportunity to take stock of our achievements in the past year, and consider our aspirations for the academic year to come.
But first let me welcome you all to Trinity! Or rather welcome you all back. Gathered here tonight are about 400 graduates of Trinity, and you span over sixty years, from 1941 to 2002. Many of you have travelled some distance to be here - from Queensland, Australia; from Portland, Maine; from Williamsburg, Virginia and I do wish to welcome personally Dr Stanley Quek from Singapore; Stanley hosted me to a nice lunch in Singapore when I was still Provost-elect. He is a regular visitor to us and we thank him for his continued guidance for the Medical School, and the College, over the decades.
There are graduates from the full spectrum of Trinity disciplines here tonight. I want to extend a special welcome to BESS 2002 and 1992, to Medicine 2002 and 1972, and to Economics 1972, because I know there are many of you here from those disciplines. We are delighted to have Senator Barrett in attendance with the Economics Group. Usually we face each other in exchanges at Board, but this evening before the academic year begins we are still in vacation - hostilities have not yet begun!
And I also welcome our two earliest graduates here tonight:
- David McCausland who graduated in civil engineering in 1941,
- and Professor Louden Ryan, who just said grace, and is of course our former Whatley Professor of Political Economy. He graduated in 1945, and his portrait hangs in the corridor leading from Provost’s House to the College - looking down on me, hopefully with approval.
I don’t have time to mention everyone, but please be assured that you’re all very welcome and I hope you’ve been enjoying this great Alumni weekend. Your enjoyment and your support is important to us. Indeed the good standing of the College depends on it.
In my inaugural address, which I delivered in September last year, I cited one of my predecessors as Provost who referred to Trinity as “a small republic of letters”. We’re a republic of some 17,000 students and about 3,300 staff - which is of course more than when any of you were undergraduates so I should probably say that we’re a ‘small, expanding republic of letters’. And in our wider global community we count over 90,000 alumni in 130 countries.
We regard our relationship with our alumni as life-long. And so tonight I want to take this opportunity to tell you a bit about what’s going on in your university. And I want to talk about the different ways in which you can personally engage with the College.
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Well, it’s been an extraordinary year. Obviously it would be for me anyway - it’s my first year in office as Provost, but even leaving that aside, we can point to, for example:
- The opening of the Lir Academy for Dramatic Art. If you haven’t had a chance to see this rather remarkable building, do stroll up Pearse St towards Grand Canal Dock. It offers courses to actors, playwrights, and stage designers and is affiliated to RADA in London;
- The Olympic flame came through Dublin, carried by, amongst others, three Trinity students and one alumnus; and the Trinity Olympians' celebration - a remarkable homecoming of almost all Trinity men and women who have participated in the Olympics, for whatever country.
- Academic matters also rank highly - we held a very high-profile Admissions Conference where we looked at extending admissions beyond CAO forms. Doing something about admissions was one of my key electoral promises and it’s something the Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn, is also keen on. We took the initiative in holding this conference with international experts from the US and the UK in attendance. We are now intending to pilot an alternate admissions scheme and, among Irish universities, we are leading the way in this.
- And, of course, we’ve celebrated the Tercentenary of the Old Library - which has involved hosting important exhibitions - I know many of you have visited the exhibition this weekend. And we’ve also celebrated other seminal Trinity events, like 250 years of the College Chapel Choir;
- On a sad note of course, we buried the redoubtable R.B. McDowell, and we did it with fitting tributes which I think he would have appreciated;
- Personally, I’ve enjoyed official visits to several countries, spreading the message of Trinity far and wide - including to California, to Moscow, and just the other week, to Rwanda, where we are running a joint Masters in Development Practice with internships coordinated by the National University of Rwanda. My colleague, the Vice-Provost for Global Relations Professor Jane Ohlmeyer is leading a new strategic approach to setting Trinity out as a university of global consequence. I’m glad to see her here this evening, just back from a highly successful tour of India with the Faculty Deans.
So, yes, quite a year - those are just a few of the highlights! I’ve been thinking now what this first year as Provost has meant to me? What are the key themes, if you like, of the academic year 2011/2012?
Three things stand out - to me anyway: I would say it’s been a year of our
- First, Global Engagement - resurrecting Trinity’s presence on the world stage as a university with a worldwide reputation.
- Next, Innovation - this is important; the best universities in the world are excellent at the core mission of education and research but they also engage in creating the environment - the ecosystem - for economic and social change.
- Finally, Public Engagement - this is a challenge for universities like Trinity but we must succeed in persuading the public of the value of what we do, that we are a university operating in the spirit of public service, but that this does not mean being bureaucratised to the extent we cannot compete with our peer universities around the world.
In fact, these three are closely related, which I’m delighted about because when it comes to College strategy and messaging, it’s my primary job to ensure cohesion, unity and the further development of Trinity’s reputation.
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Trinity cannot grow in strength without the input of its alumni - our past students.
Many alumni already support the College financially and for that I would like to extend my thanks, and the thanks of all our staff and students. Your contribution can make the difference between struggling along and achieving excellence.
In this context, I’d like to mention the Trinity Annual Fund, which is our tax-efficient alumni giving fund. In your “goodie bags” there is a brochure on the Alumni Appeal 2012.
This year’s appeal will support postgraduate research and the Trinity Access Programme which transforms the lives of students from disadvantaged areas and enables them to study at Trinity.
There are currently over 2,000 postgrad research projects in Trinity. These range from developing treatments for killer diseases to advancing equality in the developing world. So, by giving to Trinity, you’re not just helping our current students but contributing to a better future for everyone.
I should say, of course, that all levels of support are welcome. I think there’s sometimes a perception that, in order to support your alma mater, you have to endow a building. Well obviously we won’t say no to a building....but our model is more like - look what can be done by lots of people giving what they feel is appropriate - targeting causes of the College that mean something to them.
I buy into the evolving global idea that alumni can remain connected to the home university throughout their lives. Financial support is only one way in which you can retain a stake in Trinity’s continuing success.
There are, for instance, currently hundreds of alumni involved in College activities as mentors or as volunteers.
And many more alumni act as the College’s ambassadors worldwide. Whenever you talk about your education or great student experience, you’re spreading the word about Trinity.
But I know that I’m now preaching to the converted: by coming here tonight you’re affirming your commitment to this university. So what I really want to say is thank you very much and do stay in touch.
The Alumni Office is constantly improving ways of communicating and engaging. It is currently extending its overseas branch network and implementing an annual programme of events for alumni on campus.
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I would like to finish by reassuring you that, despite the social and economic crisis in Ireland, Trinity College Dublin is managing well: the values here are strong, there’s a streak of independence about Trinity that serves us well in these straightened times; the finances are difficult and require us to make daunting decisions - but as ever conscious of our mission, our destiny even, we face all challenges with a good deal of confidence, knowing that what we offer - high quality education in an environment of research and scholarship - is never more needed in this country, and in the world.
With the support of all its wider community, Trinity is, and will, become an ever more globally-engaged institution with a track-record of delivering for Ireland on the world stage.
It’s a great university - a cosmopolitan university - because it encourages debate and it has never been afraid to adapt and change.
With your help and support, with one year done, and nine to go...
And I look forward to meeting as many as possible of you after dinner.
Thank you
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