Last week, it was announced that Professor Sarah Alyn-Stacey was barred from contesting the upcoming election for Provost of Trinity College Dublin. The decision, taken behind closed doors, was apparently justified on the grounds that she lacked:

“Evidence of capacity for management and administration such as is required in an educational and equivalent institution” and
“Evidence of leadership skills and of the ability to represent the College externally” [1].

Professor Alyn-Stacey FTCD is an internationally renowned academic, founder and director of the Trinity Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, member of the Académie de Savoie and knighted by the French President in acknowledgement of her contribution to her academic discipline. 

In her capacity as an elected representative on both the University Council and Board, Professor Alyn-Stacey has been a strong critic of the increasingly corporate and executive direction being taken by the University leadership, and is a vocal advocate for reform toward a consensus-based and accountable decision-making process. 

By virtue of their office, the Provost is the Chairperson of both Board and Council. Matters of Board and Council are determined by consensus. Consensus is determined “in the opinion of the Chairperson”, as has been seen in the past [1][2][3]. Therefore, having a Board-appointed Interview Committee deciding who may be allowed to enter the democratic election process puts into question that very democratic process. 

We believe that the highly-educated academic electorate are best qualified to select whom they desire to be their next Provost from the full list of candidates. We believe that it is wrong to preclude a candidate who clearly meets the statutory requirements, on the basis of opaque rating criteria separate to those mandated by the Statutes and as yet unseen by the electorate. We deem the decision to bar a highly-qualified and renowned candidate, nominated by her fellow academics, from contesting a democratic election to be, by its very nature, undemocratic. 

We therefore request that the University reappraise its decision and allow Professor Alyn-Stacey to stand in the election.

Alexandra Corey
Felix Frank
Louise Kari-Méreau
Ryan Alberto Ó Giobúin
Stefanie Sprong